The development of cognitive activity in the study of biology in the 7th grade

Khaustov Sergei Anatol'evich ORCID: 0000-0001-9286-3644 PhD in Biology Senior Researcher; Scientific and Educational Center in Pushchino; State University of Education 7 Institutskaya str., Pushchino, Moscow region, 142290, Russia sergeykhaustov@gmail.com

Popova Valentina Ivanovna Teacher of biology and chemistry; MBOU Secondary school No. 3 Pushchino 142290, Russia, Moscow region, Pushchino, Microdistrict G, 23A v-popova@mail.ru

Introduction

The modern school is facing a rather noticeable decrease in the educational motivation of students in recent years. The exceptional priority of successfully passing exams and obtaining positive grades for admission to a higher or secondary educational institution significantly devalued the manifestation of cognitive activity, the need to broaden horizons and deepen subject knowledge ^[1]. At the same time, according to teachers and specialists in the field of cognitive sciences, the success of learning largely depends on the subject's awareness of the value of the knowledge they receive and the presence of internal learning motivation ^[2]. Previous motives for learning have shown their insufficient effectiveness in the realities of today. In this regard, it is seen as necessary to provide current schoolchildren with a paradigm that fills learning and self-development with new meaning.

It is believed that the future professional success of today's students and students largely depends on the formation of communication skills, teamwork, the ability to take on and distribute responsibility, independently find solutions to emerging problems, show creativity and originality in choosing means ^[3]. The traditional training system is not sufficiently adapted for the development of the complex of listed competencies. Usually, students see the main purpose of school education in obtaining information from a teacher, memorizing and reproducing specific facts, terms, and dates in test papers. Only individual students realize the importance of acquiring information skills, the ability to reflect and analyze, and identify cause-and-effect relationships ^[4]. The methodology of individual and group learning, developed and popularized by the team under the guidance of Professor V. V. Pasechnik, fully allows not only to develop the necessary skills of joint productive work, but also to convey the basic meanings and understanding of the goals of the educational process to each student. In addition to the fact that learning within the framework of the proposed methodology has shown its effectiveness in improving academic performance, it causes a positive response and interest from children. The educational process ceases to be perceived as an edification on the part of the teacher. Instead, students immerse themselves in working together in groups at a pace that is comfortable for them, while mastering the optimal amount of knowledge in accordance with their abilities and interests ^[5].

It is important to explain to students the main goals and principles of learning in a new format for them: a list of tasks for each lesson, skills and abilities that the learning process is aimed at developing, the need for a high degree of meaningful perception of the material. The instruction card (instruction) reinforces the introductory words of the teacher and focuses on achieving the planned results. It may contain a problematic component, contradictory information, missing data that must be obtained in the learning process. The key feature is that the educational unit in this case is not the lesson, but the topic being studied. Thus, a more distant perspective is created for students, requiring the allocation of time and effort over a long period, which is also an important skill to develop ^[6].

Materials and methods of research

The experimental site for the work was MBOU Secondary School No. 3 in Pushchino. The study involved 56 people from two classes studying the subject in a traditional and individual group form. A school textbook ^[7], additional illustrative and video materials (Grade 7) were used as educational materials. Biology. Forms of the spread and use of bacteria. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUVkKQgW-is (Date of application: 07/13/2024)), microbiological laboratory supplies (Petri dishes with agarized medium). Data collection was carried out through written work in the form of testing, observations and recording student feedback. The analysis and graphical visualization were performed in the Microsoft Excel application. The basic principles of the methodology of individual and group learning are borrowed from the methodological manual of V. V. Pasechnik ^[8].

The results of the study and their discussion

As part of a pedagogical experiment, the effectiveness of studying the topic of "Bacteria" in the 7th grade in the traditional frontal form and using an individual-group method was investigated. The students of the experimental class were asked to divide into groups, each of which was given a developed instruction card containing questions aimed at mastering a new topic using a textbook and additional materials. The presence of experimental, problematic, interdisciplinary tasks is designed to activate students for productive communication, search for successful learning strategies, self-reliance and leadership.

At the initial stages of studying the topic, the traditional form turned out to be more familiar, allowed to master a larger amount of material during the lesson, all students were equally involved in the process. Group work, on the contrary, required significant time allocation to teams, clarifying the rules of work, and maintaining discipline. Some students were unable to get to work for quite a long time, there was protest and discontent, manifested in general statements: "You are a teacher, so you have to explain a new topic to us." Only in the following lessons, there was a gradual involvement of all students in the class in independent group work with an increase in learning efficiency and an improvement in the emotional and psychological atmosphere in the classroom.

The instruction card contained information about the goals, means, methods of studying the topic and tasks, some of which are given below (Table 1).

Table 1

Tasks of the instruction card

The first group of tasks involves searching the textbook for answers to the questions asked and develops attentiveness, basic information skills, and the ability to fluently study relatively large volumes of text. The teams that mastered the ability to distribute tasks among the participants coped much faster, because everyone was looking for an answer to a separate question, after which everyone exchanged the results. The question concerning the justification of the need to ventilate the classroom can be attributed to a problem-oriented one, requiring reflection and analysis of previously received information in order to formulate reasonable conclusions.

The next task contained a creative practical component, since it required drawing a bacterial cell, noting its structures, including those found in the text of the textbook, but missing from the illustration. Despite the fact that the task was performed individually, group work can increase its effectiveness.

The calculation of bacterial population growth and its graphical representation can be attributed to interdisciplinary tasks of a reconstructive type and corresponds to the level of complexity of mathematical concepts studied in the algebra course. The possibilities of using mathematical tasks in the study of biology are justified in the author's previous work ^[9]. The graph obtained during the tasks (Fig. 1) is intended to demonstrate the rapid exponential growth of the number of organisms and needs further discussion to understand the key reason for the ubiquity of bacteria in nature.

Fig. 1. The option of performing a reconstructive task

Despite the fact that the study of the textbook material throughout the lesson takes place in a single group form, the tasks are arranged in such a way that the maintenance of cognitive activity is carried out by switching the nature, pace and complexity of the activity performed. A successful group work strategy involves distributing questions among students, searching for answers and sharing results, and helping each other identify difficulties. Problematic tasks require the most active discussions and joint activities. The solution of an interdisciplinary task requiring the construction of a population growth schedule can be carried out individually, after which it is appropriate to compare the results, identify errors and find the most accurate solution.

When completing homework, students are expected to use skills to work with various types of information – graphic, text, animation. The textbook material is structured in such a way that in order to find a match for the forms of bacteria and their names, it is necessary to carefully read the description and consider the images. A link to the educational video in the form of a QR code is provided for additional mastering of the topic at the request of students, which corresponds to an in-depth study of the subject.

In the second lesson of studying the topic, students mastered the material of the next paragraph of the textbook and compiled a mental or intelligence map ^[10], where logical connections were built from the central concept of "The role of bacteria in human life" in the directions of examples of beneficial and harmful bacteria, use cases, methods of infection, control, etc. During the remaining time of the lesson, laboratory work was performed in a mini-format in accordance with the tasks of the instruction card, a fragment of which is given below (Table 2).

Table 2

A fragment of the instructions for performing laboratory work

The level of mastering the topic was determined by the results of test work with tasks of various types: reproductive (with a choice of one or more answer options), variable (for intelligence, not standard), creative (drawing) (Table 3). The effectiveness of the proposed teaching methodology was evaluated in comparison with the traditional system.

Table 3

The form of the verification work to control the level of knowledge on the topic "Bacteria"

The results of the verification work performed by students who studied the topic in the form of individual and group learning and the traditional frontal system are shown below (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. The results of the verification work.

Processing of the results showed that the average score for most of the questions turned out to be slightly higher when using the experimental technique. Questions related to terminology and factual data were answered somewhat better by students studying the topic within the framework of a traditional lesson. At the same time, tasks of a problematic nature that require logical thinking and a creative approach are better solved by students who have studied the topic in the format of individual and group work. In addition, the survey and reflection in the second case revealed an increase in internal motivation, interest in knowledge, and joint activities to a greater extent than in obtaining good grades.

As a result, students not only studied the textbook material, but also demonstrated the competence of joint activities, solving creative, problematic, interdisciplinary tasks. About 30% of the students in the class completed additional tasks and mastered the topic at an advanced level.

The effectiveness of the proposed techniques may probably differ in repeated experiments, and will largely be related to the teacher's experience and work style, the willingness and trust of schoolchildren to participate in the study. It is believed that, in general, the effectiveness of the educational process and the quality of learning by students depend on the breadth of the arsenal of applied techniques in accordance with the goals and conditions of specific educational situations ^[11]. This work demonstrates the applicability and effectiveness of a limited set of means of reinforcing cognitive activity and is designed to encourage teachers not to stop on the path of finding new solutions and experimental approaches.

Conclusion.

It can be concluded that the traditional form of the lesson turns out to be quite familiar to students, memorizing new factual material when using it occurs more efficiently in accordance with the algorithm "heard by the teacher – recorded – repeated – reproduced". Creative, logical and problematic tasks, on the contrary, are better performed after studying the topic in the format of group work.

In general, the use of experimental approaches has shown its effectiveness and lays the foundations for subsequent, including in-depth study of the subject. When observing the learning process, a strong belief is created that such teamwork is more natural for children, models joint work in a team, and is supported by a positive emotional and psychological background.

The objective results laid down in the Federal State Educational Standard: "to show interest in deepening biological knowledge and choosing biology as a core subject for future professional activity" can be most effectively achieved precisely by applying the methodology of individual and group training in combination with methods of reinforcing cognitive activity.