Syllabus for NUC-380
NUCLEAR RULES AND REGULATIONS
This course examines national and international guidance organizations and the United States government rules and regulations that govern the protection of workers, the environment, and the public from both radioactive materials and machine produced radiation, throughout their life cycles. With the objective of presenting as holistic a regulatory picture as possible, the focus will be on the regulations that originate from the following agencies: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Department of Transportation (DOT); and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The regulations of each agency will be accessed and analyzed with the emphasis on “real-world” regulatory compliance scenarios.
After completing this course, you should be able to:
There are no required textbooks for the course. Web links to recommended readings are included in each module. Students are advised to search the website of national and international organizations and regulatory bodies such as those listed below to select and support their research and assignments.
Nuclear Rules and Regulations is a three-credit online course, consisting of six modules. Modules include an overview, topics, learning objectives, study materials, and activities. Module titles are listed below.
For your formal work in the course, you are required to participate in online discussion forums, complete written assignments, and complete a comprehensive midterm and final assignments. See below for details.
Consult the Course Calendar for due dates.
One or more of your course activities may utilize a tool designed to promote original work and evaluate your submissions for plagiarism. More information about this tool is available in this document.
This course requires you to participate in five graded discussion forums. There is also one ungraded but required introduction forum in Module 1.
Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Discussion forum interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning.
Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your readings.
You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic.
Online Discussion Grading Rubric
You are required to complete six written assignments. Each written assignment focuses on the topics covered in related modules. The written assignments can be in various formats. You will be required to solve some problems, or answer questions in essay format.
You are also required to complete four research exercise assignments. The research assignments can be in various formats that require more research, analysis, or application on the topics associated with the course modules. Click to view Written Assignment Rubric that will be used to grade research exercises.
You are required to complete a comprehensive midterm assignment after finishing the first two modules and a comprehensive final assignment that covers modules 3 to 6 at the end of the course.
You are required to complete a comprehensive midterm assignment that covers modules 1 and 2. The midterm assignment consists of twenty-five problems similar to exercises in written assignments . You will submit this assignment by Saturday of Week 6, doing it in the same way you have for your other written assignments in this course.
You are free to refer to your reading materials if desired when working on the midterm assignment.
The midterm assignment link will be activated and made available to you at the start of Week 6.
You are required to complete a comprehensive final assignment that covers modules 3, 4, 5, and 6. The final assignment consists of twenty-five problems similar to exercises in written assignments . You will submit this assignment by Sunday of final week (see the Course Calendar), doing it in the same way you have for your other written assignments in this course.
You are free to refer to your reading materials if desired when working on the final assignment.
The final assignment link will be activated and made available to you at the start of Week 12.
Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
All activities will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:
A | = | 93–100 | C+ | = | 78–79 | |
A– | = | 90–92 | C | = | 73–77 | |
B+ | = | 88–89 | C– | = | 70–72 | |
B | = | 83–87 | D | = | 60–69 | |
B– | = | 80–82 | F | = | Below 60 |
To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or better (for an area of study course) or D or better (for a course not in your area of study), based on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., exams, assignments, discussion postings, etc.).
To succeed in this course, take the following first steps:
Consider the following study tips for success:
Thomas Edison State University is committed to maintaining academic quality, excellence, and honesty. The University expects all members of its community to share the commitment to academic integrity, an essential component of a quality academic experience.
Students at Thomas Edison State University are expected to exhibit the highest level of academic citizenship. In particular, students are expected to read and follow all policies, procedures, and program information guidelines contained in publications; pursue their learning goals with honesty and integrity; demonstrate that they are progressing satisfactorily and in a timely fashion by meeting course deadlines and following outlined procedures; observe a code of mutual respect in dealing with mentors, staff, and other students; behave in a manner consistent with the standards and codes of the profession in which they are practicing; keep official records updated regarding changes in name, address, telephone number, or e-mail address; and meet financial obligations in a timely manner. Students not practicing good academic citizenship may be subject to disciplinary action including suspension, dismissal, or financial holds on records.
All members of the University community are responsible for reviewing the Academic Code of Conduct Policy in the University Catalog and online at www.tesu.edu.
Thomas Edison State University expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the University insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty can take the following forms:
Thomas Edison State University is committed to helping students understand the seriousness of plagiarism, which is defined as using the work and ideas of others without proper citation. The University takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing are subject to discipline under the academic code of conduct policy.
If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, or without identifying it as a direct quote, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see Online Student Handbook > Academic Standards > “Citing Sources.”)
Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else’s. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources.
Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism.
Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself.
For examples of unintentional plagiarism, advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, and information about writing assistance, click the links provided below.
Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism
When to Quote and When to Paraphrase
Writing Assistance at Smarthinking
Acts of both intentional and unintentional plagiarism violate the Academic Code of Conduct.
If an incident of plagiarism is an isolated minor oversight or an obvious result of ignorance of proper citation requirements, the mentor may handle the matter as a learning exercise. Appropriate consequences may include the completion of tutorials, assignment rewrites, or any other reasonable learning tool in addition to a lower grade for the assignment or course. The mentor will notify the student and appropriate dean of the consequence by e-mail.
If the plagiarism appears intentional and/or is more than an isolated incident, the mentor will refer the matter to the appropriate dean, who will gather information about the violation(s) from the mentor and student, as necessary. The dean will review the matter and notify the student in writing of the specifics of the charge and the sanction to be imposed.
Possible sanctions include:
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