Learning about Radioactivity via Synthetic Groupwork in Introductory Physics

The Inquiry into Radioactivity (IiR) curriculum demonstrated a significant impact on boosting student conceptual understanding of radioactivity, particularly regarding differentiating irradiation and contamination. Although IiR was originally designed to be a group-based inquiry experience, the first author has been developing an asynchronous alternative: Synthetic Groupwork-Based IiR (SynG- IiR). Although IiR was originally designed to fill a physical sciences elective for non-science majors, SynG-IiR is a condensed version designed to last not more than three hours as a stand- alone module for students in introductory physics. Here, we report that the module is comparably effective to IiR not only for asynchronous learners, but also for learners in a face-to-face course as a homework assignment to complete outside of class hours. This suggests that synthetic groupwork-based materials may be a viable option particularly for large-enrollment courses without weekly recitations (e.g., in departments without Learning Assistants and with a small number of Teaching Assistants).