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EU-STRA-Strålevern

Augmented Cooperation In Education and Training in Nuclear and Radiochemistry - Norwegian Part

Alternative title: Utvidet virkelighet for utdanning og trening i kjerne- og radiokjemi - norsk del

Awarded: NOK 2.8 mill.

Competence in nuclear and radiochemistry is essential for energy production based on nuclear energy, production and development of radiopharmaceuticals, preparedness for accidents and acts of war/terrorism against nuclear installations or nuclear materials, as well as several other important industrial and societal applications. Education and competence development in this field are insufficient in Norway, which raises concerns for both the business sector and Norwegian authorities. This was recently emphasized when the Ministry of Education established 40 new study spots specifically targeted at nuclear applications. The A-CINCH-Nor project, which is part of the EU project A-CINCH, has over the course of its three-year duration focused on the need for increased recruitment in this field and enhancing both the quality and quantity within the educational sector. CINCH stands for "Cooperation In education and training in Nuclear and radiocHemistry". The "A" in the current project stands for "augmented" and reflects the focus on incorporating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in the learning tools. In addition to developing AR and VR tools, the project aimed to complete the educational tools from the three previous CINCH projects (2010-2020) and make them all available for continued use, including outside the CINCH consortium. The Nuclear Chemistry department at UiO has been actively involved in the CINCH projects, particularly focusing on the development of remote-controlled laboratory experiments (RoboLab), a wiki called NucWik for sharing teaching materials in the field, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) in radiochemistry aimed at enhancing understanding of the subject and attracting new students, and the creation of a virtual radiochemistry laboratory with exercises similar to those typically conducted in a regular radiochemistry course lab. The VR-lab uses the same tools typically found in computer games, where you control an avatar to perform tasks. We have also incorporated these tools into our courses on radioactivity and radiochemistry, and we have received very positive feedback from the students.

Gjennom A-CINCH og CINCH prosjektserien er det utviklet moderne læringsverktøy, spesielt i det digitale domenet, for å kunne gi bedre og mer effektiv undervisning og trening i kjerne- og radiokjemi. Disse verktøyene er tilgjengelig gjennom CINCH HUB plattformen: https://hub.cinch-project.eu/ UiO har gjennom hele prosjektserien ledet arbeidet med å utvikle fjernstyrte laboratorieøvelser, disse gir institusjoner uten tilgang til radiokjemilaboratorier (som er kostbare og kompliserte å drifte) mulighetene for å gi studentene erfaring med laboratoriearbeid. Videre og kanskje viktigere er det at de fjernstyrte laboratorieøvelsene kan benyttes som forhåndstrening til å arbeid i fysiske laboratorier og på den måten øke læringsutbyttet fra øvelser i fysiske laboratorier. Det samme gjelder det nye "gaming type" virtuelle radiokjemilaboratoriet, der studentene på samme måte som man løser oppgaver i et dataspill kontrollerer en avatar i en virtuell verden. Det er bygget inn konkrete laboratorieoppgaver som løses på samme måte man gjør i et fysisk laboratorium. Vi har tatt disse hjelpemidlene i bruk i være radioaktivitets og radiokjemikurs ved UiO og tilbakemeldingen fra studentene har vært svært positiv.

Expertise in nuclear and radiochemistry (NRC) is of strategic relevance in the nuclear energy sector and in many vital applications. The need for radiochemistry expertise will even increase as the focus shifts from safe nuclear power plant operation to decontamination and decommissioning, waste management and environmental monitoring. The non-energy fields of NRC applications are even much broader ranging from life sciences – radiopharmaceuticals, radiological diagnostics and therapy – through dating in geology and archaeology, (nuclear) forensics and safeguards operations, to radiation protection and radioecology. The A-CINCH project primarily addresses the loss of the young generation's interest for nuclear knowledge by focusing on secondary / high school students and teachers and involving them by the “Learn through Play” concept. This will be achieved by bringing advanced educational techniques such as state-of the art 3D virtual reality NRC laboratory, Massive Open Online Courses, RoboLab distance operated robotic experiments, Interactive Screen Experiments, NucWik database of teaching materials, or Flipped Classroom, into the NRC education. All the new and existing tools wrapped-up around the A-CINCH HUB – a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate single point of access – will contribute increasing the number of students and trainees in the field of nuclear and radiochemistry. Nuclear awareness will be further increased by the High School Teaching Package, Summer Schools for high school students, Teach the Teacher package and many others. Additionally, successful educational and training tools from previous projects will be continued and further developed. Networking is an important part of the project, facilitated by having ENEN as one of the partners and by having structural links with other Euratom projects, the EuChemS, the NRC-Network as well as by additional links with other end users and stakeholders including the high schools.

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EU-STRA-Strålevern