These thoughts are inspired by the new academic year, which is for all of us - those who are working and studying at the famous KPI - the anniversary. In this year we are meeting with the first generation of students born and raised in the independent Ukraine and came into our home university and dream of becoming a truly modern engineers. As it has always been, for this there is only one way - in good faith to learn from the first days of training. Moreover, among the disciplines there are no unimportant, but there are fundamental, or those which determine all future professional life, and among them, of course, physics. In close contact with the technique and being its foundation, physics penetrated all industries, sometimes even creating some of them. Let us recall the electrical and thermal engineering, nuclear energy, laser and semiconductor technology, space industry, radio, holography, and in recent years - a very promising nanoindustry, including spintronics, in which information is encoded not by the electric charge, but with the spin (magnet torque) carrier, quantum computers and the like. Already today, the United States claim that at least 70% of their economy is based on the fundamental knowledge, and in the humanities, a new concept - the knowledge society was appeared. However, all these are global problems, and my task is more narrow and specific - physics.
Hardly anyone dares to deny that the current state of physics research in any country determines the level of its technology - new ideas and approaches can not be born in the depths of the usual methods and techniques, so it is fundamental training that is the key to engineering and the level of service and technological "know-how". However, as we know, Ukraine is losing the Western countries in the development of advanced technological and development. Their creation and application can be based only on a level of basic training, which among many other benefits allows you to stay professional mobility for a considerable time. As you know, people who got deep physical and mathematical education, learned the habit of "physical thinking", acquired the ability independently develop new technical direction and work successfully in various branches of science and production. It is important that while such specialists are quickly adapted in the industry, which, figuratively speaking, they have not heard anything, or who have not studied in high school.
It is interesting that nobody argues the need to study the physics the future experts in the field of technical sciences. It is only the relative number of academic hours that are devoted to the obtaining of knowledge that has become a critical issue in recent years. While there were discussions at the turn of the XX and XXI centuries, there was a trend - no, not a trend, but the actual process - a significant reduction of classroom hours devoted to physics. My words are based on the example of our department, which serves in the KPI seven very strong faculties of engineering areas. I will not comment on an old case when the dean of one of the most prestigious faculties, when restorating relatively small number of hours on general physics, confidently said, "Well, you know, that we do not need physics." The same or approximately the same attitude is everywhere, and it is not a specific department or the dean, because somewhere for physics it was left one semester and one (!) lecture for two weeks.
However, due to the strong position of our university administration this fall (and in fact - a gradual deterioration of physical and mathematical training of future engineers in some Faculties) managed to stop, and the last 2-3 years the number of hours devoted to the study of physical issues was stabilized. This is definitely a certain achievement, but considering the problem solved it would be premature. To study the physics for the allotted time is hardly possible. And due to the negative (from the point of view of the inevitable reduction in all, including fundamental, disciplines) the impact of the Bologna process such reduction, I think it is impossible to justify. So, one of the arguments in favor of supposedly saving the total number of hours it has been the introduction of a sufficiently large (up to half) the volume of hours for so-called independent work of students. But it is not considered that the younger students - yesterday's schoolchildren - are not yet able to absorb without teachers institute physics of quite serious level.
We can agree that physics is quite a complex subject, but at the same time - this is science that defines the technical, and therefore - civilizational progress of society. Physics - it's the philosophy of nature, seeks to understand and describe the latest language of mathematics. Hence there is the significant application of physical laws in all spheres of life. That is why physics takes time to reflect on, and of multi-level repeats to the student in order to understand the logic of science, law and methodology of which is, except machinery, foundation and chemistry, and biology, and geology, and now increasingly penetrate the economy and and the humanitarian sphere. Enough to say about the modern computer science, material science and structure of the universe. I think it is also advisable to recall that such socially important modern means of communication and information like e-mail, Internet, and now Grid-computing system, were "collateral" consequences of profound physical research, the overwhelming majority of people feel very far away from the pressing problems of ordinary people.
According to the available number of hours on the physics of even persistent student, as a rule, does not have time to put in order his knowledge, and they remain fragmentary and unsystematic. I recall that in Soviet times, the future engineers studied the general physics during three semesters (by the way, this explains the existence of three separate departments KPI of the general physical direction, because each of them led and leads his laboratory practice), now - almost everywhere there are no more than two, and sometimes only one. The situation is further complicated by the fact that fewer hours is given to the practical training, and direct teaching of physics begins with the first day of the 1st semester, when students have not mastered yet the necessary mathematical apparatus.
Lack of hours leads to another phenomenon that can not be overcome only by the head of the physics department - the so-called "profiling" physics course, and reading its individual sections by graduating departments. Each faculty has each own “physics”. For example: electricians – mainly study electricity, acoustics - Mechanics, Energy - Thermodynamics and the like. Moreover, physics, figuratively speaking, as a discipline for future engineers ends in many departments of our native educational institution in the I-II courses, and most of the Masters do not learn anything new about truly physical objects. A physics and mathematics training is not carried out through all the studying at the engineering departments, although the university administration pays great attention to this issue, which should bring their own positive results. However, I know that in the advanced Western universities Masters of Engineering Physics again begin to listen the course of physics. In particular, at the University of Toronto (Canada), where I worked, the future electrical engineers are exploring even quantum electrodynamics, which is mandatory (not optional) Master Course. As they say, no comment. So, I think, at least the teaching of some chapters of modern physics Master of Engineering faculties by specialists-physicists should be not only desirable individual cases, but more widely used method of training. Perhaps even more than it is to deal with post-graduate students in the most renowned universities tend to listen to lectures on physics (and not only), but a high level.
Unfortunately, the situation in our case is very serious. That is directly connected with a reduction in the level of students, and with long-term cancellation (in my opinion, erroneous) KPI entrance exam in physics, which gradually and with difficulty restored, and with the abolition in most departments semester exams that previously contributed to the necessary improvement in the minds of students the training material. Return to previous levels is going, although very, very slowly, because the real fundamental component of engineering education is largely ignored, and the emphasis is made on preparing profile specialists. In the context of our dynamic life, they often spend too much time on training that could happen much more quickly and efficiently if their education was more profound.
Let me focus on another, no less important, aspect of the problem. In the scientific potential of the country's universities in general still do not take the necessary place. The greater the need to assess the efforts of the management of NTUU "KPI". Thanks to them our institution received the status of the country's first research university.It has many different departments, where many inventions, advanced technologies, new designs appeared. But the applied science is unable to develop, if not fed by the successes of the basic sciences. However, a state of basic and, above all, general physics departments KPI is low. The laboratory equipment is out of date. The new information teaching methods practically are not implemented. The scientific work is slowed down by high teaching load of teachers. All this lead to the difficulties in teaching, as well as affects the overall progress of science in the KPI. Heavy teaching load, on the other hand, prevents a broad involvement the leading scientists of the NAS of Ukraine to work with our students.
With regard to load of full-time teachers, the requirements for them to intensive research work, which under the new rules must be considered in their re-election for the vacant positions and in the calculation of the individual rankings, in my opinion, are overstated. Even if there is a wish to deal with current scientific developments, associate professor or professor in general subjects do not have time and sometimes forces to focus on experimental, as well as theoretical physics. At the same time it it highly desirable that these teachers also took part in the scientific process. In my opinion, those who are planning norms hours, do not take into account that the time to exit from the emotional stress is much more than from a physical one, and a teacher who stands in front of the students in the audience at the board, is under the influence of both components. I believe that the gradual reduction of the load for teachers, the introduction of a system for graduate elective courses, inviting well-known experts from the NAS for reading courses and active contact with the students - that's the way that can really make a difference. This thesis as I hope is especially important to express today, in the days of the 110th anniversary of the KPI and on the eve of the 90th anniversary of the establishment of Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, in which, among other things, the role of the KPI can not be overemphasized.
The purpose of higher education - get the general scientific understanding of nature and the world around us. Understanding of modern physical picture of the universe in the broadest sense is the basis of the scientific worldview. The classics of science have always emphasized the primacy of the fundamental knowledge. This is actually forgotten the role of physics starts to be neglected, as well as, of course, high school math.
Certainly the physics teaching both in direction and in the methodological level needs improvement. Last primarily relates to the use of new "e-learning" resources, or information technology of the new generation, where our KPI is the most prepared among other educational institutions of Ukraine. On the other hand, no one also does not relieve such departments as ours, from the responsibility for the situation that has developed with the physics. We were in the minority in the formation of educational programs in physics for majority of special departments, who got the right to make educational plans, and the Ministry of Education and Science does not oppose such practices, ignoring its own scientific methodological guidance and development. So far as I know, the general program of training of engineers in physics, which would take into account a significant reduction in teaching hours, as well as changes in their structure, doesn’t exist. The question arises: "Is it possible to do without losing the necessary level of training?" Even if this state of affairs could agree on some limited level of bachelor's, then the fundamental component in the preparation of the Master requires, in my opinion, the gain by incorporating the relevant schedules of lectures on physics and mathematics, as is done in some faculties KPI.
Of course, most of the shortcomings, which were discussed, originate in the high school, where the quality of a textbook declined. These textbooks are far from modern standards. In the face of declining prestige of any scientific activity, high-level professionals do not want to spend time and effort to prepare textbooks. There is also the need for specific reforms and investments. Only special measures on the part of the President of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada may lead to shifts, the result of which will be a worthy place in physics including the natural sciences in general in forming professional preferences of high school graduates. If nothing changes, the youth in science does not want to go, and without the influx of young people, we are witnessing an irreversible loss of the invaluable experience gained by the older generation of scientists and teachers, which continues to carry out their duties with dedication.
Engineer, as it was noted, is working in a world where almost everything is determined by physical laws. The Physics is the scientific base on which higher technical education should build a general engineering and special training. Depth study of the foundations of physics is the most justified and economic form of knowledge and skills needed in today, and in fact continuous scientific and technological revolution. And if we choose Western education vector form, then the content of it (education) should be adequate to such a choice.