Ye.I. Mashbitz

Yuhym Israilovich Mashbytz (1929–2009) was one of the prominent representatives of the scientific school of G.S. Kostiuk and was a renowned researcher of psychological laws and mechanisms of learning and teaching. Y.I. Mashbits' developed concept of learning as the management of learning activities, presented in the monograph "Psychological Foundations of Educational Activity Management" (Kyiv, 1987), as well as the concept of hierarchical design of computer-based learning systems (monograph "Psychological-Pedagogical Problems of Computerization of Education" (Moscow, 1988)) gained wide recognition.

The focal point of Y.I. Mashbits' scientific interests was the issues of pedagogical and developmental psychology. It was in this field that he defended his candidate dissertation (in 1966) and doctoral dissertation (in 1990).

Since the early 1960s, Y.I. Mashbytz was one of the leading participants in the theoretical and applied research in the field of programmed and computerized learning led by academicians V.M. Glushkov and H.S. Kostiuk. Later, he organized and headed a division at the Institute of Psychology specifically focused on this subject (now the Laboratory of Modern Information Technologies in Education). He managed to unite the efforts of psychologists on one hand, and mathematicians and engineers on the other, combining specialists not only in terms of their training profiles but also in terms of their thinking types, creating a highly productive creative team. The results of this team's work were educational computer systems and a series of manuals. These works, highly praised by experts from various countries, embodied innovative approaches to the design and implementation of modern information technologies in education.

In the 1990s, Y.I. Mashbytz, heading the Laboratory of New Information Technologies in Education, worked productively on the problem of applying new information technologies in the educational process of secondary and higher education, as well as on the training of teachers and university lecturers. He is one of the main authors of the Concept of Informatization of Education in Ukraine, the author and editor of the manual for teachers "Fundamentals of New Information Technologies in Education" (1997) and the manual "Designing Hypertext Learning Systems" (2000), as well as four volumes of the collection of scientific papers "Theory and Technology of Designing Educational Systems" (1999-2004).

Under the scientific guidance and direct involvement of Y.I. Mashbytz, the laboratory initiated modern research on the psychology of distance learning and the virtual educational space.

Y.I. Mashbytz was a person full of high enthusiasm, passionate, sincere, and principled in his approach to science, professional activities, and urgent social issues. At the same time, he was very humane, always ready to provide intelligent assistance to those in need.