Tetiana Ladohubets

Which courses do you teach?

“Optimization Methods,” “Operations Research,” “Mathematical Modeling.”

Which school did you graduate from?

I finished Kyiv school 177.

Why did you choose applied math as your major?

At the time I was entering the university, they opened a new “Applied Math” major. I immediately decided to pursue this major, as I was always keen on math. However, theoretical problems were pretty much boring to me. Applied math enables us to solve practical tasks.

How did you become a lecturer?

It happened sporadically. At first, I used to do research at the department. When they reduced public funding, all the researchers were invited to start lecturing.

Does the overall level of students decrease from year to year?

It goes down, and then it goes up. The general trend I notice is that the self-dependency decreases. Students lack motivation. They don’t want to work on their own. However, outstanding persons always remain on top.

What is your opinion on expelling students?

If they don’t want to study, they are worth expelling, without any doubts. If they do want to study, they aren’t. I don’t recall a single case when a student who wanted to pursue studying failed to achieve that. Our demands are not raised that high.

Do you have favorites among students?

All my students are favorites. I tend to treat everyone equally well, and pay attention to the needs of each and every student.

Do you believe the teaching methods get outdated?

Partially, you could say that. Methods have outdated for sure, especially as for a technical uni. Possibly, this is the case why students aren’t motivated to study.

On the other side, consider classical math courses. Is it really true that the level of student’s involvement depends on the teaching methods?

Thus, it’s hard to say that motivation is strongly dependent on the teaching methods.

How do you rest from students?

They don’t tire me.

What, for you personally, is the hardest part of the lecturer’s job?

Creating new courses.

What do students lack?

I would include rhetoric in the curriculum.

Current students cannot clearly express their own thoughts and formulate answers to questions.