Kostanai State University named after A.Baitursynov,
Kazakhstan.
Development of Communicative and Educational-Cognitive
Competencies through the Project Teaching Technologies.
The idea of using the project
teaching method in education isn’t a new one. The idea of education in
cooperation arose at the beginning of the twentieth century in the works of
American researchers: E.Parherst (Dalton-Plan), Y.Kilpatric (the project
method).The method had been shaped more clearly in the USA by 1919 and spread
in Soviet pedagogics in the 20-ies (Shulgin
V.N., Krupenina M.V., Ignatyev B.V. and others.)The supporters of this method
tried to reorganize the school of education into the school of life where the
acquisition of knowledge was carried out on the basis of labor and the contents
of educational programs were based on the social-useful affairs. But the
absolutism of this method led to the sharp decline of general education. As a
result, the project teaching method was condemned and hadn’t been used till the
90ies of the twentieth century. In connection with the reformation of the
system of education, the change of the basic paradigm, the appearance of the
new state standard in education, for the realization of the personally-oriented
education, the method of project teaching in updated form is being returned
into pedagogical practice, but in a replenished form. Such prominent scientists
as Chechel I.D., Polat E.S., Sergeyev G.A.,Voronina T.A and others are
contributing to the revival of the method .
Polat E.S. pays much attention to the projects typology allocating
telecommunication projects. Telecommunication nets are widely used in teaching
now. The international practice shows that the organized cooperative students
work in the net may produce a high pedagogical result. The method of projects
is based on the development of the students cognitive skills, the ability to
design their own knowledge independently, the skills to orientate in the
information space, the development of critical and creative thinking. The
project method may be referred to the sphere of didactics, to private methods,
if it is used in the framework of a definite subject. A method is a didactic
category. It is a totality of techniques, operations of acquiring a certain
amount of practical or theoretical knowledge in the definite sphere or a
certain activity. It is a way of cognition, a mode of organization of the
process of cognition. That’s why when we speak about the project method we keep
in mind the way of reaching a didactic aim by means of a detailed investigation, development of the problem (technology)
which should end in a quite real tangible and practical result designed in this
or that way. The teachers began using the method to solve their didactic tasks.
The basis of the project method is the idea which comprises the essence of the
notion ”project”, its pragmatic purposefulness at the result, which can be
reached only after solving some practically or theoretically significant
problem. This result can be seen, thought over, used in real practical
activity. To gain such a result it is
necessary to teach students to think independently, to find and to solve
problems, to draw the knowledge from different spheres for this purpose, to
forecast the results and possible consequences of different variants of the
solution, the skill to establish the cause-effect relations. The
project teaching technologies are oriented at the independent students’
activities – individual, pair, collaborative or cooperative, which should be
done during a certain period of time. The project technologies aim at solving
some problem, envisaging the usage of different methods on the one hand and
integration of knowledge and skills from different branches of science,
technique, creative fields on the other
hand. The project technologies can be widely used in teaching a
professionally-oriented foreign language and are valuable because they help to
develop communicative and educational-cognitive competencies which are
important for a future specialist. The
project technologies have many capabilities as they may be used in the
framework of the program and possess a great motivation potential. The task
execution goes beyond the classroom and demands additional time, solving at the
same time some important tasks: 1-the use of the foreign language in the
situations close to the conditions of real communication, which increases the
students motivation in learning the foreign language. 2-the students perform a
creative task in the framework of the theme. 3- working at the project the
students are searching for the necessary information, using the Internet, literature,
mass media.4- the students are oriented at reaching a concrete goal, presenting
the results of their investigation. Considering the advantages of the project
technologies the author of the article uses the project teaching at the law
faculty of KSU on the following themes: “Crime and Drugs”, “The Constitution of
the RK and the USA”, “The Rights of the Accused”, “Coping with Crime” etc. As a
rule the work at the project completes the study of the theme provided by the
working program. The work on the project
may be divided into the following stages:1-preparatory .Introduction and
discussion of the theme .The choice of the theme is a very important factor,
which defines the effectiveness and
success of the project. It should be interesting, actual, useful for the
society. It’s necessary to set the goal and the deadlines. The basic lexical
and grammar material is presented at this stage. 2-organization of the work on the project.
Coordination of the common line of the project development. Formations of
groups. The ways and sources of gathering the information. Not all the students
include into the operation easily, and it’s the teacher’s duty to help them: to
discuss the intermediate results, to correct the mistakes in the use of
language units. The students acquire the logical system of the language better
after such work 3-the final stage.
Intermediate control. The project documentation and design. Presentation and
summarizing of the project. 4- practical usage of the results of the project
(reports at the seminars on other disciplines, as visual aids). The project
technologies helps the students to act as authors, creators, to increase their
creative potential, promotes the expansion of the foreign language knowledge.
References:
1.
Соловьева Л.Ф. Компьютерные технологии
для преподавателя. Санкт-Петербург,2008.
2.
Борисова Е.М. Проект на уроках немецкого
языка. ИЯШ, 1992,№2.
3.
Полат Е.С., Бухаркина М.Ю. и др. Новые педагогические и информационные технологии в
системе образования. Учебное пособие
для студентов педагогических вузов и
системы повышения квалификации педагогических кадров. М. Академия.2002.