From Electrons to Neutrons - Blended Engineering Education

Blended instruction, a combination of face-to-face and online instruction, is a powerful instructional mode.Its power lies in the significant transfer of responsibility for learning from the instructor to the student.This represents a significant culture change for students especially for the "typical" engineering student.In this paper we share the process we followed to redesign Nuclear Phenomena for Engineering Applications (NPEA) to allow for a blended approach.We illustrate the instructional decisions that were made, their implementation, and the students' overwhelmingly positive response to the blended environment with examples borrowed from the course itself and the data collected throughout the implementation.We discuss strategies to facilitate active participation on the discussion board in engineering classes, and share best practices to facilitate the changes in engineering students' learning cultures necessary to transition from traditional instruction to blended instruction classes. The courseNuclear Phenomena for Engineering Applications (NPEA) surveys the quantitative and qualitative aspects of how atomic and nuclear phenomena apply to our everyday lives through technology and the environment.In a world that is increasingly welcoming and relying on responsible applications of nuclear technology to achieve global prosperity, the knowledge that NPEA provides can open significant career, discovery, and technology leadership opportunities.NPEA also surveys the implications of nuclear technology to instill awareness about what "responsible application" can mean.