ORGANIZATION OF COGNITIVE ACTIVITY OF SCHOOLCHILDREN IN THE LESSONS OF GEOGRAPHY
Ekaterina A. Lisitskaya
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
Annotation: The article is devoted to the problem of the formation of the student's personality through his participation in active cognitive activity in geography lessons.
The first, theoretical part of the article presents aspects of the problem related to the consideration of cognitive activity: concepts, conditions for the formation and development of cognitive interest. Theoretical provisions are also given on teaching methods that are distinguished on the basis of the type (nature) of students' cognitive activity: explanatory-illustrative, reproductive, method of problem presentation, partially search and research.
The second part of the article presents the experience of a geography teacher analyzed by us in the application of methods and techniques that affect the activation of cognitive activity in geography lessons.
Keywords: cognitive activity, teaching method, geography lesson, cognitive interest, creativity, cognitive activity, non-standard lessons.
In the psychological and pedagogical literature there are a large number of definitions of the concept of "activity".
Kodzhaspirova G.M. says that “activity is a form of mental activity of a person, aimed at understanding and transforming the world and the person himself” [3, p. 82]. Based on this definition, it can be assumed that activity has two directions: knowledge and transformation of the individual and the world.
Zimnyaya I.A. defines activity as “a dynamic system of interactions between the subject and the world, during which the emergence and embodiment of a mental image in the object and the realization of the relations of the subject mediated by it in objective reality take place” [5, p. 133].
As R.S. Nemov: “The historical progress that has taken place over the past few tens of thousands of years owes its origin to activity, and not to the improvement of the biological nature of people” [4, p. 146]. After all, it is thanks to activity that objects of material and spiritual culture are created; schoolchildren transform their abilities, preserve and improve the world around them. Students develop a creative character, thanks to which their activities go beyond their limitations, they exceed their capabilities.
Cognitive activity is an active study of the surrounding reality by a person, during which the individual acquires knowledge, learns the laws of existence of the surrounding world and learns not only to interact with it, but also to purposefully influence it [1].
In order to activate the cognitive activity of students, it is necessary to create certain conditions in certain areas of the formation and development of cognitive interest.
First, it is worth focusing on the selection of the content of educational material, which directly affects the formation of the scientific outlook of students, which is very important for the emergence and strengthening of cognitive interest. This includes introducing students to new knowledge; disclosure of issues of interest to them and the possibility of applying the knowledge gained in everyday life.
Secondly, in organizing the educational process, it is necessary not only to involve students in independent work, but also to constantly make it diverse and interesting, and also to constantly improve the methods of cognitive activity. For example, set tasks with a research approach, develop and support creativity, introduce tasks for the development of intelligence.
Thirdly, a necessary condition for the development of cognitive interests is the search for ways to encourage students to learn. To do this, the teacher can use various elements of entertainment to enliven the lesson, encourage students to ask questions themselves, and practice individual tasks [2].
On the basis of the type (character) of cognitive activity of students I.Ya. Lerner and M.N. Skatkin identified five teaching methods: explanatory and illustrative, reproductive, method of problem presentation, partially search and research. It can be noted that in each of the subsequent methods, the degree of activity and independence of students increases.
1) The explanatory and illustrative method is to ensure the assimilation of knowledge by students. A teacher using this method in the educational process contributes to the assimilation of ready-made information by communicating factual data, disclosing and explaining various terms and patterns. At the same time, for clarity, and, consequently, a deeper explanation of the educational material, he uses a demonstration of maps, layouts and other visual teaching aids. Thus, the explanatory and illustrative method allows for a short period of time to transfer a large amount of theoretical knowledge, the assimilation of which is poorly provided by knowledge of the facts, for example, information about atmospheric circulation, types of ocean currents, and the movement of lithospheric plates.
2) The reproductive method gives students the opportunity to teach how to use their knowledge, skills and abilities in working on a model or in a similar learning situation, that is, there is a reproduction and repetition of the method of activity on the instructions of the teacher. In the process of teaching geography, it is possible to set tasks for students, during which they will be able to use standard plans, for example, a description of a river, relief, large regions, and countries.
3) The method of problematic presentation shows schoolchildren the complex path of knowledge, movement towards the truth. When using this method, the teacher must formulate the problem and offer its solution, while showing the students the way to solve it point by point, revealing all the contradictions, the course of thought on the path of cognition. Schoolchildren follow the course of reasoning, learn logical operations, with the help of which problems are solved. So, tasks of a problematic nature include: drawing up various schemes, for example, “Types of natural resources”; giving examples of the impact of various types of human economic activity on natural complexes.
4) The partial-search method is used to involve students in creative learning activities, which helps them independently perform individual steps in the holistic process of educational cognition. The teacher offers the students to master part of the educational material on their own: to put a question to the material presented by the teacher, to compare maps and draw a conclusion, compare objects. He proposes to make an assumption based on the facts studied, for example, to formulate a definition of the concept of "latitudinal zonality" based on a study of the change of natural belts on the territory of Russia.
An important role in this method is assigned to a heuristic conversation, consisting of a series of interrelated questions. For example, a conversation about changing plains under the influence of external and internal processes, during which students answer the teacher's questions, relying on knowledge about the processes of weathering, the work of flowing waters, wind, sea, acquired in the course and in the study of the previous topic "Changing mountains" .
5) The research method is based on students' independent study of the material, which consists of studying facts, assuming the existence of causal relationships, verifying and substantiating their correctness, and the teacher must develop and pose problem tasks and questions to students. For example, long-term creative tasks are used in local history work; short-term tasks prevail in the lessons [6].
We analyzed the experience of Lidia Nikolaevna Kiseleva, a geography teacher at Zhigailovskaya secondary school in the Belgorod region. And it was found that various techniques and methods can be used to enhance the cognitive activity of schoolchildren. The following methods and techniques cause the greatest cognitive activity: non-standard lessons (lesson-game, lesson-quiz, lesson-seminar, lesson-conference), game (game-journey, various role-playing games), project method (abstractive, constructive-practical, informational and research projects), various types of practical and independent work, discussions, visual methods, excursions and extracurricular activities.
According to L.N. Kiseleva, non-standard lessons allow each student to participate in the preparation and conduct of the lesson, to act at some stage as a teacher. In grades 6-7, it is advisable to conduct a lesson-game or a quiz lesson, and in grades 10-11 it is better to practice a lesson-seminar or a lesson-conference, during which students prepare a speech or presentation.
For example, for students of grade 7, a game-journey "Around Africa" was developed, which is carried out when studying the physical and geographical position of a given country. It was also noted that a role-playing game was held when studying the natural zones of the mainland, where in advance one of the students was given the role of Cleopatra (she had the task of preparing material about the natural zone of the deserts of Africa), during this game, students, using the text of the textbook, atlas and additional literature , make up the characteristics of the natural components of the studied area and record the results in a table. The teacher noted that the use of these games is possible when studying other continents.
It is also effective to use project methods, which differ not only in the development of independence and creativity of schoolchildren, but also in the development of cognitive interest. Such types of projects as abstract, constructive-practical, informational and research projects were implemented.
Depending on the characteristics of the class, the degree of learning ability and learning ability of various students, their interest in Great Geography, various types of practical and independent work are distinguished.
For example, at geography lessons in grades 5-6 L.N. Kiseleva uses those tasks that are mainly aimed at concentrating ready-made studies, making comparisons of differences and similarities, for example, on the topic “Plan and Map”, work is given on compiling a route survey from home to school. As for economics, schoolteachers treat such tasks with great interest.
In the 8th grade, tasks for character and constructive tasks, stimulation of the development of the logic of thinking, and the formation of methods of mental activity are more often used. For example, when studying a topic related to permafrost, the “Collect the text” task is used - students need to identify the text, the teacher offers a specific sentence of this text - facts, collects in the text, reveals the calculation based on the results of summarizing the available facts.
In addition to exceptions from the lessons, it is also necessary to conduct excursions and extracurricular activities. Excursions can be carried out in nature, both preserved in a natural state, and in varying degrees, a transformed personality.
Group extracurricular work is most successful in circles. Schoolchildren who show the greatest interest in studying the relationship of man with wildlife are engaged in them. Students who are interested in one of the questions can start research activities in this direction together with the teacher. For example, one of the research papers was on the topic “The impact of household waste on the environment”, during which a student, under the guidance of a teacher, found ways to solve this problem regarding the village of Zhigailovka.
The teacher also provides an opportunity to participate in various competitions and olympiads. The most interesting and informative was the All-Russian competition "AgroNTI", where, with the help of the knowledge received from the teacher, the children won prizes and participated in a face-to-face round on the basis of one of the universities of the Belgorod region.
Thus, the cognitive activity of schoolchildren is associated with motives, goals, tasks, attitudes, abilities and claims of the individual and is formed under the influence of internal and external factors.
To enhance the cognitive activity of students, it is necessary to create certain conditions, to develop cognitive interest. In order to arouse the greatest interest of students in the lesson, the teacher needs to apply a versatile approach to classes, taking into account the factors that encourage active cognitive activity.
The task of each teacher of geography is to develop interest in the subject, to form a holistic geographical understanding of the objects being studied, and to develop personality traits that will subsequently be implemented in professional activities. Interest in the subject depends entirely on the activity of the teacher, on his preparation and on the interest of the teacher himself in his work.
List of references:
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3. Kodzhaspirova G. M., Kodzhaspirov A.YU. Pedagogicheskij slovar': dlya stud. vyssh. i sred. ped. ucheb. zavedenij. – M.: Izdatel'skij centr «Akademiya», 2000. – 176 p.
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