Welcome to the website of the Department of Basic Technical Studies!
The Department of Basic Technical Studies, following the tradition established in the institution, is organised to teach the subjects of mathematics, descriptive geometry, physics, informatics and geomatics, which are included in the curriculum of the engineering courses taught at the Faculty of Engineering. In addition, we are also involved in teaching subjects from other departments, such as engineering mechanics, diagnostics, colour dynamics, visualisation techniques and spatial development.
The diversity of the subjects taught is matched by the diversity of the specialisations taught by the staff of the department. Research in the Department is mainly related to the doctoral programmes "Equations of Functions" and "Didactics" of the Doctoral School of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Debrecen, the doctoral programme "Industrial and Scientific Applications of Informatics" of the Doctoral School of Computer Science, and the Doctoral Programme of the Doctoral School of Earth Sciences of the University of Debrecen.
Research in educational methodology is motivated by the questions that arise in everyday teaching activities. Since the second half of the 1990s, the principle that the primary measure of effectiveness in teaching basic technical subjects is the extent to which the teaching objective is met has been increasingly emphasised in our teaching activities. We include as many technical applications as possible in the curriculum, within the very tight timeframe of the curricula, and we try to use the concepts and terminology of the subject area concerned in the introduction. Our experience has shown that this method significantly increases the effectiveness of learning technical subjects for interested students. An important result of the methodological developments are four notes that support the training of engineering teachers: "Application of mathematical software in engineering computations", "Possibilities for the development of spatial perception in the context of engineering education", "Mathematical tools in engineering applications" and "Methodological exercises in engineering education".
In 2013, we founded the conference series "Problem-based Learning in Engineering Education" to discuss methodological issues in engineering education.
Our department staff have developed activities related to the engineering fields studied at the faculty for 12-18 year olds, which we regularly present in secondary schools, usually with great success. The aim of these activities is to promote and raise awareness of engineering education through a programme that is both fun and informative. The series of events is constantly being expanded through projects aimed at ensuring the supply of new talent for technical education.
The Department is responsible for the Teacher of Engineering programme, which plays an important role in ensuring a high quality supply of teachers for secondary vocational education in Debrecen and the region, and thus contributes to the successful implementation of the industrial development plans of Debrecen.
Prof. Dr. Imre KOCSIS, Head of Department