New Perspectives in Science Education

One of the considerable disadvantages of Bulgarian educational system in the area of higher education is that it does not offer enough lifelong learning opportunities. In reply to the increasing need for more effective learning forms the Technical University of Gabrovo has developed sets of interactive learning materials designed for students following different bachelor and master degree courses. They have been elaborated within the project BG051PO001-4.3.04 funded by the European Social Fund. Some of the sets are based on the learning content of the general subjects in secondary school such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. They are intended for the so called “compensation learning” whose aim is to eliminate the learning differences in the different types of secondary schools and to build the required volume of knowledge providing an equal entry level of knowledge to the first-year university students so that they can better cope with their academic studies. The present paper considers the development methodology and the results from the testing of the interactive learning course for “compensation e-learning” in Chemistry – a subject included in the curricula of all bachelor engineering degree courses offered at the University. The development methodology is based on the analysis of the findings of the survey carried out among the students following the above mentioned degree courses, and related to the quality of the Chemistry training provided at the University. The learning materials are developed on the basis of the Moodle platform, which is one of the most widely used worldwide for academic purposes. The theoretical learning content is divided into modules, each of which covers a few topics. Each topic consists of one or more short presentations that are easy to understand, illustrations, links to web sites and other interactive tools – actually they all help to present the main issues of the learning content of the Chemistry subject taught at secondary school. A database is developed for each topic, where the students can find relevant web sites, literature resources, video materials, etc. so as to expand their knowledge in the respective area. A separate module with tests is elaborated for each topic. The tests have three levels of difficulty - the second- and third-level tests are intended for carrying out assessment by the teachers and they are mandatory. The test results are used to monitor the quality of the learning process and the level of knowledge acquisition. The results from the survey carried out among the students show that they highly appreciate such a learning course because of the opportunity for not limited in time and place autonomous self-study (something which extremely relieves part-time students), the learning content presented in easy to understand way, and its effectiveness in compensation of missing knowledge from secondary school.  The last one, in turn, eases their academic studies.