Preferred Learning Styles of Students Majoring in Chemistry, Pharmacy, Technology and Design

Research on students’ preferences in learning styles is a topical issue of modern education because understanding the learning styles promotes individualisation of the teaching process. The existing preferences in learning styles of students of four areas of training have been studied by the Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles. Technology students have the most balanced learning profile: the preference of any style in all dimensions does not exceed 70%. Future chemists and pharmacists are characterised by the apparent preferences of visual, sensitive and active styles (at the level of 80%), as well as a moderate preference of sequential style (~70%). Design students exhibit distinct domination of visual style (>95%) over verbal one (<5%). In three other dimensions, a moderate preference (60-70%) of active, sensitive and sequential styles over reflective, intuitive and global styles is observed. Relative invariance of learning styles has been proved by the results of the survey for pharmacy students: the dominant styles are poorly changed during four years of undergraduate study. Increasing reflectivity, intuitiveness and verbality becomes significant for the fifth year of study. However, such changes may be related not so much to the transformation of personality characteristics, but are caused by the additional selection of students when they join their graduate school. The problem of optimal choice of electronic resources for teaching chemistry was illustrated for future chemists and pharmacists with different preferences in a sensitive-intuitive dimension. One preferred learning style (more than 90% of students are sensitive) dominates among pharmacy students, while up to 20% of chemists have a pronounced intuitive type of learning. The pedagogical approaches, methods and electronic resources for teaching chemistry, are discussed for students of both specialities

Learning styles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel undergoing English language courses

The preferred learning styles according to the Felder-Soloman method of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with various military ranks studying English on four-month face-to-face foreign language courses based on the Foreign Languages Education and Research Center of the National Defense University of Ukraine were studied. Active, sensing and visual styles account for approximately 85% of students, while the remaining 15% have reflective, intuitive and verbal styles. The advantage of the sequential over global style is about 75%. No correlation was found between individual learning preferences, the results of the English language entrance test (four tests - listening, writing, reading and speaking), and officer ranks. The method of two-stage cluster analysis shows that respondents form two clusters (Silhouette cluster quality - 0.5-0.6) of approximately the same size according to the level of language proficiency. The most influential factor for cluster formation is the results of listening. Military personnel learning styles were compared with literature data on students' learning styles from 12 fields of study. Two fields (military and natural sciences) demonstrate the preferences toward four styles in all four dimensions; preferences in 2 directions (sensing and visual) and balance in the other two are characteristic of six fields of study. Four other studied fields have a propensity in only one dimension (visual perception of information)

EFFECTIVENESS OF E-LEARNING RESOURCES IN PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY TEACHING

Implementation of electronic learning resources into the teaching of chemical disciplines in higher school does not always lead to an improvement in students' mastery of the material. Therefore, the optimal choice of effective electronic resources for the teaching of basic chemical disciplines is an urgent task. The purpose of the work was to identify the resources that are relevant to the teaching of physical chemistry from the point of view of both teachers and students. Specific questionnaires were developed to achieve the goal, and a survey of pedagogical process participants (students and faculty members) was conducted, followed by statistical processing of the survey results. The expediency of usage of 41 e-resources was investigated, and 21 resources were identified as suitable for the study of a university course in physical chemistry. Among them, eight e-resources were found to be important for teaching most topics of the discipline, and so are attributed to universal resources. Another thirteen resources are important for teaching some topics and ineffective for others (specific resources). At the same time, only five universal and eight specific resources are currently used in the practice of the Faculty of Chemistry of Olesj Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University. Some discrepancies have been identified between teachers and students concerning resource preferences that create the preconditions for the loss of effectiveness of the use of such resources. Since the use of some electronic resources is sensitive to learning styles, existing styles for faculties and students were analysed. The main differences consist in the explicit preferences of the faculty for reflective and global styles, while students are characterised by predominantly active and sequential learning styles. The results obtained regarding the effectiveness of e-resource usage are discussed from the viewpoint of preferences in learning styles characteristic of students and teachers of natural sciences

OPTIMISATION OF SELECTION OF ELECTRONIC LEARNING RESOURCES ACCORDING TO STUDENT GROUP COMPOSITION

The technology of integration of learning methods, forms and means of information and communication technologies is described with due regards for psychological and pedagogical characteristics of student groups. The results of theoretical and experimental research conducted on the basis of two Ukrainian universities with the participation of 341 students in the "Chemistry" training area and 18 lecturers of basic chemical disciplines are highlighted. Both students and lecturers were polled in a specially designed questionnaire to show their attitude to the use of various electronic learning resources in learning and teaching basic chemical disciplines. Students’ preferences in learning styles were estimated on the basis of a self-scoring questionnaire for assessing preferences on four complementary dimensions, such as perception (sensitive or intuitive), input (visual or verbal), processing (active or reflective) and understanding (sequential or global) of chemical information. Such an approach is known as the method of Felder-Soloman, and it allows one to calculate Indices of Learning Style which assess qualitatively available preferences of all respondents in each of the four available directions. The developed technology allows lecturers to qualify an optimal set of electronic learning resources for the teaching of individual sections of chemistry, taking into account preferences in their use of students with different learning styles. The technology under development is based on the calculation of average resource scores as assessed by all students in the group, as well as on the expert evaluation of the feasibility of their application in the teaching of basic chemical disciplines. The taxonomy of the optimal selection of electronic learning resources and teaching methods is developed for each type of students’ learning preferences. Advantages and disadvantages of all available variants of the application of the developed technology are discussed for student groups of different compositions. An example of the application is given for studying the discipline "Inorganic Chemistry"

Тенденції просторово-часових змін міжнародних резервів країн світу (Modern tendencies of spatial-temporary changes in the international reserves of the countries of the world)

У статті наведено результати дослідження міжнародних (золотовалютних) резервів (ЗВР), мета створення, та їх складові. Проведений аналіз сучасних тенденцій динаміки і структури ЗВР країн світу з ранжуванням резервів по трьом критеріям: по загальній величині резервів, за запасами золота в тонах, за часткою золота у сумі резервів. На основі аналізу зроблені висновки про географічну концентрацію золотовалютних резервів: більше половини загальної суми резервів країн світу формують лише шість країн. Виявлено тенденцію зростання резервів, відображені темпи зростання в цілому і по окремих країнах, побудований рейтинг країн, визначені лідери зростання. Проводиться також аналіз і ранжування країн за часткою золота в сумі міжнародних резервів. Зроблено загальний висновок щодо процесів конвергенції ЗВР країн світу. Досліджені новітні зміни у ЗВР України. Визначено напрямки подальших досліджень просторово-часових змін ЗВР (The purpose of the paper is to study the spatiotemporal changes in the dynamics and size of the leading countries of the world and Ukraine’s official international (gold and currency) reserves, as well as to compare the structural indicators of the latter. The relevance of research in terms of size, structure and international comparison of OIR (official international reserves) of Ukraine with the countries of the world is substantiated by the ability of international reserves to ensure the stability of the economy and its sustainable development, primarily due to the stabilization of the financial market through the country’s monetary policy. A comparative analysis of the spatiotemporal changes of the OIR of the countries of the world actualizes the institutional approach in the study of the problems of the OIR development in general. The relevance of research towards the size, structure, and comparison of gold and foreign exchange reserves of Ukraine with the countries of the world is increasing. Priority in the study of the OIR by public administration has, to a certain extent, caused a lack of attention to the problems of spatiotemporal differentiation of the countries of the world by the size and structure of international reserves. Also, a simple ranking does not reflect tectonic shifts in the global financial system at the level of countries and regions. This article presents the results of a study researching the essence of the term official international (gold and currency) reserves (OIR), its composition and purpose of creation. The analysis of the dynamics and structure of the OIR of the countries of the world with the ranking of reserves according to three criteria: the total reserves, the gold reserves in tons, the share of gold in the total reserves. Analysis and ranking of countries by the share of gold in the number of international reserves is also carried out. Results. The analysis of the value of the OIR of the countries of the world in the dynamics during the study period revealed the main tendencies, namely the changes of the countries in the world ranking and Ukraine’s place in it. Based on the analysis, conclusions are made about the geographical concentration of gold and foreign exchange reserves: more than half of the total reserves of the world are formed by six countries. The conclusion is made about the growth of gold reserves, the growth rates are reflected in general and for individual countries, the rating of countries is built, the leaders of growth are identified. The distribution of the top 20 countries in terms of OIR volumes is the result of the concentration of the lion’s share of them in a very limited number of leading countries. The first six countries (China, Japan, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Russia) are followed by mostly newly industrialized countries (NICs) – India, South Korea, Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia. A rather compact group of countries is created by the old highly developed countries – Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain. An occurrence of the Czech Republic, Poland and the hi-tech country Israel in the top twenty countries is symptomatic. Thus, in the world OIR, there are groups (clubs) of countries divided by specific socio-economic typological features. The structure of the NBU’s foreign exchange reserves has been investigated according to the IMF. The dynamics of international reserves of Ukraine for 2009-2019 is analyzed. Two waves in the dynamics of Ukraine’s international reserves have been identified, and in the whole, for the period under review, there is a negative tendency to decrease the amount of Ukraine’s international reserves, with the linear speed of their decrease amounting to USD 1354.7 million per year. The study of the structure of the OIR showed that gold becomes a significant component of the OIR in an unstable world economic situation. The first twenty countries of the world are analyzed for gold reserves and the place of Ukraine is determined. The conclusion was made about the tendency of growth of reserves, reflected the growth rates in the whole and in individual countries, the rating of the countries, the leaders of growth were determined. As for the top 20 countries, the spatial-temporal changes in their OIR share of gold are, first, the result of historical (genetic) factors and traditions, and, second, crisis states, economic volatility, etc. Most developed countries have a high proportion of gold in the reserves. The largest owner of the gold reserve is the United States. The spatiotemporal changes of the OIR of the countries of the world are conditioned by the deep processes of socio-economic convergence/divergence that require further research. Methodology. The research is based on a systemic approach with the use of the broad spectrum of qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis of statistic data, comparative analysis, methods of induction, deduction, and generalization.

Designer products from textile waste: creation & sale

Conduct research into the prospect of creating a company that can provide upcycling of second-hand clothes & textile offcuts to create new products. As follows from statistical data, textile waste products average 7% of all waste in Ukraine. Some local solid waste recycling companies down cycle only 3%. The rest of 97% of textile waste goes to landfills and remains a source of pollution. Therefore, the conversion of textile waste to a resource can be an important part of the "circular economy" of Ukraine. The results obtained will help to organise a company for upcycling of second-hand clothes & textile offcuts to create new products

Фармакопейные методы анализа элементов в лекарственных средствах: сравнительное исследование

The article is devoted to the problem of quality assurance of medicinal products, namely the determination of elemental impurity concentration compared to permitted daily exposures for and the correct choice analytical methods that are adequate to the formulated tasks. The paper goal is to compare characteristics of four analytical methods recommended by the Pharmacopoeia of various countries to control the content of elemental impurities in medicines, including medicinal plant raw materials and herbal medicines. Both advantages and disadvantages were described for atomic absorption spectroscopy with various atomising techniques, as well as atomic emission spectroscopy and mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma. The choice of the most rational analysis method depends on a research task and is reasoned from the viewpoint of analytical objectives, possible complications, performance attributes, and economic considerations. The methods of ICP-MS and GFAAS were shown to provide the greatest potential for determining the low and ultra-low concentrations of chemical elements in medicinal plants and herbal medicinal products. The other two methods, FAAS and ICP-AES, are limited to the analysis of the main essential elements and the largest impurities. The ICP-MS is the most efficient method for determining ultra-low concentrations. However, the interference of mass peaks is typical for ICP-MS. It is formed not only by impurities but also by polyatomic ions with the participation of argon, as well as atoms of gases from the air (C, N and O) or matrices (O, N, H, P, S and Cl). Therefore, a correct sample preparation, which guarantees minimisation of impurity contamination and loss of analytes becomes the most crucial stage of analytical applications of ICP-MS. The detections limits for some chemical elements, which content is regulated in modern Pharmacopoeia, were estimated for each method and analysis conditions of medicinal plant raw materials and herbal medicinal products.Статтю присвячено вирішенню проблем забезпечення якості лікарських засобів, а саме визначення вмісту в них елементних домішок у порівнянні з гранично допустимими добовими дозами та вибору аналітичних методів, адекватних поставленим задачам. Метою роботи є проведення порівняльного аналізу характеристик чотирьох аналітичних методів, що рекомендуються фармакопеями різних країн для контролю вмісту елементних домішок у лікарських засобах, у тому числі лікарській рослинній сировині та лікарських засобах рослинного походження. Визначено як переваги, так і недоліки атомно-абсорбційної спектроскопії з різними методами атомізації, а також атомно-емісійної спектроскопії та мас-спектрометрії з індуктивно-зв’язаною плазмою. Вибір найбільш доцільного методу аналізу залежить від завдання дослідження та обґрунтовується з точки зору поставлених аналітичних цілей, наявних ускладнень, експлуатаційних властивостей та економічних міркувань. Показано, що методи ІЗП-МС та ЕТААС надають найбільші можливості щодо визначення низьких та ультра низьких концентрацій хімічних елементів у лікарській рослинній сировині та засобах рослинного походження, в той час як два інших методи, ПААС та ІЗП-АЕС, обмежуються визначенням основних компонентів та найбільших домішок. Мас-спектрометрія з ІЗП є найбільш ефективним методом для визначення ультра низьких концентрацій. Але для цього методу типовою є інтерференція масових піків, що утворюються не тільки домішками, але також поліатомними іонами за участю аргону, а також атомів газів із повітря (C, N, O) або матриці (O, N, H, P, S, Cl). Тому для цього методу дуже важливою є коректна пробопідготовка, спрямована на мінімізацію забруднень або втрати аналітів. Межі визначення ряду хімічних елементів, вміст яких регламентовано в сучасних фармакопеях, оцінено для кожного методу для умов аналізу лікарської рослинної сировині та лікарських засобів рослинного походження.Статья посвящена решению проблем обеспечения качества лекарственных средств, а именно определения содержания в них элементных примесей в сравнении с предельно допустимыми суточными дозами и выбора аналитических методов, адекватных поставленным задачам. Целью работы является проведение сравнительного анализа характеристик четырех аналитических методов, рекомендуемых фармакопеями разных стран для контроля содержания элементных примесей в лекарственных средствах, в том числе лекарственном растительном сырье и лекарственных средствах растительного происхождения. Определены как преимущества, так и недостатки атомно-абсорбционной спектроскопии с разными способами, а также атомно-эмиссионной спектроскопии и масс-спектрометрии с индуктивно-связанной плазмой. Выбор наиболее целесообразного метода анализа зависит от задачи исследования и обосновывается с точки зрения поставленных аналитических целей, имеющихся осложнений, эксплуатационных свойств и экономических соображений. Показано, что методы ИСП-МС и ЭТААС предоставляют наибольшие возможности по определению низких и ультра низких концентраций химических элементов в лекарственном растительном сырье и средствах растительного происхождения, в то время как два других метода, ПААС и ИСП-АЭС, ограничиваются определением основных компонентов и наибольших примесей. Масс-спектрометрия с ИСП является наиболее эффективным методом для определения ультра низких концентраций. Но для этого метода типична интерференция массовых пиков, которые образуются не только примесями, но также полиатомными ионами с участием аргона, а также атомов газов из воздуха (C, N, O) или матрицы (O, N, H, P, S, Cl). Поэтому для данного метода очень важна корректная пробоподготовка, направленная на минимизацию загрязнений или потери аналитов. Пределы обнаружения ряда химических элементов, содержание которых регламентируется в современных Фармакопеях, оценены для каждого метода для условий анализа лекарственного растительного сырья и лекарственных средств растительного происхождения

Project-based learning for undergraduate engineering students minoring in textile technology and design

The experience of application of methods of problem-based and project-based learning was described in the training of future engineers for the light industry. Methodological issues are considered, as well as practical recommendations are formulated, for the application of these methods in teaching professionally-oriented disciplines. Examples of project design and their content are given for two specialised disciplines. They are aimed at the development of students’ ability to creative thinking and problem-solving when working both independently and in a team. The method effectiveness is illustrated by the formation of students’ new competencies, and an increase in their motivation and experience in teamwork. The preferred styles of students’ learning were studied for student groups of four different enrolment years. The learning preferences are relatively stable over the four study years. On average, engineering students minoring in textile engineering and design demonstrate a tendency to active, visual, sensing and sequential learning styles. Project-based teaching methods are not universally suitable for students with different learning preferences. Moreover, the success in projecting under the studied conditions correlates with the existing learning preferences of student teams. Student teams succeed in the implementation of projects if they have a balance in the ref-act dimension with a limited preference of the active style. In other words, excessive activity and lack of reflective reflection hindered the successful completion of projects. In the sen-int dimension, the presence of a pronounced sensitive style is also favourable for design and implementation of class projects. Successes in projecting are mostly insensitive to changes in the vis-vrb and seq-glo dimensions. The introduction of the problem and project-based learning methods is useful for engineering students. They acquire new competencies, gain real experience of teamwork, and increase motivation to learn and develop creativity

Infrastructure and logistics for economic activity of states

The article reveals that each of the world's leading countries aims to develop economic ties with the world's leading countries through transport. It aims to create transport and logistics centers and the development of transport and logistics systems. The main opinions of scientists on the processes of development of transport and logistics centers in the country are considered. It is emphasized that logistics centers promote the development of a new direction of transportation. It is about intermodal transportation Through close cooperation between transport companies that are part of the logistics center provide an opportunity to plan an international transportation scheme in order to optimize the use of certain types of transport resources and vehicles