The main goal of the organizers of the University for Teachers Seminars (UTS) was to unite active educators who want to develop, share their achievements and bring new things to the educational process. In this brief summary of the lectures delivered during the seminar, we emphasize that the lecturers managed to present a number of creative ideas to find a common denominator - to support modern students and participants of the event in their interest in science, desire to rationally perceive the world around them, and expand their own horizons. The lecturers tried to do their best to further popularize science. After all, its development is one of the necessary prerequisites for achieving many of the tactical and strategic goals that our country is currently facing. And the results of scientific research are needed as a tool for solving many problems that have arisen during the war.
The event took place during the last week of October and was dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". The participants were teachers from the university's partner schools. According to Olha Shtofel, the organizer of the teaching forum, PhD in Engineering, senior lecturer at the Department of General Physics and Modeling of Physical Processes of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, ten lectures on mathematics, physics, astrophysics, history of science, and CAD basics were delivered online at this faculty with the involvement of specialists in various fields of science from related faculties and institutes of our university.
Interesting: O. Stoffel presented UTS as a platform for obtaining information, sharing experiences and prospects for improving the teaching of science in modern secondary schools. Addressing the participants of the seminar, Olha Oleksandrivna emphasized that our university has recently been recognized as the best university in the uniRank rating, which determines the quality of representation and the degree of popularity of universities in the Internet space. Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was on the first place in the Ukrainian segment of the ranking, that is, it won the championship among 180 domestic universities. O. Shtofel called on the seminar participants to continue cooperation.
Olga Shtofel devoted her lecture and video presentation to interesting pages from the biography of Mykola Benardos, a Ukrainian inventor of Greek origin, the creator of the Electrohefest arc welding process.
Choosing an institution for higher education after high school, possible "barriers" during the first university semesters - this was the topic of the lecture "Step to Admission - Mine/Not Mine", delivered by Lyudmyla Bulygina, an engineer at the Institute of Physics and Technology, a teacher of computer science at the Polytechnic Lyceum and head of the Cybersecurity section, winner of the prestigious Global Teacher Prize in 2023. She believes that teachers have many opportunities to create an atmosphere in which they want to learn and master new material. A teacher who is interested in the future of his or her students should help them to realize their potential and help them acquire the necessary skills. And it's not just about preparing them for university. It's no secret that behind an advertisement of any university such as "We are waiting for applicants" there should be an opportunity to get acquainted with the specialty that a future graduate will receive after graduation. Let's assume that everything went as it should. Studying in the first year, a busy student life, full of entertainment in your free time... L. Bulygina draws attention to the fact that already during the first session, sometimes even in the second year, a student may become disappointed in the learning process. Tests, the National Multiple Subject Test (NMT), and exams cause stress. It is clear that fear and outright panic are the enemies of efficiency. And it is the teacher who, during conversations with future applicants, should set them up to learn methods of self-soothing. "Let's find out," the lecturer urges the audience, "what causes the student's worries, and try not to aggravate the situation..."
L. Bulygina strives to help high school students motivated to enter the university to navigate to, as the military say, an accurate hit on the target. And it's not just about preparing the necessary documents in time, including a self-written motivation letter. The lecturer advises practicing the previous year's NMT program today, daily for one hour. It is also advisable to follow the My Chance formula developed by L. Bulygina. And to do interesting homework for self-improvement as a person, which she voiced at the end of the lecture. Without a dream, initiative on the part of the applicant, purposeful independent activity in scientific circles, coworking spaces, etc., the desired result will not be achieved. Due to the lack of newspaper space, we would advise interested readers to read Lyudmyla Viktorivna's experience on the UTS website: https://sites.google.com/view/universityforteachersseminars/головна/uts….
The lecture, delivered by astrophysicist Oleksiy Holubov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Research Scientist of the OSIRIS-REx Space Mission (NASA), Associate Professor of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, was devoted to the discussion of the latest astronomical discoveries, the theory of black holes in space, and the dynamics of asteroids. He familiarized the audience with the theory of the internal structure of stars and nuclear reactions occurring in them, the structure of the Galaxy, the nature of the motion of small bodies within the Solar System, gravitational waves confirming the existence of black holes, etc. "The study of one of the oldest and most interesting sciences," emphasized O. Holubov, "promises 'travels' in the Universe. The study of the laws of celestial mechanics - since all cosmic bodies move in accordance with the law of gravity - is impossible without familiarizing oneself with the discoveries of world-famous researchers who have made a significant contribution to the exploration of space and the development of astrophysics as a science." He mentioned several names of foreign scientists, including many Nobel Prize winners, who have left behind many interesting works, popular science books describing interstellar adventures, combining fantastic stories with current discoveries in the field of astrophysics. However, Oleksiy Golubov did not tell the audience about one interesting fact due to his own modesty: in 2019, an asteroid was named in his honor, the full name of which is 17700 Oleksiygolubov (1997 GM40). The diameter of the celestial body is 3.4 km.
No less interesting was the lecture on mathematical sophisms given by Tetiana Malovychko, PhD in Physics and Mathematics, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mathematical Analysis and Probability Theory. Since ancient times, mathematics has been considered a precise science, one that does not tolerate mistakes, requires clarity of concepts and statements, accepts nothing without proof, and proclaims the beauty and greatness of logical reasoning. And one cannot argue with this. However, T. Malovychko used vivid mathematical examples to prove that it is sophisms (from the Greek for cunning invention, trick), which are reasoning that formally seems correct but actually hides an error. Solving complex mathematical "knots" helps students develop logical thinking. This is one of the most interesting tasks for a real teacher.
Tetyana Chyzhska, a senior lecturer at the Department of General Physics and Modeling of Physical Processes, kept the intrigue alive until the end of her lecture, entitled "What do the Rainbow and DID have in common?" She explained the meaning of the abbreviation DID (dispersion, interference, diffraction) only after revealing the secret of the atmospheric phenomenon, which is one or more spectral arcs (or circles, if viewed from the air) observed against the background of a cloud if it is located against the Sun. A rainbow as a symbol and a physical phenomenon, a play of colors on the surface of a soap bubble or, say, on the surface of an oil or gasoline drop. Where does it all come from? It is from DID: dispersion, interference, diffraction. Without these light phenomena, we would not be able to observe coherent waves. After the lecture, did the rainbow play somehow differently for the audience? Perhaps.
Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Welding Production (WP) of the E.O. Paton Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, gave a lecture on the review of the creative biography of the founder of the scientific school of bridge construction and electric welding at Kyiv Polytechnic, the author of classic textbooks on the restoration of artificial structures, Yevhen Oskarovych Paton, who devoted more than a decade of his long and fruitful career as an engineer and scientist to the benefit of national science.
The lecture of Anton Minakov, PhD in Engineering, Senior Lecturer at the Department of ZV of E.O. Paton Institute of Industrial Design, "On the Development of CAD Systems (Computer Aided Design Systems)" is worthwhile for those who study modern project programming. Science is science, but how do you design an airplane or, say, an electric bicycle with a bamboo frame, or create a complex car part using a 3D printer? A. Minakov is ready to teach anyone who wants to.
D. in Chemistry, Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Chemical Technology Faculty, Nikolai E. Ponomarev, tried to provide a complete picture of organic reaction mechanisms from the point of view of a researcher. It is quite clear that you cannot talk about 100 million compounds and billions of chemical reactions in one lecture. However, the lecturer was able to interest the audience not only in the traditional form of teaching chemistry at the university, familiarizing them with the achievements of domestic scientists in this field, but also in showing an interesting experiment with reagents. Within a short time, he demonstrated the course of the dehydrobromination reaction of 7-bromocholesterol benzoate, which is used in the pharmaceutical industry in the synthesis of vitamin D3. The course was monitored using the verdasil method developed in the 70s of the last century by KPI researchers Engelsina Ponomaryova and Natalia Kulyk under the guidance of the famous scientist Heinrich Dwork. The audience saw with their own eyes how interesting chemistry can be as a science of various transformations: the emerald green indicator triphenylverdasyl interacts with the reaction product and turns into bright violet triphenylverdasyl bromide, which allows measuring the reaction rate. "The verdasil method is unique in the sense that it allows spectrophotometric measurement of the rates of various heterolytic reactions in a huge range of rates (10 million-fold change) in dozens of different organic solvents," emphasizes Mykola Ponomaryov.
The lecture "Through the thorns to the stars (an essay on Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute mathematics teachers)" was useful for those interested in the history of science and education and biographies of famous scientists, delivered by Tetiana Avdeieva, a senior lecturer at the Department of IFDR, a mathematics coach with many years of experience. She managed not only to introduce a number of scientists who have made a significant contribution to the development of exact science, but also to publish a short essay on the history of the Department of Mathematical Physics and Differential Equations.
Did the UTS seminar succeed in bringing together active educators who want to develop, share their achievements, and bring new things to the educational process? Time will tell.