SYSTEM OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNERS' INTEREST TO NATURAL SCIENCES

Abstract

In this article the system of project activities on chemistry and energy saving disciplines which is developed and implemented by the authors for developing learners' interest in natural sciences is presented. The implemented system of projects to develop learners' interest in natural sciences integrates three interrelated blocks of project activities: project activities of learners under the guidance of teachers, project activities of students – pre-service teachers with aim to popularize science in online mode and the activities of university teachers on innovative career guidance projects for school students. The main feature of project activity of learners based on the personality-oriented approach is revealed, which is connected with its complication from mini-projects to design-research assignments. It was revealed that the conditions of elective courses are especially favorable for this purpose. The elective course, according to the Russian educational standard, is a compulsory course which is selected by the student's choice, one of the organizational forms of chemistry teaching. Elective courses of preprofile preparation target graduates of secondary school to perceived choice of the future major of education in high school. There are the following elective courses: subject-oriented, interdisciplinary (integrated) and applied feature. The subject-oriented elective courses are aimed to develop the cognitive interest in the subjects of the chosen profile, to expand and to deep the knowledge of students in the profile discipline. Interdisciplinary elective courses are designed to integrate knowledge into related disciplines, as a necessary condition for successful education in the high school. Elective courses of applied feature show the connection of the certain subject to life. The specifics of students' project activity on the development of school students' interest in natural sciences, related to the interactive popularization of science (chemical shows) are revealed. The main feature of the project activity of university teachers in the development of school students' interest in natural sciences is connected with the implementation of such innovative projects as the Small Chemical Institute and the project-oriented teaching of school students at the departments of the university. The effectiveness of the implemented system of project activities to develop the interest of learners in the natural sciences on the example of chemistry is experimentally proved. Keywords: natural science education, chemistry education, project activity, interest in science.