N.V. Daroshka

The Belarusian State Agrarian and Technical University

THE USE OF HEURISTIC TEACHING IN THE SYSTEM OF AGRARIAN HIGH EDUCATION

Common requirements for the preparation level of agrarian graduates assume a sufficient level of knowledge and skills in the field of social-humanitarian, natural-scientific, general-professional and special disciplines, disciplines of specialization, as well as the defined requirements of self-education and self-development, readiness for self-improvement.

In our opinion, it is necessary to build up the skills of self-education and self-development, the readiness for self-improvement just during the first years at university in order to help “yesterday's” pupils to adapt to the university educational process, to stimulate the attitude to active studying and lay the foundation of further professional growth. The social-humanitarian disciplines play a great role in the development of studying motivation, as well as student’s “self” development.

The analysis of various literary sources shows that Byelorussian authors are working out the approaches for the realization of heuristic teaching. However the possibilities of its use in agrarian education of the Republic of Belarus have not been investigated yet. The generalization of pedagogical experience combined with the achievements contemporary home science allowed us to raise a problem of working out and experimental appraisal of the model of heuristic students’ teaching at the Belarusian state agrarian technical university. The application of heuristics was supposed to increase the level of motivation, to build up positive attitude to study and its outcomes, to promote the intellectual and creative potential realization, to develop student’s self-estimation in the case heuristics is used while teaching a foreign language as a socio-humanitarian discipline of the first stage of high school education.

The forming part of the pedagogical experiment was carried out while teaching the students of engineering and economic specialties. The heuristic teaching of the students’ experimental groups during four semesters was carried out on the basis of the developed model of heuristic teaching. Practical studies assured the organization of educational process based on the principles of activity approach, the theory of creativity, pedagogical innovations and cooperation pedagogics back-grounded by professionally significant needs, the motivation level and satisfaction outcomes of the students, their involvement in active intellectual and creative activities. The teaching of the students in control groups was carried out traditionally. Practical studies were based on the explanation of lexical and grammar material according to the model offered in the student’s textbook, explanatory - illustrative and reproductive methods of teaching were predominated.

During the research the following parameters were made estimate: the level of studying motivation development; knowledge and skills generated during the discipline study; the satisfaction degree of the achievements obtained; the level of creativity potential development. The empirical material treatment was carried out in the presence of full respondent information. The analysis of answer contrast index showed the development of subjective significance of a foreign language among the students of experimental groups (as for the future professional activities – Agropower department (APD): 0,48 ≤ I_k ≤ 0,53, Business and management department (BMD): 0,81 ≤ I_k ≤ 0,96; as for a widely educated person - APD: 0,79 ≤ I_k ≤ 0,94, BMD: 0,92 ≤ I_k ≤ 1). There were some study-cognitive motives in the groups where the heuristic teaching was not used, however they were not real effective. The answer contrast index at APD was almost approaching a zero point (Ik for the entrance year 2007 - 0,11; 2008 – -0,02; 2009 - 0,22). Wide social motives were registered in all APD and BMD experimental groups (0,79 ≤ I_k ≤ 1). In control groups I_k ≤ 0,84.

The comparison of the average grade at APD revealed in a qualitative sense a phenomenon of increment in the deviation “the grade (high school)” compared with the deviation “the grade (school)” for the benefit of experimental groups. The difference in the indexes is especially evident in the APD groups of the entrance years 2007 and 2009, when the experimental groups surpassed the final level of the control groups with the difference of 0,4 points, that, undoubtedly, proves the presence of positive statistical changes. Having finished the first year course the BMD students, being the beginners at English study, practically achieved the average grade at the differentiated preliminary of control groups. The difference made 0,85 points (BMD the entrance year 2008) and 0,75 points (BMD the entrance year 2009) for the benefit of control group. The examination results at the end of the second year showed equal modification in the degree of the achievements obtained.

The satisfaction degree of the achievements is diversified. At the entrance into the educational system the maximum negative rate in APD experimental groups made -0,19, positive – +0,28 (BMD groups). By the end of the first – the beginning of the second year maximum rates in experimental groups made 0,41 (APD) and 0,46 (BMD), in control - 0,38 (APD), 0,26 (BMD). By the end of experimental teaching a great increase in the rate of satisfaction with the basic level of achievements has been admitted in all experimental groups.

The calculation of Fisher criterion (φ*) in combination with Kolmogorov - Smirnov criterion showed the expediency of heuristic teaching for the development of student’s creative potential. At the end of studying φ*emp. in APD groups made 3,03 (the entrance year 2007), 5,357 (the entrance year 2008), 4,490 (the entrance year 2009), in BMD groups - 4,087 (the entrance year 2008), 4,355 (the entrance year 2009). Critical rates of φ* at any n1, n2 are equal to 1,64 (ρ≤ 0,05) and 2,31 (ρ≤ 0,01).

The results obtained confirmed our hypothesis that the development of steady studying motivation, the increase in the satisfaction degree of the achievements obtained, knowledge and skills generation as well as creativity potential development of agrarian university students would be more fruitful if a scientifically-grounded pedagogic technology of heuristic teaching, which promotes the formation of professional skills on the basis of mastering the means of heuristic activity, is used in the system of traditional higher education.