MODERNIZING ROMANIAN NUCLEAR EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEMS

Mihail Ceclan
Programmes Department Head – Romanian Nuclear Society (AREN)

Romania, as a candidate country, is waiting for the final report of the European Commission’s concerning the achievement of integration criteria in April 2006.

The second round of EU expansion is scheduled on January 1, 2007. However, the Romanian nuclear family has long been ahead of that curve and has already been thinking and acting European for several years.

Modernizing nuclear education and training systems

The emphasis put on modernizing Romanian nuclear Education & Training (E&T) system was discussed during a session dedicated to nuclear E&T at SIEN 2005 (International Symposium on Nuclear Energy) – organized by AREN (Romanian Nuclear Society) and ROMATOM (Romanian Atomic Forum).

In the context of improving nuclear E&T systems, the Romanian National Consortium (RNC) for Training and Education in Nuclear Sciences Platform (TENSP) was created. RNC is based on a partnership between public and private sectors, bringing together the most important stakeholders involved in Romanian Nuclear Sciences E&T: 4 universities, 2 research institutes, 6 professional associations, 2 industrial companies and 2 NGOs, being led by a Directory Council.

RNC is currently working to become a member of EU networks & platforms as well as to participate in future FP-7 projects.

In line with the European point of view regarding the nuclear European Higher Education Area creation, several representatives of RNC attended in November 2005 the ETRAP Conference, in Bussels.

ETRAP Conference aspects

An original software tool, the e-Learning platform called CBTCenter, already implemented at the training facilities of Cernavoda NPP, was presented.

The main features of CBTCenter are:
a) Internet/Intranet web application;
b) online reading;
c) learning activities assessment, class management;
d) communication facilities: e-mail, chat, forum;
e) system administration tool.

Creating the Knowledge Society Training System

According to the Lisbon strategy, Europe should become "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion" by 2010.

This implies creating a Knowledge Society E&T System. But what does that mean?
Essentially, it entails the transition from the traditional school to the virtual school as one can see in table 1.

Table 1

Transition from traditional to virtual school

Certain features of the traditional school should be changed or removed. For example, the main classroom actors (the professor and the student) will no longer interact face-to-face but rather remotely, through the computer.

The virtual school is a paperless school, the course materials on paper being replaced by electronic documents. This way, the computer becomes the main instrument supporting learning. That’s why the Computer Based Training or e-Learning concept was introduced.

For some time the two systems (traditional / virtual) should continue to co-exist symbiotically.
In this stage of the process it is necessary to accelerate changes according to the following priorities:

• Developing a public-private partnership;

• ICT integration in E&T

• Creating the infrastructure for a Knowledge Society E&T Systems

• CBT courses and materials

• Assessment of nuclear training needs and capabilities in Romania

• Recognition of competencies and diplomas in light of the EU integration

Creating the infrastructure of Knowledge Society E&T Systems

The most urgent task of modernizing Romanian nuclear E&T systems is the achievement of a suitable infrastructure, meaning: hardware infrastructure, e-Learning and CBT tools / CBT courses and materials for at least high schools and universities.

CBT and e-Learning always mean two things: a software platform and content authoring. Ideally a software platform should be able to import any type of flat documentation and integrate it into a structured database which keeps track of pedagogically meaningful information like the student’s progress in studying materials, test and quiz results etc. In the same time, the materials, the study and the tests have to be organized around certain objectives which play the role of guidelines during the entire educational activity.

One of the successful Romanian products is CBTCenter software platform, achieved at the Laboratory for Fluid Treatment and Thermal Equipment, University Politehnica Bucharest.
Some examples of CBT courses which have been successfully integrated into CBTCenter are shown in the table 2.

Table 2

Disciplines / (CBT objects) name

A typical study screen of CBTCenter is shown in figure 1. The first step a trainee has to do after registering into platform is to become familiar with the new training environment, as natural and enjoyable as possible for the new trainee. The courses are structured around objectives and followed by an evaluation test. The trainee is guided towards completing the objectives and assimilating knowledge, by means of text, multimedia elements, narration and quizzes (figure 1). The multimedia elements include figures, flash animations, Java applets and MP3 sound files. All these elements are synchronized for creating a useful and enjoyable interaction.

Each of the actions the student performs during the online study sessions is tracked to allow the instructor to evaluate the student’s level of comprehension. The navigation through the course complies with the current e-Learning and CBT standards. It provides the overview of all documents all the time through the dynamic menu on the left side of the screen. It is important for a trainee not to get lost in the course so that he keeps his level of interest and self-esteem at high levels.

Figure 1: Typical CBTCenter study screen

Conclusions

The Romanian National Consortium (RNC) for Training and Education in Nuclear Sciences Platform (TENSP) is an important achievement of the year 2005 for the Romanian nuclear family and definitely a helpful instrument for an easier EU joining of Romanian stakeholders in E&T fields.