Incorporating nuclear chemistry as an education tool in the undergraduate chemistry curriculum: A description of the curriculum project

Abstract

Although many areas of major national need depend critically on professionals trained in nuclear and radiochemistry, educational opportunities and student interest in this area have declined steadily for the last twenty years. One major contributing factor to the lack of student interest is that most students in science and chemistry courses are never introduced to these topics. This deficiency in science curricula, coupled with the negative public perception towards all things “nuclear”, has resulted in a serious shortage of individuals with a background in this area. We propose to address this problem by “educating the educators” — providing faculty from two- and four-year colleges and high school science teachers with the curriculum materials, training, and motivation to incorporate these topics on a continuing basis in their curricula. Two advantages of this approach are: (1) it will generate scientists with a basic understanding of this field and (2) as teachers incorporate nuclear topics, many students will have the opportunity to reflect on the role of science in a technological society.