Vitalii Deineka and Andrii Karpushyn are third-year students at the Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Systems. The boys told us about their studies in Kingston, their first impressions of London and gave advice to students who also plan to go to study under the Erasmus+ programme.
– How did you get to study in London?
– We learned about the Erasmus+ programme from students who had already studied abroad. So we went to the Center for International Education to ask about everything. From there we were directed to the coordinator of our Institute, who is responsible for study abroad. The coordinator said that there is possible to apply in the third year (although fourth- and even sixth-year students from other Institutes also went to study). There was another program in Turkey and Sweden, but he advised us to go to England, because other students had a positive experience in this country.
– Tell us about study. What university did you go to?
– We study in Kingston. Here students have four subjects for a year. The educational process is more designed for self-education. Due to the pandemic, lectures are held remotely via university’s learning environment. Practical classes differ from those in Polytechnic. The student studies the lecture material sent to him, completes assignments and comes to classes with questions to the academic. Practical ones are more like seminars, where the academic answers students’ questions.
Once or twice a week there are laboratory and practical works. Laboratory works must be defended, and without a robe and special shoes with a metal sock you will not be allowed to the class. Double-decker buses take Kingston students for free to the academic buildings and dormitories, which is very convenient.
– Did Polytechnic give you a basis for further study?
– Study at Lviv Polytechnic and in England is very different. Polytechnic provides an extremely large amount of knowledge, however, it’s not the fact that we will need all of it. In Kingston, the course work on structural mechanics is set in Excel (you need to choose the right balance so that the column does not fall): all the parameters are given, so the program itself calculates everything. We had the same subject at Polytechnic – we had to conduct our own research and write only ten-page calculations. In Kingston, each student is monitored and not allowed to «drop out» of the learning process. At Polytechnic you have to come prepared for laboratory work and show the academic that you know what to do. In Kingston, you come to the lab, and they explain to you what to do, and they do the tasks with you. We have already done at Polytechnic all the laboratory works assigned to us here at this university. So we are already experienced.
