Using the methodology of project activity in the preparation of students of technical specialties in the humanities

Prigodich Nikita Dmitrievich PhD in History Senior Lecturer, National Research ITMO University; Senior Researcher, Saint Petersburg State University 197101, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Kronverksky Ave., 49, letter A ndprigodich@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Vasil'ev Andrei Vladimirovich PhD in History Associate Professor, ITMO University 197101, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Kronverksky Ave., 49, letter A ander-vaas@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionStudents' project activity allows them to work with various tasks and problems that are not limited to the field of one discipline.

While working on a project, students face many different aspects, such as finance, marketing, technology, design, science and other fields. Such an activity requires students to take a cross-disciplinary approach, which allows them to master not only knowledge in their main field, but also to apply it in the context of other disciplines. Project activity also helps to develop communication skills, as it involves working in a team. In a team, students from different fields of study can collaborate to achieve a common goal. This can help you learn to better understand and evaluate other people's points of view, as well as develop effective communication skills with different professionals. Such activities contribute to the development of interdisciplinary skills that can be useful in their career in the future.

One of the most actively developing areas of modern education is the orientation towards interdisciplinary and individual approaches. This provision is fixed in the program of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation "Priority 2030" ^[1-2]. This orientation is especially relevant when studying humanities subjects in the framework of technical universities. In addition to acquiring the "classical" competencies characteristic of this type of subjects, students have the opportunity to get acquainted with how to apply special technical skills at the intersection of sciences.

Recent research in the field of historical education at technical universities indicates a trend towards an interdisciplinary and individual approach ^[3-6]. This situation is quite understandable. At the present stage, the great interest of the state in historical research and education is associated with the digitalization of the economy and social life. The growing demand for digital research and ready-made solutions can be observed in the museum, historical, scientific and business spheres ^{[7, p. 11]}. At the same time, the independent educational direction "Intelligent systems in the humanities" is gaining popularity and is entering the stage of formation in many universities of the country, both within the framework of bachelor's and master's degree programs.

The main partIn the current situation, there are several ways to introduce an interdisciplinary and personalized approach.

The methodology of project activity should be considered one of the most effective. This format is well known in the pedagogy of education at different levels ^[8-10]. However, it should be noted that it is rarely used in the educational process of humanities in higher education. In this regard, the analysis of the progress and results of interdisciplinary projects at ITMO University in the period from 2019 to 2023 is indicative. During this period, the following projects were implemented or are under implementation: "Technohistory 20/21", "PETRO pr(i[t]mo): the scientific and technical heritage of the Petrine era" and "IT-ME[MO]RY: history, culture, digitalization".

There were a number of important tasks before the formation of the project passport:

- formation and development of knowledge, skills and abilities embedded in key competencies;

- mastering deeper knowledge on key issues of the history of science and technology of modern and modern times;

- work in an interdisciplinary field, combining research in the humanities and the tools of professional competencies to create the final digital product;

- formation of skills for organizing teamwork in a mixed or remote format;

- formation of students' skills for evaluating team work and individual work;

- creation of the final product based on the results of work in the project of each team or individual work of the student.

Collective and individual works also passed the stages of public protection, which complemented the main tasks of project activity with the formation of soft skills ^[11].

The solution of the tasks is characterized by the use of methods of problem-oriented, system-activity and personalized education. As well as the practice of implementing interdisciplinary projects, collaborations and experiments in the field of interaction between education, history, culture and digital technologies. Separately, it should be noted project educational technology in general and educational technologies of distance and blended learning in project activities, in particular. In addition, the following technologies were involved: critical thinking development technology; information and communication technology; problem–based learning technology; game technology; workshop technology.

All the projects under consideration were aimed at obtaining new original results. The format of the assignments suggested two possible directions for students to work. The first was a pre-determined thematic direction (track), within which the student is engaged in independent search, content analysis, research or creative work and preparation of the presentation of the results. The second was a free thematic direction, within which the student had a preliminary stage of conducting an initial search and analysis of sources to determine the subject and format of project work.

A separate type of project activity was research work with the presentation of results at a scientific and practical conference and in the format of a scientific publication. Creative workshops became a parallel means of presenting student works, in which not only the potential of projects was revealed, but also communication with a wide audience was carried out in offline and online formats. As an additional tool, the general gamification trend (educational quizzes and feedback form games) was actively used in such workshops.

As a result, these provisions allow us to judge the compliance of the direction of projects with the key principles of modern Russian education: the formation of value and moral orientations of youth (humanistic values), spiritual and moral development and cultural self-determination of the individual; fundamentality; interdisciplinary research; flexibility, that is, each student will have the opportunity to quickly change their route in accordance with their own requests and labor market expectations; practicality ^[12-13].

The products developed by the student groups meet the main advantages provided by the field of digital history:

- Collection and preservation of historical data and archives in electronic format, which makes them available for further analysis and use;

- Development of technologies and innovations in the field of historical research and education, which contributes to an increase in interest in the study of history;

- Increasing the accessibility of historical information to a wide audience, including students, students, researchers and history lovers;

- Creation of educational resources for students and the general public about historical events and periods, which helps to form a deeper understanding of history and its role in our lives;

- Support for the preservation of historical monuments and heritage;

- Development of digital tools for working with historical information and archives, which simplifies the research process and optimizes the cost of time and resources.

In such an activity, the evaluation system is the most open format, assuming a clear understanding of the criteria available to each participant. Depending on the personal trajectory within the framework of the academic discipline, the project participant could perform project group or individual tasks, which were evaluated by points. Other forms of participation were encouraged with additional points. An alternative form of evaluation was the presentation of the results of scientific research at the youth scientific conference "Open science" and the Congress of Young Scientists of ITMO University, according to the results of which the best reports were awarded with certificates and diplomas. The general system is a variable set that allows students to get points in academic disciplines, have the opportunity to speak, publish and replenish their portfolio.

The implemented educational projects are the original development of the Center for Social Sciences and Humanities, the Faculty of Technological Management and Innovation of ITMO University. There are no competitive projects in the public space of a comprehensive format of research and creative activity at the intersection of humanities, natural sciences and technical sciences, aimed at expanding the horizons of educational activities, the formation of professional skills and soft skills. At the same time, one can observe a variable set of analogues for individual components of the presented project: youth scientific and practical conferences of an interdisciplinary nature, virtual exhibitions, scientific laboratories.

The obvious competitive advantage of the presented activity is, on the one hand, an extensive base for the appearance of unique results due to the variable set of forms of practical work and presentation of the results of project work, and on the other hand, unique formats of project activities. It should be noted that despite the completed nature of the projects and the achievement of all the tasks set, the format itself has significant potential for further development. To expand the possibilities of applying the results of students' work, it is necessary to develop and launch an educational Internet portal, which is one of the tasks for the future.

ConclusionEvaluating the results of the implementation of project activities within the framework of the module "History of Russia", it is necessary to note the positive consequences:

1. Development of practical skills. Project activity requires from the student not only theoretical knowledge, but also the ability to apply them in practice. Within the framework of the project, the student gets experience in solving specific tasks, acquires teamwork skills, learns how to plan and organize work.

2. Preparation for future professional activity. Many projects in which students participate, in their essence, represent real business tasks that may be encountered in future professional activities. Participation in such projects makes it possible to practically apply the acquired knowledge and prepare for a future career.

3. Development of creative abilities. Project activities often require students to use their creativity to find non-standard solutions. Such tasks allow you to develop logical thinking, analytical skills and contribute to the formation of creative thinking.

4. Improving communication skills. Projects require close cooperation and information exchange between team members. In the process of working on the project, students learn to communicate effectively and make collective decisions, as well as learn to convince and argue their ideas.

5. Individual approach to training. Project activity allows students to choose assignments and tasks that correspond to their individual interests and inclinations. This allows you to form a unique learning system that makes the education process more interesting and effective.

Project work based on the experience of ITMO University demonstrates the development of key competencies of students from several sides. Firstly, the applied nature of projects is key to the development of skills in the historical and cultural field. Secondly, there is an adaptation of current knowledge about the current state of historical science, scientific concepts and development prospects. Thirdly, ideas about the information space and the ability to work with it are formulated. As a result, the focus on interdisciplinary and personalized approaches is directly reflected in the framework of project work by integrating historical knowledge with digital methods and research and tools of technical sciences. The projects meet the established market demand for specialists with a baggage of technical and humanitarian knowledge in the field of historical research analytics, research projects, project management, curatorial work, content adaptation, interpretation and representation, IT engineering, digitization of museum, library and archival collections. A comprehensive analysis of the results showed a high potential for the introduction of project activities as a mandatory part of the working program of the module "History of Russia". This provision becomes especially relevant due to the fact that from the 2023/2024 academic year in Russian universities, the hours of teaching the history of Russia course will be increased, which also implies an increase in contact work.