PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING AS A MEANS OF ACTIVATING STUDENTS ' COGNITIVE ACTIVITY

Ogurtsova Anastasia Gennadievna

3rd year student of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science Education

Belgorod State National Research University,

Belgorod

Scientific supervisor

Alexander V. Markov

senior lecturer

Foreign languages department
NRU BSU

PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING AS A MEANS OF ACTIVATING STUDENTS ' COGNITIVE ACTIVITY

Abstract.The article deals with the problem of the influence of problem-based learning on the activation of cognitive activity of students. The main condition for solving the problem is the use of problem-based learning methods in the classroom.

Keywords: problem-based learning, cognitive activity.

A mandatory feature of a modern lesson is problem–based learning - a way to develop students' creative thinking. Psychologists and educators claim that development is carried out in conditions of intellectual difficulties and overcoming obstacles. As a rule, problematic tasks and situations in the classroom are of great interest, which serves to motivate cognitive activity [3].

The main idea of problem-based learning is that knowledge is acquired by students in the process of independent cognitive activity in problematic situations, and not transmitted in a ready-made form. In the process of solving a problem situation, students acquire new knowledge and master the ways of action, which leads to the formation of creative abilities, productive thinking and imagination, as well as develop skills of mental actions and operations. The purpose of problem-based learning technology is to develop students' critical thinking, experience and tools of educational and research activities, the ability to creatively master new experiences; as well as to facilitate the search and determination of students' own value relationships and personal meanings.

One of the main tasks of modern education is to help students develop independence, creativity and fully demonstrate their abilities, which largely depends on the formation of cognitive interests among students. Aspects and methods of cognitive interest include: attracting to the goals and objectives of the lesson, arousing interest in the content of the repeated and newly studied material, including students in an interesting form of work for them. Methods of activating cognitive activity are classified on several grounds.

According to the nature of the mutual activity of the teacher and the student (according to I.Ya. Lerner, M.N. Skatkin), there are:

-explanatory and illustrative method (the teacher reports the finished information by different means, and the trainees perceive, realize and fix this information in memory)

-reproductive method (according to the teacher's instructions, students reproduce information and repeat the methods of activity)

-the method of problem presentation (the teacher poses the problem and solves it himself, thereby showing the students the way to solve it)

-partially-search or heuristic (the teacher constructs tasks, outlines steps that students perform independently)

-research method (the teacher suggests a problem for independent research, monitors the progress of work, provides assistance and controls) [1].

Problem-based learning involves students gaining new knowledge by solving theoretical and practical problems, tasks for which problematic situations are created.

Polish scientist V. Okon in the book "Fundamentals of Problem-based Learning" [2] expresses the idea that the more students strive in the course of their work to get on the path that the researcher is following, the better the results achieved. Such domestic psychologists as T. V. Kudryavtsev, A.M. Matyushkin, Z.I. Kolmykova and others were engaged in the development of the psychological foundations of problem-based learning of its various modifications. The bottom line is that students are faced with a problem, a cognitive task, and they independently or with the direct participation of the teacher explore ways and means to solve it. Problem-based learning includes awareness of the general problem situation; its analysis, formulation of a specific problem; problem solving (putting forward and substantiating hypotheses, their consistent verification); verification of correctness, problem solving[5].

Problem-based learning is characterized by the fact that new information is obtained in the course of solving practical and theoretical problems; activity and independence reach a high level; the pace of information transfer depends on the student or group of students; increased activity of students contributes to the development of positive motives and reduces the need for formal verification of results; the development of skills and creative abilities, making it easier to apply the received knowledge in new situations[5].

The purpose of this article is to identify the impact of problem-based learning on the activation of cognitive activity of students.

To achieve this goal, we used a questionnaire of psychologist Pashnev B.K. The study involved 15 students of the 11th grade of MBOU secondary school №35 of Belgorod, as well as 15 second-year students of the Pedagogical Institute.

The analysis of the results showed that the students' level of cognitive activity prevails over the level of cognitive activity of schoolchildren (diagram 1).

Diagram 1. The level of cognitive activity of schoolchildren and students.

Based on the diagram data, we can conclude that students have a high level of cognitive activity, which indicates an increased interest and desire to penetrate into the essence of phenomena and their interrelations, to master the ways of applying knowledge in changed conditions, to find a new solution for this purpose. The student shows high strong-willed qualities, perseverance and perseverance in achieving goals, broad and persistent cognitive interests. Students at school have average cognitive activity, i.e. schoolchildren strive to identify the meaning of the studied material, to know the connections between phenomena and processes, to master the ways of applying knowledge to a greater extent in unchanged conditions. The student has a relative stability of volitional efforts, manifested in the fact that the student strives to bring what he started to the end, does not refuse to complete the task in case of difficulty and accepts help or looks for solutions.

Analyzing the answers to the questionnaire questions, we can observe that schoolchildren have a much lower level of independence in the educational process than students: schoolchildren prefer to listen to the teacher's explanations, rather than try to solve the task on their own; schoolchildren use additional literature less often to solve tasks; they prefer to perform a difficult task together with the class; schoolchildren prefer to receive the correct answer is better than the process of solving the task itself. We can also observe that schoolchildren can often get tired of new information received in the classroom. Students are less likely to encounter problematic situations in the classroom, unlike students.

Students have a high level of cognitive activity. To activate cognitive activity, teachers use methods of problem-based learning. This may be expressed in the fact that when explaining a new topic, the teacher skillfully poses contradictory situations that aggravate students' awareness of the need to find an answer that removes the contradiction.

At school, teachers ask students informational questions that do not excite the cognitive activity of students, because memory, in this case, works without straining the mind in search of ready-made information. The questions to which the student should look for ready-made answers are not of a problematic nature. Problematic are those questions that cause intellectual difficulties for the student, because the answer to them is not contained in the information presented by the teacher, so he is looking for it himself. With the information approach, the tasks are applied to the theoretical positions expressed by the teacher and to consolidate their application in practice. In problem-based learning, tasks are used to bring the student to a new topic and thus activate cognitive activity.

Based on the above, we can conclude that problem-based learning really increases the level of cognitive activity. After all, when a student himself is looking for answers to questions, and does not receive them ready-made, he remembers more and understands the topic better. Problem–based learning is a consistent and purposeful presentation of cognitive tasks to students, solving which, under the guidance of a teacher, actively strengthen the acquired knowledge. The problematic situation, interest and emotionality are mutually conditioned phenomena that, together with the volitional qualities of the student, reflect the rational and sensual sides of the activation of cognitive activity.

List of references

1. I.Ya. Lerner. Problem–based learning. - M.: Knowledge, 1974..

2. Okon V. Fundamentals of problem-based learning. - M.: Enlightenment, 1986.

3. Sitarov, V. A. Problem-based learning as one of the directions of modern learning technologies/ V.A. Sitarov //Knowledge. Understanding. Ability. - 2009. -No. 1. pp.148-158.

4. Mardakhaev L.V. Dictionary of Social Pedagogy. – M., 2002.

5.Kojaspirov A.Yu., Kojaspirova T.M. Pedagogical dictionary: for students of higher and secondary education. Educational institutions. – M., 2002.