This paper deals with the issue of increasing the quality and sustainability of education at universities regarding the requirements of employers. Employers’ expectations of university graduates in terms of soft skills are analysed and outlined. The employers participating in this study answered a questionnaire survey focused on understanding university graduates’ soft skills. The collected results were subjected to the method of mathematical–statistical analysis by nonparametric testing of significance of the mean value difference. The significance of the difference for individual skills was confirmed, demonstrating that the surveyed enterprises required and anticipated a level of soft skills development on the part of recent graduates that was insufficient. This finding implies the necessity of improving university education to match the expected and real state of soft skill mastery.

The study focuses on a life cycle assessment of a wood-based residential building and evaluates the magnitude of individual construction components—foundations, flooring, peripheral wall, inner walls, ceiling, roof, windows, and doors—in terms of climate change; acidification; eutrophication; photochemical oxidation; depletion of abiotic elements and fossil fuels; and water scarcity categories within the system boundaries of the Product stage of the life cycle. The assessment was done using the SimaPro software and the ecoinvent database. The results pointed at the advantages of mass timber as a construction material and highlighted the significance in the type of insulation used. Foundations were found to bear the highest share of impact on photochemical oxidation reaching nearly 30% and depletion of fossil fuels accounting for about 25% of that impact. Peripheral wall was ranked the worst in terms of impact on acidification and eutrophication (more than 25% of both), depletion of elements (responsible for 50% of that impact), and had about 60% impact on water scarcity. After adding up carbon emissions and removals, the embodied impact of the whole construction on climate change was detected to be 8185.19 kg CO₂ eq emissions which corresponded with 57.08 kg CO₂ eq/m² of gross internal area. A negative carbon composition of the construction was also set.

Research in historical timber assessment is hindered by the limited availability of samples, yet understanding the fire resistance of historic wood is crucial for preservation efforts. There is an opinion that historic wood behaves similarly to contemporary wood in terms of fire resistance. The aim of this paper is to observe the rate of charring of historical pine wood during the experiment, the color changes in the sample that occurred due to thermal loading, and the changes in the chemical composition of pine wood. Test samples made from historic pine wood were loaded with a 50 kW∙m⁻² radiation panel for 60 min. The charring process was faster at the beginning of the charred layer formation. The charring rate at the beginning of the test at a depth of 10 mm from the exposed side reached values from 1.28 mm∙min⁻¹ to 3.16 mm∙min⁻¹. At a depth of 30 mm from the exposed side, the individual charring rates approached a value of 1 mm∙min⁻¹ (0.99 mm∙min⁻¹ to 1.08 mm∙min⁻¹). Observations during medium-scale testing revealed distinct layers forming on the exposed side: a charred layer, charring base, pyrolysis layer, and intact wood. The chemical composition of the wood changed under the influence of the thermal load. The relative contents of extractives and holocellulose decreased with the increasing temperature while the lignin content increased. The highest value of combustion heat was measured in the charred layer of the sample. Correlation analysis demonstrated a negative relationship between the combustion heat and holocellulose, while a positive correlation was found with the lignin content. Chemical changes were also monitored using the FTIR method. These findings provide valuable insights into the behavior of historic pine wood under thermal loading, which is essential for understanding and preserving historical structures.

The submitted paper deals with the issue of CLIL implementation at the Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia, specifically with the CLIL teacher profile and the preparedness of the university teachers to apply CLIL into their teaching practice. The topic was selected due to the ever-increasing importance of English in everyday communication and for professional, academic, and scientific purposes. The nature of the research is qualitative; therefore, the SWOT analysis was used for analyzing the current state of teacher preparedness for CLIL implementation. The study was conducted using a sample of 15 university teachers teaching disciplinary subjects via a structured interview. The interviews were subsequently analyzed, considering three aspects of CLIL teacher profile: professional background and expertise, methodological preparedness, and language preparedness. Individual strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of implementing CLIL were established in the analysis. The results indicated a general lack of language and methodological preparedness of teachers. On the other hand, all interviewed teachers were eager to improve in the specific areas to teach using the CLIL methodology since they all acknowledged the importance of language knowledge. Nevertheless, students' insufficient level of language preparedness could be a threat to implementing the CLIL methodology, which could eventually discourage them from attending lectures and seminars where CLIL elements are applied.

These days, languages at non-philological universities are becoming an important tool of internationalization. However, language classes seem to be an additional subject to the obligatory technical subjects, and they are not given enough space in the technical study portfolios. Therefore, CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), which focuses on technical content, can be applied to expand students' language exposure. CLIL activities might be carried out by content teachers and language teachers. The content teachers not achieving B2 level in English need some support introducing the foreign language into the instruction. The use of English during classes can be encouraged by Internet applications where the language input from the content teachers is limited, however, the application-based teaching activities still achieve the task of the target language learning. The paper deals with the perceptions of Internet applications tailored to teachers' needs, providing students with content and language practice. It discusses the role and use of CA-CLIL (Computer Assisted-CLIL) applied intensively after the COVID-19 pandemic. Internet applications used in the class include Learningapps, Kahoot, Mentimeter, and Youtube. The views are supported by action research based on the questionnaire survey of the 65-student sample and interviews with content teachers. The interviews with content teachers suggest that regardless of their foreign language mastery, they can manage to use English via applications. In addition, the students also praise such an instruction method. The results show that the CA-CLIL is perceived well and brings additional benefits such as perceptions of fun and competitiveness to university education.

The aim of the study is to point out the burden of passive wood-based buildings throughout the life cycle from the environmental point of view to better understand the consequences and importance of building design in Slovakia. The analysis was carried out according to the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The results were calculated by the CML-IA baseline method. The impacts of the product stage and operational energy use were the highest throughout the considered life cycle. Substances contributing to eleven impact categories were identified. Foundations, especially foam glass, were found to bear the majority of the impact of the overall construction materials. The normalization category showed considerable impact on marine aquatic ecotoxicity mainly due to building energy consumption over the course of 50 years. Loads connected to the replacement stage were the third highest. The study also proved high demand on elements of photovoltaics.