Speaker
Prof.
Jon Petter Omtvedt
(University of Oslo, Department of Chemistry)
Description
An open access database, implemented as a "Wiki" (same technology as e.g. used by Wikipedia [1]) was set up to enable university teachers and others to share teaching material and experiences. The basic idea is that teachers and institutions will share and co-develop teaching material for Nuclear and Radiochemistry use, in particular calculation and laboratory exercises. Furthermore, the Wiki – named NucWik [2] – is an ideal place for sharing experiences and discussing how to improve the material further. In this way a lot of work can be saved when setting up a new exercise or course: If someone already developed something similar it can either be directly used or at least provide a very good starting point for a local implementation. It should be made clear that NucWik is not a site intended to be directly used by students. Instead, teachers use it to put together material for their teaching. As a long-term goal we also intend to put together a complete Radiochemistry course book, which will be freely available from NucWik.
NucWik was created as part of the CINCH [3] EU-project, headed by Prof. Jan John, with a goal to strengthen training and education in nuclear and radiochemistry in Europe. However, the NucWik service is freely available for everybody, regardless if they are outside or inside Europe.
For any Wiki to be successful, including NucWik, it heavily depends on user participation. Thus, we strongly urge teachers to actively contribute with material and input to discussions. Currently (April 2014) only a limited amount of material has been uploaded, primarily to demonstrate NucWik’s potential and encourage teachers to contribute.
An important issue with any database or wiki where material can be freely uploaded is quality control. For NucWik this is addressed by implementing a quality control system where we differentiate between documents that has been simply uploaded and those that have been “peer reviewed”. Peer reviewed documents have been review by two independent scientists from a group appointed by the CINCH consortium. Such documents will be stamped with “CINCH approved” and cannot be edited (without undergoing another peer review). In this way NucWik will provide an easy and quick way to share and co-develop documents, but also include mechanisms to ensure that trustworthy and scientifically sound material can be downloaded with confidence.
At RadChem’2014 possible uses of NucWik will be demonstrated and its potential as a site for active teaching collaboration highlighted. Discussion of and ideas for possible use and future development will be welcomed both after the presentation and later.
[1] Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Access is through http://wikipedia.org.
[2] http://nucwik.wikispaces.com
[3] CINCH – “Cooperation in Education and Training in Nuclear Chemistry” is a FP7 EU-funded coordinated action supported by the European Atomic Energy Community's 7th Framework Program (EURATOM FP7 2007-2011) under grant agreement No. 605173, see http://cinch-project.eu for details.
Primary author
Prof.
Jon Petter Omtvedt
(University of Oslo, Department of Chemistry)
Co-author
Hans V. Lerum
(University of Oslo, Department of Chemistry)
