Associate Professor Zhalkevich V.T.

Kostanay State University named after A.Baytursynov, Republic of Kazakhstan

Students’ Aesthetic Education in Chemistry Studies

Aesthetic education elements are examined in the process of Chemistry teaching. It is recommended that all types of aesthetic education are demanded in the advanced specialist training.

Present-day Kazakhstan needs convinced, active, creative people able to live and work under democratic principles in the atmosphere of increasing economic and social responsibility for themselves and their country in general. That is the reason why up-to-date specialist has to be not only literate but also an intelligent person.

The upbringing is a purposeful and specially organized educational influence on the student. This is one of the activities focused on education and transformation of an individual. The process of upbringing can be successful if it is connected with teaching skills and knowledge acquisition. Moreover, if it is conducted systematically and interrogatively developing various skills. The educational role of Chemistry as one of the leading sciences investigating nature is enourmous.There are all elements of upbringing inseparably linked together in the content of Chemistry. For example, conviction development in the world cognition is being fulfilled during various chemical processes with different substances. Besides, students’ outlook is developing with a help of specific character of chemical material form movement research. It is connected with ecological studies, valuable attitude towards the Wild and the environment. Labour education is linked with culture and work aesthetics. Thus, aesthetic education is connected with ecological and working in teams principles. Spirituality is brought up with the development of civil, hatriotic, humanistic, cultural and ecological skills. It is necessary to underline that every element and the process of upbrining itself are connected with cognitive students activity as a whole [1].

Aesthetic education is an important element in the whole system of literacy and intelligence formation not paid enough attention to by now.

Aesthetic education coined from Greek aistheticos meaning sensitive, sensual is an aesthetic perception of actual reality or creative art expressed in the form of anxieties and feelings caused by perceiving something magnificent or lofty. Beauty perception has to be connected with its scientific cognition encouraging students’ interest towards nature, science, labour and environment.

The aesthetic education objective is to teach:

Visualize and cognize beautiful thins, differentiate nice and ugly, thus, connecting aesthetics with cognition.

Create and save beauty in the wild, labour, community, in private and social combining aesthetics with working environment and the way of life.

Behave intelligently in order to unite aesthetics and ethics [2,3,4].

Aesthetic education can be many-sided in the process of teaching Chemistry. It is impossible to imagine Chemistry studies without active research, curiosity, excitement and future predictions as well as a happy feeling of cognitive satisfaction, success and beauty.

Like any other creative world investigation Chemistry has an aesthetic beginning in itself which is fundamental in its content. Emotive attitude to some scientific questions created by the teacher helps students visualize inaccessible items. Chemistry is closely connected with beauty understanding in science, nature and life. To perceive an aesthetic world in regular formulas, chemical equations based on great laws of nature is possible only for a man with highly developed intellect and spatial imagination. The way to cognition begins at classes with teacher’s encouragement to motivate Chemistry learning which is regretfully not very high today. It is absolutely impossible to acquire the subject without any excitement and interest to do it. And interest in its turn is inconceivable without a sense of beauty.

Aesthetic education is conducted not only at lectures but also during laboratory and practical tasks, in course and Diploma papers.

The content of the teaching material presented at the lectures is mainly information perceived from a teacher. As a result, a lecturer has to be able logically, literately and competently express his thoughts. Bright and emotive speech encourages students’ desire to speak correctly. In order to enhance the effect of aesthetic education it is necessary to use additional aids like: gestures, mimicking, photos, and reproductions presentations as well as fine art collections.

Chemistry and Art interrelationship is also useful because it enriches the emotional background of the lecture, thus, encouraging students’ cognitive activity.

Fiction contains great opportunities for aesthetic education in Chemistry teaching. Chemic phenomenon occurring in nature, manufacture and family life are often presented in science fiction and research work. A lot of writers and poets give chemists epigraphs, comparisons, and emotional descriptions of various processes, introduce life to the readers, and so on. Fiction application creates a positive emotional mood.

Let us take some specific examples. One of the main themes of Chemistry is “D.I.Mendeleyev Periodic Law and the System of Chemical Elements” presenting Mendeleyev’s biography and his research work.The story of his life and activity is accompanied by his contemporaries’ expressions, the scientist’s portrait representation as well as music sound of his speech: “If I were a musician, I guess, I could interpret Mendeleyev’s lecture using music tunes.”(Professor B.P.Veynberg, former Mendeleyev’s student). Due to O.Ozarovskaya “Mendeleyev’s speech is the wonder when huge trunks were growing out of grains of thoughts, branching, peaking, blooming, filling the audience with golden fruit.”

Students are told how much Mendeleyev loved and understood Art, issued fine arts reviews. There might be an epigraph by A.L.Lunacharsky to such a lesson like: “Human mind potential admiration is an aesthetic phenomenon and if it is over lived by mind and heart it is deeply realized and becomes personal property”.

Extra material about various substances, usefulness and beauty is supportive in the section of “Chemistry of elements”. For example, under carbon and its allotrope modifications study we tell about beauty and Art’s value of famous diamonds. The carving of “Shuh” diamond is the mystery of ancient jewelry. While studying “Silicon”. Siliceous industry” students are informed about glass and crystal beauty, and presented art postcards sets. In the topic “Aluminum and its compounds” students learn about the manufacturing process of decorative wares made from aluminum as well as aluminum powder.

Practical classes are the most capacious part of academic load. That is the reason why they are considered to be greatly important in aesthetic education development. Various forms and teaching techniques are widely used at the practical classes as well as scientific research and different literature investigation. Students prepare reports, essays and course papers. Participating in the process of scientific research they perceive Chemistry under new light. They ask interesting questions connected with Chemistry application in the Art. Students express their own suggestions and hypothesis about chemical knowledge possibilities to be used by artists and masters since ancient times, collect exciting information. It encourages students’ creative activity, helps them set up intersubject links of Chemistry with History, Literature, Art, Geography and motivates their interest to Chemistry.

It is impossible to fully cover the content of our work in the article. But it is necessary to state that the effect and usefulness of such work depends on a teacher, his professionalism and experience because students’ education is a major high school task.

References:

1. Ponomareva M.N., Solomina B.P., Sidelnikova G.D. 2003, “General Methods of Biology Teaching”. M.: Academy.,Printing Centre, pp.272.

2. Maymin B.A.,1982.” Aesthetics – a science about a wonder”, Almaty: Science, pp.178.

3. Barabash J.P.1978. “Aesthetic Ideas in Poetry”.Education,pp.309.

4. Labkovskaya G.S. 1980.”Aesthetic Culture and Education”. Almaty: Science,pp.300.