CC BY
17
PRACTICE OF REALISATION
OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AT UNIVERSITY
A. A. Kalybekova,
K. Zh. Azhibekov
One form of developing training is problem training where the technology involves a system of problematic tasks of a varying degree of complexity. The essence of this technology is that the teacher does not give knowledge in a ready form, but sets students problem tasks that impel them to look for ways and means to solve them.
One of the characteristic types of problem situation for pedagogical practice is the situation that arises when students face the need to use previously acquired knowledge in new practical conditions. The main task of the lecturer is not so much to convey information as to inform students of the objective contradictions of the development of scientific knowledge and ways to solve them. In cooperation with the teacher, students and pupils reveal new knowledge for themselves, and understand the theoretical features of their profession or branch of science. The logic of a problem situation is fundamentally different from the logic of an informative lecture. If the content of this lecture is introduced as known material which only has to be remembered, at a problem lecture, the new knowledge is introduced as something that is unknown for the students. The function of the student is not just to process information, but take an active part in discovering knowledge that is unknown.
The main didactic method of "turning on” students’ thinking at a problem lecture is creating a problem situation which has the form of a cognitive task that has some contradiction in its condition and ending with a question (questions) which objectify this contradiction. The answer to the question that resolves the contradiction remains unknown. The cognitive tasks should be accessible in their difficulty for students, they should take into account the cognitive abilities of the pupils, fit into the topic of study and be important for mastering new material. What is the didactic structure of a problem lecture? Its main method, as in any lecture, is logically arranged verbal exposition, which precisely and profoundly covers the key point of the topic.
The study program and the system of subordinate sub-problems that are drawn up by the teacher before the lesson are made to fit the logic of exposition. With the help of according methods (posing problem and information questions, advancing hypotheses, confirming or rejecting them,
151
analyzing the situation etc.), the teacher impels students to do their own thinking, and search for unknown knowledge. An important role in the problem lecture is played by dialogue type communication. The higher the level of dialogue at the lecture, the closer it is to a problem lecture, and on the contrary, a monologue exposition brings the lecture closer to an information form. Thus, at a problem lecture the following two important aspects are fundamental: (a) the system of cognitive tasks reflecting the main contents of the topic; (b) dialogue type communication, the subject of which is the material introduced by the lecturer.
Case studies are one of the most effective and widespread methods for organizing the active cognitive work of pupils. The method of analyzing case studies develops the ability to analyze complex life and production tasks. When encountering a specific situation, pupils should determine there attitude to the situation, whether there is a problem involved and what it consists of. The problem situation is a certain combination of factors from real life, and its participants are like actors who try to find a solution, or come to a conclusion that a solution is impossible.
An assessment of knowledge is an important indicator that determines the level of students’ mastery of the educational material, development of thinking, independence, and an increase in motivation for study activity. The modern teacher should have computer methods for teaching various disciplines, which should not only help him or her organize the study activity of pupils, but carry out effective control, diagnostics and management of the study process. Developing test tasks and training exercises is particularly important, which make it possible to automate the process of gathering, keeping and processing information that is necessary for control of knowledge and psychological-pedagogical diagnostics.
At the South Kazakhstan State University named after M. Auezov (hereinafter SKSU), major attention is given to the development of computer technologies in education, and developing specialized systems for testing students’ knowledge. Their active use helps to maintain the necessary level of education. Testing is widely used at SKSU for intermediary training and final control of knowledge, and also for study and self-tuition of students. The tests of achievements make it possible to assess the success of mastering specific knowledge, and even individual sections of disciplines. They are a more objective indicator of learning than assessment. Pedagogical testing on a computer with a special program that provides the necessary presentation of test tasks and processing of results of testing implements a range of functions in the pedagogical
152
process: assessment, stimulation, development, instruction, diagnostics, educating etc. At our university, the teacher may directly manage the testing process: to schedule the time of the test, give points for answers, out of the sum of which the program gives a final mark according to the five-point system, and determine the sequence of questions (in order or randomly). With the control system, the teacher can give a password to each student or group to enter the test.
We would like to single out the most common innovative technologies in the education process used at SKSU. In organizing the study process, a characteristic sign is variation of technologies that activate the mental activity of students: problem questions, heuristic conversations,
brainstorming, training sessions and case studies (study based on specific study situation, study games, discussions and disputes). As an organization component, additional literature is used, new sources of information, computers and audio-visual means. At the same time, individualization of the educational process is carried out using the capabilities of computer information technology.
Among the innovative pedagogical technologies, we believe the most promising to be case studies, reflection as a method of self-knowledge, self-assessment and technical-diagnostic and developing training technologies (business communication, personal development, communication skills). At the university there is wide us of the diagnostic method of monitoring quality of education, which makes it possible to assess the results of the students’ study activity, taking into account their real study abilities and their initial level of knowledge. The most promising system of assessment is rating the student’s knowledge. The data of diagnostics is used for subsequent adjustment of study activity. The university structure has a center of telecommunications systems, the tasks of which include planning, carrying out and accompanying all types of work in this area; there is a corporate computer network with coverage of all study buildings and structural study and production departments. Each employee, teacher and student has free access to the Internet from any workplace in the university network. The creation of a university computer network has made it possible to introduce a centralized system of test control of students’ knowledge with a minimum number of people with access to the databases of test tasks and functions of administration. This system ensures the automated process of testing students, which is managed from a common service center, where all the record and statistical information on testing results is concentrated and accumulated.
153
The creation of a corporate computer network at SKSU and its connection to the Internet is seen as one of the steps of introducing long-distance education.
At present, a database has been created and transferred for use at the information center of SKSU, including 500 textbooks in electronic form, access to which is provided by hyperlinks from the general registry. Longdistance access to this database is possible from any workplace.
As part of introducing information technology into the study process, the development of virtual laboratory courses on the study discipline is carried out at university departments. This makes it possible to raise the level of automation of the study process and enables the introduction of long-distance forms of education.
Thus, a theoretical and practical analysis of this problem, and progressive pedagogical experience of teaching at the university, show that the most constructive solution is the creation of psychological and pedagogical conditions in the study process in which students can take an active personal position, and to the fullest extent to express themselves as a subject of study activity and their individual "I”, i.e. to increase their cognitive activity.
154
