Cognitive activity and independence of students

This presupposes in the educational process the adoption of a new learning culture, in which knowledge and skills are acquired through activities and problem solving in the conditions of the student's active position and taking into account his individual characteristics. The foundations of this modern literacy should be laid in primary school. Technological learning is particularly suitable for the implementation of cognitive activity and independence due to its practical applied nature and the possibility of innovative interpretations in the content aspect, and the teaching method of the subject contains potential opportunities for the application of productive learning strategies, among which the problem-search, experimental-research strategy occupies an important place, as well as project and topic work. Last but not least are the specifics of the mental characteristics of this age group of students, which become a favorable basis for successful work in the considered direction, the special desire of children for personal performances.

Active diagnosis is intended to determine the results of the methodology applied by the teacher for the implementation of the educational process with priority stimulation of cognitive activity and independence of students in the process of technological education at the primary school level.

In order to plan and organize such a variant of purposeful educational and cognitive activity in the conditions of technological learning, a serious theoretical and methodical training of the teacher is necessary. The creation of conditions for the realization of cognitive activity and independence in the educational process in the discipline "Home life and technology", in which the formation of a greater degree of activity and effective productivity in the work of students is expected, assumes:

• Acquaintance of the teacher with the state of the problem in the current educational documentation. It is not enough for the teacher's knowledge in this field to be based solely on curricula. A more complete idea of ‹‹the current dimensions and trends of the problem of the active position and independence of the student in the educational process in general and specifically in the field of technological education can be provided by the state educational requirements of the created educational programs. These documents clarify the essence of the new culture of learning, in which an important place is given to the basic competencies of independent learning, self-assessment and progress (the student must learn on the basis of his development). Here the new role of the teacher is highlighted, who must search for and apply the latest learning technologies aimed at forming in students the skills of searching, collecting, analyzing information and solving problems. The teacher is an organizer and consultant who encourages and supports the student's independent activity.
• Research and clarification of theoretical aspects of the problem of the essence of cognitive activity and independence in psychological and pedagogical aspects, as well as the possibilities of their implementation in the educational process. In this regard, the "Skills for Life" programs are of interest. The main place in them is given to the prevention of purposeful efforts to overcome real, dangerous and risky situations, and the school is established as a place for personal and social development of teenagers.

Implementation of the educational approach requires:

• overcoming the traditional information approach in education and implementing an interactive process of teaching and learning;
• emphasis on enriching the experience and problems of young people;
• finding a balance between the components of knowledge, values, attitude and skills as an effective strategy for the development of behavior based on a wide range of personal and social skills;

Specific areas of realization of cognitive activity and independence of students in the process of technological education of grades I-IV can be found in specialized scientific journals. It became clear that the possibilities of cognitive activity and independence in technological education can be realized in the process of assimilating new information, in the process of preparing a practical task for implementation (in organizational and technological planning), during independent work (in the formation of graphic culture, reconstruction and construction of technical objects, even when working with templates or ready-made elements). The main means of forming cognitive independence is the systematic solution of problems and problematic tasks by students, which have as their mandatory component both a problem situation and work on a project;

Getting an idea of ‹‹the tools and implementation procedures and the report on the didactic experiment. An important moment in the work of a teacher who searches and experiments is the creation of a system of criteria and indicators for obtaining the effectiveness of implemented purposeful technological training, which creates conditions for cognitive activity and independence of students. With their help, the real possibility of the teacher's contribution to the creation of modern, articalmodern education is determined.

In order to clarify the problem, it is necessary for students to be included in a specially organized educational activity by the teacher, based on a system of cognitive tasks, saturated with interactive learning methods. Upon graduation, students' acquired intellectual and practical skills can be evaluated using such a system of criteria and indicators.

The first indicator - gathering information on a given topic or problem is one of the possibilities of developing cognitive independence. For this purpose, it is necessary to develop the ability to work with various information sources - children's encyclopedias, dictionaries, books, newspapers, magazines, up to the Internet, as well as establish contacts with specialists from various fields. With the opportunities provided by the teacher, the student is active in his choice and guided by his skills and interest in working with a certain type of information source. This is an opportunity to expand the range of skills for working with various information bases, and related technical skills. In the process of searching for a certain answer or solution to a problem, the ability to choose the most important, the most interesting in a sea of ‹‹facts for placing and processing information develops.

Students who did not use an additional source of information, but only the textbook, receive 1 point (low degree); those who used one information source receive 2 points (average degree); everyone who used more than one source of information - the Internet, encyclopedias, etc., receives 3 points, and it is possible to indicate a high degree in relation to this ability of theirs. In connection with ensuring positive results from the second indicator, it should be noted that the creation of educational problem situations during training can be used in all parts of the lesson. When mastering new material, the teacher can use problems of a problematic nature so that the received information is established or that the latter is used in solving a given problem. Strengthening of knowledge, regardless of which part of the lesson it is used in, should preferably be carried out in the conditions of their variable application, which includes problems of a problematic nature. Planning the implementation of a practical task also includes opportunities for problem-based learning. The very type of activity presupposes the presence of a problem and requires the manifestation of cognitive activity and independence.

Pupils are again evaluated by degrees - low, medium and high, receiving respectively 1, 2 or 3 points.

With the help of the third indicator, the ability of students to make changes to a given construction or composition in order to improve it is investigated. Tasks related to the formation of these skills during the educational experiment usually contain a problem that requires creative thinking and non-standard solutions in the direction of improvement or simply making a change in this product, project or structure.

Students who did not make changes to the model are evaluated with 1 point (low degree). Students who made minor changes to the model are evaluated with 2 points (average degree). Students who showed imagination and made significant changes are evaluated with 3 points (high degree).

Tasks related to ensuring effective work from the fourth indicator are aimed at developing observation and logical thinking in students who demonstrate a wealth of ideas and the nature of creative solutions.

Those who do not offer a solution receive 1 point (low degree). Those who proposed a different solution, not particularly rational or original, receive 2 points (average degree). Students with the most original solutions are evaluated with 3 points (high degree). At this stage, ideas in the field of shaping are of interest.

Previous work from the fifth indicator is connected with the solution of problems for the development of creative thinking and imagination, that is, the activity has an innovative character. The creation of a new object presupposes active thinking activity, personal attitude and manifestation of imagination, which are characteristic of cognitive activity and independence. It is normal to expect better results from older students here. Those who do not have time to complete the task are evaluated with 1 point (low degree). Students who cannot complete the task to the end receive 2 points (average degree). Those who manage to construct a product or at least design it are rated higher than everyone else - 3 points (high level).

In order to obtain values ‹‹corresponding to the middle and high degree, it is expected that the teacher will periodically put his students in situations that require their active participation in learning new knowledge - either when working with a textbook or by reviewing additional popular or specialized literature, children's encyclopedias , the Internet, etc. If in the task at the initial level, the student manages to independently and successfully cope with the task under similar conditions, he is evaluated with 3 points, which shows a high degree of his intellectual potential in this area. The teacher's work is considered successful even when the students do not have time to cope with the task themselves and received additional help from the teacher. Their results are evaluated by 2 points, which corresponds to the average degree from this indicator. A low degree is associated with the inability of children to cope with this type of task and shows that the teacher should look for other approaches in the educational process.

The second indicator is related to the student's ability to independently perform a practical task. This includes his knowledge and ability to plan the future task or work according to instructions (including graphic ones) that must be read and followed, the creation of a suitable organization and technological execution. Depending on the degree of independence, a three-level rating scale is again used.

The third indicator determines the number of well-defined compositional decisions. For the absence of provided proposals, the student is given 1 point (low degree). According to the presence of one comprehensible compositional solution - 2 points (average degree). If the student presents more than one solution to the composition task, he is given 3 points (high degree).

I believe that it is impossible to create strictly fixed templates in the teacher's work, with the help of which it would be possible to achieve positive results in the field of cognitive activity and independence of students, and not only in the process of technological education. In this area, we can only give recommendations and outline some paths.

Every teacher who wants to use his pedagogical experience and has a desire to improve himself can try to contribute to the formation of personalities who not only know, but also think. And this inevitably refers the teacher to the active participants in the implementation of the idea of ‹‹creating modern effective education.