The history of the Department of Natural Sciences dates back to 1973, when a preparatory faculty for foreigners and a Department of Natural Sciences were created at the Kharkov Polytechnic Institute in order to attract foreign students to further education in higher educational institutions. For many years, the scientific and pedagogical staff of the department taught mathematics, physics, chemistry, economics, drawing, ecology, computer science to foreign students, helping them to get higher education. A lot of attention has always been paid to career guidance work with foreigners and their involvement in scientific work, as well as the development of scientific terminology of the disciplines of the scientific and natural cycle, first in Russian, and now in Ukrainian and English.
The teachers of the department are the authors of many scientific studies published in professional publications and publications included in international scientific databases. Employees of the department have compiled more than 10 different thematic dictionaries, 30 teaching guidelines, 5 distance courses in the disciplines of the natural science cycle. Every year the Department of Natural Sciences organizes the work of the section “International Education in Ukraine: Trends and Innovations” of the International scientific and theoretical conference of students and postgraduates “Ukraine and the world” and the section “International Technical Education: Trends and Development” of the international scientific and practical conference MicroCAD. For 40 years, teachers of the department have been holding an annual international scientific and practical student conference, round tables on the popularization of science, meetings with famous scientists of our university, excursions to the career guidance departments of NTU “KhPI”.
The teaching staff of the Department is guided by the principles of pedagogical availability and logics that promotes quick assimilation in terminological, grammatical stock of natural-science subjects and provides qualitative perception of lecture and practical material. The Department of Natural Sciences develops and introduces the innovative methods of teaching: group research projects, role-playing games, case studying, and elements of communicative training in natural-science subjects.
The department is headed by Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Professor of NTU “KhPI” Lapuzina Elena Nikolaevna.
The main directions of scientific activity of the Department of Natural Sciences:
– methodical: teaching disciplines of the natural science cycle for foreigners in technical institutions of higher education using innovative teaching technologies;
– terminology: the study of modern scientific terminology of the disciplines of the natural science cycle in Ukrainian and English; publication of modern scientific and methodological literature for teaching foreign students;
– scientific and practical: attracting foreign students to scientific activities; popularization of science among international students.
