Increase of educational motivation for fire training of cadets of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

Konstantinov Vladimir Nikolaevich PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor at the Department of Tactical and Firearms Training of the East-Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation  664074, Russia, g. Irkutsk, ul. Lermontova, 110 gefffor@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Egoshin Igor' Viktorovich PhD in Pedagogy Head of the Department of Tactical and Special Training of the Ural Juridical Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 620057, Russia, g. Ekaterinburg, ul. Korepina, 66 gefffor@mail.ru Other publications by this author

The purpose of fire training is to form stable skills among police officers in handling service weapons in various situations of operational and official activity ^[1]. The high level of firearms proficiency of graduates of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is formed during the training period, therefore, to achieve this goal, a long and painstaking work of the teacher and the student is necessary to improve motor actions that pass from skills to skills of effective high-speed shooting. Nevertheless, there is a pedagogical phenomenon in the form of decreasing motivation to increase the level of fire readiness and low efficiency of cadets in practical classes and training shooting. This can contribute to a decrease in the level of general professional preparedness of a police officer and, as a result, ineffective performance of operational and official tasks, which in turn threatens not only the life and health of the employee himself, but also citizens ^{[2, 3]}.

Motivation is a process, method, and means of encouraging students to productive cognitive activity, to actively master the content of education ^[4]. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that motivation is joint for the student and the teacher. "A good teacher is always a master of motivation," wrote L.S. Vygotsky (1996). Interest in learning is the most important factor stimulating the activation of the educational process and influencing the improvement of cognitive abilities of students. One of the most important problems of modern pedagogy is to create conditions for motivating cadets to cognitive and educational activities ^[5]. Therefore, a high level of motivation to train a graduate specialist in fire training will allow to fulfill specific tasks of the educational process and requirements for their fire readiness through model indicators.

Thus, it is necessary to find out the reasons for the decline in the interest of cadets in the training process of fire training and to propose means and methods aimed at increasing motivation to learn and improve high-speed shooting skills.

Research methods:

1. Analysis of scientific and methodological sources on the problem of research.

2. Questionnaire survey and interview.

3. Pedagogical supervision.

4. Updating, systematization and generalization of information.

In order to determine the patterns and reasons for the decline in interest in practical training in fire training in 2021, we conducted a survey of cadets and students of the first-fifth courses of the Ural Law and East Siberian Institutes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (hereinafter, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia) of the specialty "Law Enforcement" (n = 200) according to a questionnaire developed by us. The survey and pedagogical observations showed the following patterns (Fig. 1).

Fig.1. Dynamics of changes in the level of motivation by semesters of study

In the first and second semesters, the motivation of cadets to learn fire training is at a very high level, 86% of the respondents of the first year spoke about it. We explain this by the fact that students previously, before entering the institutes, did not deal with combat weapons, so they are interested in studying its device, and even more so in the first practical shooting. Thus, first-year cadets are intrinsically motivated when the cognitive need in the learning process is significant in itself.

The third semester is also characterized by a high level of motivation to learn, because practical shooting begins under the conditions of exercises for accuracy and accuracy of shooting. But it is during this period that cadets manifest themselves, both with high and low degrees of efficiency, as well as students with analytical abilities who can analyze their mistakes and the actions of other shooters. But the above applies to young cadets, and girls in the basic initial period of training have a high level of anxiety associated with fear of combat weapons. In the future, with the correct individual work of the teacher, anxiety among students decreases. At the same time, the motives for improving the shooting skills of female cadets are determined by the peculiarity of the psyche associated with the obligation and the need to learn new actions, but not for further service, but for obtaining a high final grade in the discipline.

In the fourth semester of training, interest in shooting decreases sharply, which was noted by about 50% of the interviewed cadets. We explain this by the fact that many students who have experience shooting from small-caliber sports or pneumatic weapons mistakenly believe that it is quite easy to learn how to effectively hit a target from a combat weapon. But when they become convinced that shooting from a combat pistol requires complex coordinated physical and mental interrelated actions that need to be worked out by numerous and monotonous "idle" training, interest in shooting decreases. The so-called disservice is rendered by watching numerous action films by cadets, where actors masterfully wield weapons in any situations, even improbable ones. On the one hand, such films positively contribute to increasing the interest of students in high–speed shooting, on the other hand, they create the illusion of simplicity of actions with weapons. With real training, especially in the initial period, when during the exercise it is necessary not only to perform the correct technical actions and control the work of their muscles and analyzers, but also at the same time to observe safety measures and follow the commands of the shooting director, the cadet begins to realize the true complexity of the production of the shot and the entire training process. However, it should be noted that according to our observations, if a student with low self-esteem and psychological resistance to failures does not do the above actions well, then most of them are disappointed in their abilities and take a passive position to further self-improvement of shooting skills. At the same time, such cadets do not make any efforts to analyze and eliminate their mistakes, and as a result – a decrease in motivation to learn shooting. In this case, external motives become negative (motives of avoidance and protection) ^{[6, 7]}. In the sports section, such shooters leave by themselves, thereby there is a natural selection of the most hardworking and purposeful athletes. In educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, there is no such possibility of selection, because fire training is not a profile discipline and applicants are checked according to other criteria. Therefore, the teacher is forced to simultaneously work with cadets who have different levels of learning and training, while paying more attention and time to individual work with poorly performing shooters to the detriment of others. The transition from "slow" to performing high-speed exercises from a pistol according to the principles of sports training should be carried out only after the student has mastered the basic shooting technique. However, this process is faster for some cadets for various reasons, which means that they are not interested in performing the actions they have already learned, so their interest in shooting decreases. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, the effectiveness of educational activity is directly dependent on the strength of motivation, which persists to a certain limit ^[8]. However, when achieving results and continuing to increase the strength of motivation, the effectiveness of educational activities decreases sharply. In such a situation, the teacher is forced to give different exercises in the course of one lesson, depending on the training of students, which significantly complicates the organization of shooting and violates the normative sequence of passing the discipline. At the same time, poorly performing cadets may have an inferiority complex, which will lead to a decrease in motivation and further complicate the learning process. It was revealed that the so-called weak cadets are characterized by external motivation, i.e. avoiding condemnation and punishment for poor academic performance ^[9]. The questionnaire survey showed that more than 70% of respondents believe that in this situation it is necessary to move on to mastering other exercises, and to conduct additional shooting with poorly performing cadets. However, such a solution to the problem is associated with great organizational difficulties: preparing an order for additional firing, approving applications for ammunition, resolving the issue of increasing the consumption rates of cartridges, etc.

About 50% of third- and fourth-year cadets in the questionnaires noted a slight increase in interest in fire training, because during this period of training (improvement stage) they perform numerous exercises that differ in variety. In this case, external motives become positive (success motives, achievements), which affect the effectiveness of educational activities in cases when the learning process provides the cadet with new impressions colored by positive emotions ^{[10, 11]}.

It was revealed that the so-called strong intellectually developed cadets differ from each other in strength and type of internal motivation, which is aimed at mastering the profession, at obtaining strong skills and abilities ^[12]. During this period of the educational process, practical classes on tactical and special training begin, which increases students' interest in fire training.  The participation of cadets in practical training in ATS units also contributes, albeit slightly, to an increase in motivation to study.

Almost 85% of fifth-year students in the survey noted that the motives for improving the skills of high-speed shooting for them is a high assessment of the discipline in the graduation diploma and respect for other employees (self-affirmation motive). At this stage, in addition to acquiring new experience, the student is interested not only in the process of cognition itself, but also in getting various preferences.

Thus, the survey showed that the majority of cadets and trainees participating in the experiment of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, with an increase in the training period up to the 5th semester, there is a decrease in motivational interest in fire training (the reliability of differences P0> 0.05). From the 6th to the 10th semester, students' motivational interest in shooting increases (Table 1).

Table 1 - Changes in motivation by semesters of training of VSI and UUI cadetsMinistry of Internal Affairs of Russia

The decrease in motivation among students is primarily due to the monotony of shooting exercises, as well as the imperfection of the applied criteria for assessing the level of fire readiness, equating students with various high-speed shooting skills ^[13]. It is also important that the existing methodology for evaluating the results of high-speed shooting does not allow determining the strongest shooters and ranking cadets by skill level, because their status in the team is very important to students.

The results of the survey among the permanent staff of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia confirmed our assumption about a fairly high motivation to increase the level of fire readiness. This is due to material interest and disciplinary responsibility, since the evaluation based on the results of control shootings directly affects the amount of bonus payments. In this case, the impetus for activity is external motivation, which is strongly influenced by social factors ^[14]. The introduction by the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated 14.09.2020 No. 640 of qualification ranks of class specialists with substantial financial payments is an additional motive for improving their shooting skills. Thus, we assume that material interest and the possibility of receiving disciplinary punishment (up to dismissal from the Department of Internal Affairs) is an essential motive in the self-improvement of fire preparedness of employees.

A questionnaire survey among the employees of the practical divisions of the Department of Internal Affairs, performing official duties with weapons, showed ambiguity of the results. In those structural divisions where managers are interested not only in performance indicators, but also in maintaining a high level of fire and physical fitness of personnel and are themselves examples of skill improvement, the level of motivation is high. In other divisions of the Department of Internal Affairs, where the attitude to fire training was secondary, the interest in it from employees is low. Cadets who had practical training in the ATS units observed such a situation and they developed either a positive or negative attitude to fire training, respectively.

However, it is not enough to have a high motivation for learning, conditions are necessary for its implementation. So, the police officers who perform official duties with weapons and are at the forefront in the fight against crime are interested in increasing their level of fire readiness, because their lives may depend on it. However, there are not always opportunities for this: the lack of shooting ranges and shooting ranges, instructors and ammunition, etc. In our opinion, the experience of professional training in foreign countries deserves attention. So, in the USA, patrol police officers take tests on one of the test exercises daily before duty – those who have not passed the test are not allowed to serve ^{[15, 16]}.  This approach encourages police officers to improve their professional preparedness. At the same time, it should be noted that high requirements are provided with conditions for training: a large number of the simplest open shooting ranges, the availability of qualified instructors, unlimited ammunition consumption for training ^[17].

The shooting exercises defined by the Manual on the organization of fire training in the police Department (hereinafter referred to as NOP-2017), in our opinion, do not correspond to the real conditions of the use of weapons by police officers, because they do not contribute to the formation of tactical thinking in shooting situations among students. This was noted by the fifth-year students during a questionnaire survey. It should be noted that the order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated 11/23/2017 No. 880 allows educational organizations to independently develop shooting exercises, which allows to activate the motivation of students for fire training. The rule of formation of shooting exercises in the Federation of Practical Shooting of Russia (hereinafter referred to as the FPSR) deserves attention – they are not repeated ^[18]. The shooter should not get used to the external conditions of shooting and practice the same motor actions. In addition, unpredictable shooting situations allow students to form tactical preparedness and speed of decision-making to defeat various targets. So, the students showed great interest in the exercise with a high practical orientation "Leaving the firing line", which we developed for the formation of cadets' skills and abilities to ensure personal safety during fire contact with the offender. At the same time, we propose to evaluate the technical readiness of students according to the FPSR methodology according to the indicator of the so-called hit factor, which is directly dependent on the shooting time and the result of hitting targets, while it is individual for each exercise depending on the complexity and conditions of performance ^{[19, 20]}. Evaluating the results of high-speed shooting using this method allows you to determine the strongest shooters and rank cadets by skill level, which will positively affect the motivation to improve fire readiness.

The use of a competitive training method in practical classes significantly affects the interest in shooting. According to the teachers of fire training, the assessment of cadets according to the current NOOP2017 does not allow using this method. In the training process, in order to form psychological and stress resistance, as well as increase motivation to improve the technique of high-speed shooting, we used the "Duel" exercise, which received the highest marks in the questionnaires according to the indicator of interest among students. Periodic performance of this exercise motivates cadets to self-improvement of high-speed pistol shooting skills for subsequent fire combat with other students. The effect of the competitive training method is enhanced with the use of a method to stimulate the best shooters. Thus, at the VSI of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, at the end of the semester of training, cadets who showed the highest results in fire training are awarded with diplomas and badges "Excellent shooter". Shooting competitions are also held between groups, courses and faculties with the assignment of sports categories.

A positive effect to increase motivation is provided by personal meetings of cadets with current special forces officers who share their personal experience of detaining armed offenders.

However, the use of the above-mentioned tools and methods by the teaching staff in solving the problem posed by us will be ineffective without students realizing the importance and necessity of an internal attitude to self-improvement. If the cadet does not exercise self-control during shooting, psychologically adjust himself to improve the result, with the desire to work out the so-called muscle memory "idle" with a training weapon, then all the creative work of the teacher will be in vain. The cadet, first of all, must motivate himself, treat each lesson responsibly and with full dedication, and the measures taken by the teacher should only help to increase his motivation and interest in the effectiveness of shooting.

Thus, based on our research, we can conclude that the level of motivation for fire training of cadets of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia at the stage of improvement is at an insufficient level and tends to decrease as they move to the next course of study. Consequently, the strength and structure of motivation depends on the educational activity of cadets and their academic performance. A high level of development of motivation for learning activities can make up for the lack of special abilities or insufficiently formed skills and abilities of students.

 As a result of the study, we came to the conclusion that in order to increase motivation to improve shooting skills, it is necessary:

– enthusiastic teaching of the discipline, improve their teaching skills, treat students positively;

– develop and apply non-standard exercises in the training process of fire training in accordance with the conditions of the actual use of weapons by police officers;

– apply the methodology of evaluating exercises by the time of execution and the effectiveness of hitting targets (by hit factor);

– alternate forms and methods of training, more use of the competitive method of training at the stage of improving the skills of high-speed shooting;

– to teach using multimedia systems, using interactive computer tools;

– show the achievements of students, create success situations in the classroom, apply various ways to stimulate the best shooters;

– conduct shooting competitions among cadet units with the assignment of sports categories.