PROBLEMS FOR ENHANCING OF TRAINING TEACHERS OF MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCES AT HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF KAZAKHSTAN

 

 

R.B. Bekmoldayeva, the Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, N.Zh. Aitbayeva, M.Auezov South Kazakhstan State University, Shymkent

 

The purpose of State Program for the improvement of education of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020 is the development of human capital assets by means of providing qualified education for sustainable development of economy; provide competitive edge of the education, and to raise prestige of the teaching profession. In order to achieve this goal, we are faced with a set of problems concerning the content, practicing as well as managing of Mathematics teachers, and consequently a number of tasks are set directed to the decision of those problems mentioned:

1) The problem concerning raising the prestige of the teaching profession. According to the result of the questionnaires among the 1st year students having entered the university, it has been noticed that most of them replied as they have chosen the professions of 5B010900 – Bachelor of Mathematics, 5B11100 – Bachelor of Computer Sciences as the 3rd and 4th professions among the 4 different possible professions, i.e., unfortunately, they could not gain enough scores for the 1st and 2nd professions in the list they have indicated. It is accordingly explained that students desiring to be teachers of Mathematics or Computer Sciences are mainly former school students having medium progress. Therefore, it is required to advance activities concerning vocational-oriented education at higher educational institutions as well as to raise the status of teaching profession.

2) It is also required to pay great attention to the lecture course on “Methods of teaching Mathematics”, which is provided to the students studying for 5B010900 – Bachelor of mathematics at higher educational institutions. In terms of the current credit hours, the number of the delivered lecture hours is not sufficient. This discipline, i.e. “the Methods of Teaching Mathematics” facilitates future teachers to master scientific-theoretical as well as methodological hints of their future professions. It should contain thorough information about didactic principles of teaching, teaching content, types of classes, progress check and evaluation, extracurricular activities, innovative pedagogical methods applied at classes, etc. Accordingly, it is required to increase the number of class hours for the indicated above disciplines, to announce a special competition to do a new textbook as per this discipline, and to allow publishing of textbooks, which has undergone an expertise. This textbook should contain methods of teaching Mathematics under the direction of natural-mathematics as well as humanitarian-mathematics. Future teachers of Computer Sciences are undergoing precisely the same situation. According to the information we possess, there are 3 textbooks in methods of teaching Computer Sciences in Kazakh, this is a very small quantity. In order to compile a textbook and publish it, it should, first of all, undergo an expert review and, then, allowed to be published by being increased in number. Only when a number of textbooks are published simultaneously, at the result of the competitiveness we can have a qualified textbook.

3) In order to study the problems indicated in the standards and conclusions of the 12 year education system by the school teachers, special classes should be delivered, since these documents should contain the principles of 12 year education, education and mentoring organization features, competences of teachers and students, and the ways of their formation. Special lectures, seminars, discussions should be conducted systematically and indicated by a number of definite hours. This problem should be appropriately solved by the Oblast Institute for In-Service Training of Teaching Personnel.

4) According to the dictates of the time, it is required to deliver the discipline “Logics” to develop mathematical logical thinking of school students at a general secondary school. The discipline, which is delivered at higher educational institutions under “Mathematical Logics”, should be conducted at school. It is required to compile an educational and methodological complex for teaching “Logics” and on their basis teachers delivering this discipline should pass a special in-service training.

5) Teachers of Mathematics are using a whiteboard with the purpose of saving time in delivering educational materials, to display pictures and images, demonstration, animation, and video materials to school students during Math. Office programs of the whiteboard as well as board capabilities are being applied during classes, but there is no a textbook of methodics for its application under interactive mode and the problem of experience sharing through Internet is not also solved either. Accordingly, it is required to organize competitions for application of whiteboard at Math classes, and experience sharing in this field should be systematized too. In particular, it is an urgent problem for students studying for Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Sciences. It is well-known that the fewer requirements are set for students, the lower their level of knowledge will be. It is not correct to arrange general school leaving examination together with higher educational institution entrance examination (the United National Testing). Accordingly, it should be required to set a requirement to arrange entrance examination in written or oral form separately after passing the UNT. Also the State Intermediate Control (the SIC), which is one of the obligatory tests for university students, is of no importance. Instead of this, the requirements for teaching mathematics at a general secondary school should be intensified.

8) L.D.Kudryavtsev mentioned about the negative influence of relaxing the demands for studying Mathematics and Natural Sciences for school and university students, i.e., it will lead to the decrease of educational materials mastering level as well as reducing their thinking culture. He also referred to the fact that modernization of teaching mathematics has a number of advantages as well as disadvantages as resulting in reducing the students’ mathematical culture levels. Professor A.Pardala has pointed out in his works about theoretical principles of modernization of mathematical education in Poland. First is Lisbon Convention (adoption of documents in education), second – Paris Declaration adopted in 1998 (structural compatibility of European higher educational institutions), and third – Bologna Declaration adopted in 1999 (known as Bologna Process is an European reform process aiming at establishing a European Higher Education Area). In relation to joining the Bologna Process, it is required to approximate and coordinate teaching programs, contents of teaching disciplines as well as professional training of higher educational institutions of the European countries. Works completed in this area involves partial alterations to the Standards for training Math teachers in October, 2011-2012, which was held in Poland.

Accordingly, the following tasks should be arranged in relation to the entrance of Kazakhstan to the Bologna Process in March, 2010:

-         to plan Kazakhstan’s admission attempt to the European Union and to perform arrangements for the implementation of these tasks;

-         to prevent degradation of school and university students knowledge level, for this purpose to intensify requirements to study Mathematics and other Natural Sciences than it was before;

-         to advance teachers’ mastering, for this purpose to stabilize the content of discipline textbooks;

-         to render distance pedagogical teaching services (for Bachelor’s degree students) to foreign, e.g. Central Asian countries by involving teaching staff of higher educational institutions.

 

 

Bibliography:

 

1.                         State Program for the improvement of education of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2011-2020.

2.                         L.D.Kudryavtsev Problems of contemporary education. MNK: Education, science, and economics in higher educational institutions. Integration and international educational area, 2006, Poland.

3.                         The Bologna Declaration of 19 June, 1999, Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education, the European Higher Education Area; www.bologna-bergen2005.no (Main Documents);

4.                         A.Pardala Mathematical teaching: concepts, methods, and technology of the MNK. Mathematics. Education. Culture, 2007, Tolyatti, P.109-111.