Students’ assessment of interactive distance experimentation in nuclear reactor physics laboratory education

Abstract

Laboratory experiments develop students’ skills in dealing with laboratory instruments and physical processes with the objective of reinforcing the understanding of the investigated subject. In nuclear engineering, where research reactors play a vital role in the practical education of students, the high cost and long construction time of research reactors limit their accessibility to few educational programmes around the world. The concept of the Internet Reactor Laboratory (IRL) was introduced earlier as a new approach that utilises distance education in nuclear reactor physics laboratory education. This paper presents an initial assessment of the implementation of the IRL between the PULSTAR research reactor at North Carolina State University in the USA and the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) in Jordan. The IRL was implemented in teaching the Nuclear Reactor laboratory course for two semesters. Feedback from surveyed students verifies that the outcomes attained from using IRL in experimentation are comparable to that attainable from other on-campus laboratories performed by the students.