New Perspectives in Science Education

Technical universities in Bulgaria are currently facing some problems in teaching fundamental science subjects especially for first year students. Most of them originate from the secondary school education and result in different knowledge entry level and students’ learning experiences. The problem is even more serious for part-time students as these differences in the basic knowledge level are much more expressed. To guarantee enough degree of mastering of the academic course the University faces the need to equalize the basic knowledge level required for successful performance for the university courses.

A way to overcome the problem is to apply modern methodological approaches and ICT-based learning technologies. Preliminary investigations showed that the e-learning could be the suitable instrument due to the possibility of using attractive methods of presentation of the material and, especially, for independent work regardless of time and place.

In order to improve efficiency in the use of knowledge from the academic course and to facilitate the students’ work, set of so called “compensation courses” in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Informatics was developed. The paper presents the development methodology and the results from the interactive learning course for “compensation e-learning” in Chemistry, Mathematics and Informatics. Survey was carried out among 1-^st year regular and part-time students at Faculty of Electronics form Technical university of Gabrovo, in order to evaluate their learning experience with these courses. The enquiry includes important quality criteria of the course such as quality of the teaching material, lecturers qualification, using of attractive technical tools, modern teaching methods, access to additional resources, assessment methods. The used methodology gives qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the chosen criteria. The survey was very indicative of the part-time students as it helped to evaluate the usefulness of the e-learning courses for the purposes of self-study.

The results show students’ appreciation of the applied methodology and e-learning approach. Indicators such as autonomous self-study, easy to understand and attractive learning content presentation, contribution for better performance of the university fundamental courses at bachelor level are highly evaluated.