School students' understanding of processes involving radioactive substances and ionizing radiation

1996/01/01 by Robin Millar, Jarnail Singh Gill · 1 citation
Chemistry · Environmental Science · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Chemistry #Ionizing radiation #Irradiation #Mathematics education #Nuclear Issues and Defense #Nuclear physics #Physics #Psychology #Radiation #Radioactive contamination #Radioactive contamination and transfer #Radiochemistry #Radionuclide #Risk Perception and Management

paper · doi:10.1088/0031-9120/31/1/019

openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

We report the findings of a study, using diagnostic questions, of the ideas held by school students at age 16 in the UK about the ways in which the effects caused by radioactive substances can spread from their source. The results show that many students cannot clearly distinguish between the processes of irradiation and contamination and suggests that many are unclear about what happens when radiation is 'absorbed'.

Cited by

• Smartphone and Tablet-Based Sensing of Environmental Radioactivity: Mobile Low-Cost Measurements for Monitoring, Citizen Science, and Educational Purposes. [europepmc]

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