Main problems: - Low level of students' interest in mastering the exact and natural sciences, fear of these areas of knowledge at the stage of obtaining general education; - Lack of a clear understanding of the prospects for work in these areas. Objectives: 1. To enable interested children to develop. 2. Increase interest in the development of exact and natural sciences.
Development: research skills, design abilities, abstract and logical thinking. Focus on results (obtaining a product). Is it possible to get an engineer when studying according to the Federal State Educational Standard? Technology Lessons… What should an engineering education school do? Only by changing the forms of employment. Other lessons, meta-subject approach, practical exercises, project work, small groups. What is an engineer?
Networking Partners of the project Gymnasium 1 "Univers" and schools of the district; Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University; Krasnoyarsk Institute of Railway Transport; Siberian Federal University; Siberian State Aerospace University; Institute of Physics, Computational Modeling SB RAS; Ministry of Education and Science of the Krasnoyarsk Territory; RUSAL company; AstroSoft Company; Russian branch of National Instruments; Krasnoyarsk Radio Plant; Association CMIT. Joint development of original programs; Sharing equipment; Joint funding; United team of teachers and representatives of the profession; School University Enterprises Parents
Questions - Who is an engineer and what should a school do for engineering education? - Is extracurricular activity enough or is it necessary to change the lessons? - What is the peculiarity of engineering education? (How does it differ from the physics and mathematics class?) - How should network interaction be arranged? -What needs to be done to make schools want to cooperate? - At what age does engineering training begin?
MBOU OG No. 24 of the city of Arkhangelsk, teacher of computer science,
[email protected] www.koposov.info
THE BEGINNING OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN SCHOOL
BEGINNING OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS
Annotation.
The article presents the experience of organizing and conducting engineering-oriented elective and optional courses in computer science at school. Issues of increasing educational motivation, professional orientation of students are discussed.
Keywords:
Computer science education, elective courses, robotics at school, microelectronics at school, educational laboratories, informatization.
abstract.
This article describes the experience of organizing and conducting an engineering-oriented elective and optional courses on Informatics in school. Discusses improving learning motivation, mental development and vocational orientation of pupils.
key words:
Education, K-12, STEM, robotics, microelectronics, school laboratories, informatization.
Today, the Russian Federation is experiencing an engineering crisis - a lack of engineering personnel and the absence of a younger generation of engineers, which can become a factor that will slow down the country's economic growth. This is noted by the rectors of the largest technical universities, this issue is regularly raised at the government level. “Today in the country there is a clear shortage of engineering and technical workers, workers and, first of all, workers, corresponding to the current level of development of our society. If recently we were still talking about the fact that we are in a period of Russia's survival, now we are entering the international arena and must provide competitive products, introduce advanced innovative technologies, nanotechnologies, and this requires appropriate personnel. And today we, unfortunately, do not have them ”(Putin V.V.).
What is usually proposed to change the current situation? In addition to raising the status of the profession and raising the wages of engineers, all the “variety” of proposals boils down to two directions: to strengthen the selection of applicants and organize pre-university additional training for graduates either at school or at the university:
“We need other, constructive approaches to ensure the influx of well-prepared applicants who are oriented towards entering technical universities. One of these approaches is the wide development of Olympiads for schoolchildren ... Another way to form a contingent of applicants is targeted admission ... We must pay the most serious attention to the polytechnic education of schoolchildren, restore the necessary volumes of technological training for students in secondary schools, which was still relatively recent, develop circles and at home children's technical creativity "(Fedorov I.B.);
“To make part of the 10th and 11th grades a “pre-university”. In addition to school teachers, university teachers should work there. If, therefore, we transfer part of the fundamental disciplines to school, four years of the program at the university will be enough to prepare not an “unfinished” engineer, but a bachelor capable of taking an engineering position” (Pokholkov Yu.P.).
The second approach involves transferring part of the educational material to the secondary school - at first glance, a wonderful proposal "from above", but causes resentment of teachers. Now there is a gap between secondary and higher education, and neither side is in a hurry to meet each other: advanced training courses for teachers can only be taken at advanced training institutes (other schemes simply do not work). It is necessary to clearly understand what percentage of students in a regular school are ready to listen to lectures by university teachers, and to understand how school teachers will look against the background of university professors and associate professors (and vice versa). This scheme is more or less feasible only in urban lyceums, which, again, will not be enough to meet the needs of both universities and the country in well-trained applicants. A vicious circle that forms both panic moods and unwillingness to change anything, or simply “appoint” someone to blame (“they don’t teach well at school” is the most popular belief of higher education workers). “The education system itself began to degrade everywhere. In this regard, the oldest and most powerful educational institution - the family - with its ability for holistic education and the transfer of "informal knowledge" acquires exceptional significance. Accordingly, engineering training at a university, in a small firm, in the form of additional education acquires a holistic personal character ”(Saprykin D.L.) . “In my opinion, it is not necessary to specifically identify abilities for the exact sciences. It is necessary to develop circles, electives, elective courses, subject Olympiads - this will be enough. You can add career guidance. For the development of abilities in both the exact sciences and the humanities, it is necessary to work according to the principle: to teach according to the psychological readiness for perception ”(Krylov E.V.).
It was in such a social environment in 2010 that we began to implement a project to create an accessible educational environment that would allow us to take the study of computer science to a qualitatively new level, within the framework of which we created in our school since 2012 - a gymnasium) an engineering laboratory (robotics and microelectronics) and we use them within the framework of the model of continuous information education.
When we started developing this direction, it turned out that in the Russian Federation there is no way to rely on someone else's experience, which is usually represented by classes with a small group of enthusiastic students (3–5 people), i.e. there is no work and research within the framework of the direct educational process, there is no integration and continuity of engineering courses, and, of course, there are practically no teaching materials for ordinary general education schools. Therefore, when choosing the main vector for the development of laboratories, we turned to international analytics and forecasts.
In 2009, the New Media Consortium - an international consortium of more than 250 colleges, universities, museums, corporations and other learning-oriented organizations to research and use new media and new technologies predicted widespread use for education by 2013-2014 smart objects, including Arduino microcontrollers - an open source platform for designing electronic devices that allows students to control the interaction of these devices with the physical environment.
It is worth paying special attention to the full name of our school: the municipal budgetary educational institution of the municipal formation "City of Arkhangelsk" "Secondary school No. 24 with an in-depth study of subjects in the artistic and aesthetic direction" (since June 2012 - "General education gymnasium No. 24"; www. shkola24.su), this is important, since the effectiveness of educational technologies and student motivation come first in a non-core school.
In 2010, the US National Science Foundation (together with The Computing Research Association and The Computing Community Consortium) published an analytical report that details which educational technologies will be most effective and in demand until 2030:
user Modeling- monitoring and modeling of professional qualities and educational achievements of students;
Mobile Tool s - the transformation of mobile devices into an educational tool;
Networking Tools- use of network educational technologies;
Serious Games- games that develop conceptual competencies;
intelligent Environments- creation of intellectual educational environments;
Educational Data Mining- educational environments of data mining;
Rich Interfaces- rich interfaces of interaction with the physical world.
The first task that we had to solve was the creation of an educational environment that reflects all the trends and directions in the development of these educational technologies - engineering laboratories.
In 2010-2012, without state funding, we created and use engineering laboratories in the educational process in the following areas:
LEGO robotics (15 training places based on the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT educational kit);
programming of microcontrollers (15 training places based on microcontrollers ChipKIT UNO32 Prototyping Platform, ChipKIT Basic I/O Shield);
designing digital devices (15 training places based on the Arduino platform and various electronic components);
data collection and measurement systems (15 training places based on National Instruments myDAQ student mobile laboratory complex and NI LabVIEW software);
sensors and signal processing (15 learning places based on sets of 30 different sensors compatible with Arduino, ChipKIT and NI myDAQ);
mobile robotics (15 educational DIY 2WD robots on the Arduino platform).
The second task is to use the capabilities of laboratories in the educational process, in particular in teaching computer science and ICT. Currently, this equipment is used in lessons, elective and optional courses, elective subjects in computer science and ICT.
In the laboratories mentioned above, in almost every lesson, students are faced with a situation where further technical activities, inventions become impossible without a scientific basis. In the classroom, students for the first time in their lives receive real skills in organizing work; make decisions; carry out simple technical control, build a mathematical description; carry out computer modeling and development of control methods, develop subsystems and devices; structural elements; analyze information from sensors; try to build multicomponent systems, debug, test, upgrade and reprogram devices and systems; support them in working condition - all this is the most important foundation for future research, design, organizational, managerial and operational professional activities. This is no longer just career guidance, it is the promotion of science with the most modern educational technologies.
At the same time, informatics teachers are the main driving force, therefore, in the system of training (and advanced training) for informatics teachers, it is necessary to take into account the educational opportunities of laboratories in robotics and microelectronics and include the relevant disciplines in training programs. On the basis of the school, future teachers are trained - students of the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of NArFU named after M.V. Lomonosov (direction "Physics and Mathematics Education"), classes are also held for teachers.
After several classes with teachers of computer science in the Arkhangelsk region, a rather important fact was noted - the unwillingness of teachers to apply the experience they saw. The survey conducted revealed the reasons for this-many teachers are either not interested in developing the engineering component, or believe that this area is not their forte. For this reason, we began to regularly conduct expansive consultations, workshops, master classes for teachers, in order to present our experience to the entire pedagogical community, webinars were held at the Intel Educational Galaxy (recordings are available for viewing) .
What results have we achieved in 2 years, except for the creation of the educational environment itself? First, it is worth noting that among school graduates in 2011, 60% chose further education in higher educational institutions specifically in engineering specialties (that is, they will receive an engineering diploma after graduation).
Secondly, we have begun preparations for the publication of textbooks. In May 2012, the BINOM Knowledge Lab publishing house released an educational and methodological kit on informatics and ICT "The first step into robotics": a workshop and a workbook on robotics for students in grades 5–6 (author: Koposov D.G.). The purpose of the workshop is to give schoolchildren a modern understanding of the applied science involved in the development of automated technical systems - robotics. The workshop contains a description of current social, scientific and technical problems and problems, solutions that have yet to be found by future generations. This allows students to feel like researchers, designers and inventors of technical devices. The manual can be used for both classroom and self-study. Training sessions using this workshop contribute to the development of design, engineering and general scientific skills, help to take a different look at issues related to the study of natural sciences, information technology and mathematics, ensure the involvement of students in scientific and technical creativity. The workbook is an integral part of the workshop. Robotics classes contribute to the development of design, engineering and general scientific skills, help to take a different look at issues related to the study of natural sciences, information technology and mathematics, and ensure the involvement of students in scientific and technical creativity. Working with a notebook allows you to more productively use the time allotted for computer science and ICT, and also gives the child the opportunity to control and comprehend their activities and their results. The workbook helps in the implementation of practical, creative and research work.
Thirdly, a curriculum of additional education for students in grades 9-11 "Fundamentals of microprocessor control systems" was created and tested, the core of which is the modeling of automatic control systems based on microprocessors, as a modern, visual and advanced direction in science and technology, while simultaneously considering the basic , theoretical provisions. This approach presupposes conscious and creative assimilation of the material, as well as its productive use in experimental design activities.
In the process of theoretical training, schoolchildren get acquainted with the physical foundations of electronics and microelectronics, the history and development prospects of these areas. The program provides for a workshop consisting of laboratory-practical, research work and applied programming. In the course of special tasks, schoolchildren acquire general labor, special and professional competencies in the use of electronic components in microprocessor automated control systems, which are fixed in the process of developing projects. The content of the program is implemented in conjunction with physics, mathematics, computer science and technology, which is in line with modern trends in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). The program is designed for 68 hours of study and can be adapted for 17 hours or 34 hours of elective courses. This program is being implemented for the second year in MBOU OG No. 24 of the city of Arkhangelsk in optional classes for students in grades 9 and 10.
The question should arise: what is the reason for such a large number of educational laboratories? Having created the first laboratory, we, together with a teacher-psychologist, studied the dynamics of schoolchildren's educational motivation. Methods used: observation, conversations with parents and teachers, scaling, the technique of T.D. Dubovitskaya. The purpose of the methodology is to identify the direction and determine the level of development of the internal educational motivation of students when they study specific subjects (in our case, computer science and robotics). The methodology is based on a test questionnaire of 20 judgments and proposed answers. Processing is done according to the key. The technique can be used in work with all categories of students capable of introspection and self-report, starting from about 12 years of age. The results obtained, on the one hand, allow us to confidently speak about an increase in the level of educational motivation in almost every student, on the other hand, after a year, the level of motivation began to decrease and tend to the level that it was before classes in the robotics laboratory (based on LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT). It is this fact that determines the further quantitative development of educational laboratories. Learning motivation is the main factor in a non-core school that affects student success. We will continue to study changes in learning motivation in the future.
The second question that teachers often ask is: how can microelectronics, robotics and engineering education in general be connected with the specifics of our school - in-depth study of art and aesthetic subjects? First, the fact is that the Arduino platform, on which most of the laboratories are based, was originally developed to train designers and artists (people with little technical experience). Even without programming experience, students, after just 10 minutes of familiarization, already begin to understand the code, change it, conduct observations, and do small studies. At the same time, a really working prototype of any device can be created at each lesson (a lighthouse, a traffic light, a night light, a garland, a prototype of a street lighting system, an electric bell, a door closer, a thermometer, a household noise meter, etc.), and students improve the level of its technological self-efficiency. Secondly, what does it mean to be an engineer, Peter Leonidovich Kapitsa remarkably formulated: “In my opinion, there are few good engineers. A good engineer should consist of four parts: 25% - be a theorist; by 25% - by an artist (a car cannot be designed, it must be drawn - I was taught this way, and I also think so); by 25% - by the experimenter, i.e. explore your car; and 25% he must be an inventor. This is how an engineer should be made. This is very rough, there may be variations. But all these elements must be.
Separately, I would like to emphasize that the existing educational programs in informatics allow the use of robotics, microelectronics (and engineering components) as a methodological tool for a teacher, without the need to change the teacher's work program. This is very important, especially at the start of such projects in schools, when the fear of the inevitability of filling out a huge number of papers can stop any teacher.
Recently, digital educational resources have become extremely popular. Website download statistics fcior. edu. ru and school-collection. edu. en this confirms. Regional and municipal departments of education hold a huge number of competitions and seminars on the use of DER at school. During the last 5–For 6 years, many universities have been effectively using the software environment LabVIEW by National Instruments in research and educational work. Virtual laboratories and workshops in the natural sciences are being developed and introduced into the educational process. Analyzing abstracts of candidate and doctoral dissertations in 2009–2011, it is worth noting a large number of works that use software NI LabVIEW , including specialty 13.00.02 (theory and methodology of training and education). This software is installed in our school. Thus, students in the framework of informatics education will be able to get acquainted with how such laboratory complexes are designed and developed.
I would like to note the developing function of studying robotics and microelectronics at school. Systematic work with small details in children and adolescents has a positive effect on the development of motor skills of small muscles of the hands, which in turn stimulates the development of basic brain functions, which positively affects attention, observation, memory, imagination, speech and, of course, develops creativity. thinking.
The bottleneck of many studies and projects is often the impossibility of rapid scaling. The experience we have accumulated has allowed us to scale up the project in the general education lyceum No. 17 of the city of Severodvinsk in the shortest possible time (30 days), which emphasizes the practical significance of our work.
Technology company research shows that if we don't have children interested in and passionate about engineering by the age of 7–9th grade, the likelihood that they will successfully go to an engineering career is very low. Informatics teachers, by promoting the natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology through interdisciplinary elective and optional courses, the system of additional education, can more effectively influence students' choice of future profession. The use of engineering laboratories in schools in the model of continuous information education will allow for effective end-to-end learning (school-additional education- university ) on modern information and communication technologies, ensuring the continuity of the educational program at different levels of education.
Literature
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A little background on the issue
Why do our compatriots prefer to drive foreign cars? Why in your environment you will not find users of domestic smartphones? Why are Russian wristwatches, which were successfully exported abroad 40 years ago, today far behind the products of the Swiss watch industry?...
The answer to all such “whys” is simple: over the past decades, the country has significantly lost its engineering and design personnel, without creating fundamental conditions for replenishing them. The result is a lag behind competing countries in many industries that require highly professional designers and engineers. And they are required in all areas where it comes to the development and industrial production of anything - from furniture to military and space technology.
Nowadays, awareness of the situation has come, and systemic measures have been taken to correct it. It is clear that in this case everything must begin with education, because you cannot get a first-class engineer out of thin air. The chain of education of the relevant personnel must be extended from school through engineering universities to high-tech innovative enterprises.
Thus, in September 2015, under the auspices of the Moscow Department of Education, the project “Engineering class in a Moscow school” was launched, with the main goal of training competent specialists necessary for the city’s economy and in demand on the modern labor market (similar projects were launched in the regions). Gymnasium No. 1519 became one of the project participants.
One year after launch
The 2015/2016 academic year has become very dynamic in terms of promoting the project “Engineering class in a Moscow school”. About a hundred schools of the capital joined the project, opened a total of more than two hundred engineering classes, covering about 4.5 thousand students. By the end of the year, more than 130 new schools had expressed their desire to participate in the project. 16 federal technical universities are participating in the implementation of the project, which are the main platforms for career guidance work with students of engineering classes. A pool of enterprises-partners of the project from various industries is being formed. Acquaintance with the work of real high-tech enterprises should serve as an effective “immersion” of students in the engineering field.
In June 2016 in Moscow at the site of the Moscow State Technical University. N.E. Bauman International Congress “SEE-2016. Science and Engineering Education”. The Congress was attended by representatives of Russian and foreign universities and scientific and industrial enterprises, potential employers, domestic schools. The congress was focused on improving the effectiveness of engineering education in modern conditions, and the exchange of experience with foreign colleagues made it possible to identify as yet unrealized opportunities and weaknesses in the revival of domestic engineering potential.
“We want something ready”
As communication at the Congress showed, some Russian enterprises and universities still proceed from the idea that in order to educate a professional engineer, it is enough to adapt university programs to the needs of enterprises in need of engineering personnel. The result of this approach is the “under-education” of university graduates to the required level. Domestic experts believe that the horizon of education of an engineer is approximately seven years, from which it follows that The beginning of this education should be laid already at school.. The opening of engineering classes and the active position of universities participating in the project in building effective interaction with specialized schools and introducing certain forms of engineering training starting from the senior classes meet this need.
Gymnasium No. 1519 has two engineering classes (10th and 11th) and the so-called “pre-engineering” 9th, whose students are also involved in relevant career guidance activities and receive advanced training in specialized subjects (physics, mathematics, computer science). By the time they graduate, the vast majority of students in this class choose a specialized technical direction in high school. Enrollment in the 10th and 11th engineering classes is based on the analysis of the integrated educational results of students in core subjects, the results of design and research work and scientific and technical creativity.
Gymnasium No. 1519 signed cooperation agreements with MIEM NRU HSE and MSTU. N. E. Bauman. Partnership with these universities provides students with a wide range of various engineering and educational opportunities, including career guidance lectures, special courses, laboratory work, master classes, summer engineering practice on the basis of university departments, research and educational centers and laboratories.
And it should have been earlier
It can be stated that the understanding of the need to start educating future engineers already from school embraces more and more supporters and becomes almost irreversible. At the same time, comparison with foreign experience shows that abroad, the involvement of schoolchildren in engineering activities occurs much earlier than in our country - already from the elementary grades.
Russian schools have already begun to adopt this experience. Thus we witness trend to lower the age barrier to entry into the field of engineering. And for this, good prerequisites are currently emerging: students and their parents, seeing high and informal activity to revive the prestige of the engineering profession, become highly motivated and demonstrate a clear response to this signal. It is likely that in a year the coverage of students with specialized engineering classes will increase many times over, and the beginning of pre-profile training will shift towards grades 5-8.
Aware of this trend, Gymnasium No. 1519 also plans to introduce elements of pre-profile engineering training in grades 5-8 in the 2016/17 academic year. One of these elements will be a 3D computer graphics course aimed at developing schoolchildren's spatial thinking. Another element is the circle of intellectual robotics, which contributes to the development of basic skills in using computers and controlled robotic devices, programming skills and solving algorithmic problems.
What can you really do?
An important thesis shared by the engineering and educational community: until a person begins to do something with his own hands, his engineering knowledge is illusory. That is why almost all participants in the movement to revive the country's engineering potential emphasize the exceptional importance of the design and research activities of schoolchildren and students. Understanding the importance of this factor and relying on the provisions of the second generation of the Federal State Educational Standard, it is necessary give design and research activities the status of a mandatory component of training schoolchildren. It is likely that this approach will also become a trend in the coming years.
It seems, however, that not all methods of organizing the design and research activities of students are equivalent and effective. In my opinion, there are three levels of organization of such activities:
"Elementary"
These are projects designed at home or school. The leaders of such projects are the parents of the child or the teacher. On the one hand, this makes it possible to single out active children, increase their motivation, and gain minimal research experience. On the other hand, the disadvantages of this method are very significant: as a rule, such important organizational resources as the production base and the scientific potential of the leader are not behind such work. Accordingly, such projects, for the most part, have almost no applied value and prospects for serious further development.
“Basic” (currently)
This level involves projects at university sites under the guidance of university specialists and researchers. Under these conditions, the schoolchild performing the project is provided with a variety of equipment, and the scientific experience of the leader, which allows him to set a really relevant and promising task, and the possibility of further promotion of the completed development, if it deserves it. This level corresponds to modern ideas about the design and research activities of students in engineering classes and is provided for by most cooperation agreements between universities participating in the project and specialized schools. Basically, it is for this form of design and research activity that there is currently a request from the participants (schools, universities, enterprises) involved in the revival of the engineering profession.
"Superior" (guess)
A breakthrough step forward in the development of design and research activities would be formation of groups consisting of students and schoolchildren participating in the implementation of specific projects at specific enterprises representing science-intensive and innovative industries. Such an approach would give the future engineers the maximum degree of immersion in the profession, would ensure the undoubted applied value of their work, as well as the prospect of introducing the completed developments into practice. The motivation of students in such a model would reach the highest level.
In the context of design and research activities, the task number 1 of our gymnasium is to maximize the coverage of students with this activity at a level not lower than “basic” and give it the status of an obligatory component of schoolchildren's training. In addition, we intend to make efforts to introduce a “higher” level model in the gymnasium.
Can you "sell"?
At the SEE-2016 Congress, an interesting discussion unfolded on the topic: should an engineer be an entrepreneur at the same time to be able to commercialize your ideas and developments, find investors for them, “punch” their way into life? The participants agreed that such a dual role - "engineer-entrepreneur" - is rather ideal model, and it cannot be elevated to the rank of standard. Although, if an engineer, not to the detriment of his professionalism, in one way or another masters the skills of an entrepreneur, then this can only be welcomed.
A reasonable solution is created in various universities faculties and departments that train specialists to promote engineering developments. And although the emphasis in the "Engineering Classes" project is not on the commercialization of engineering developments, but on mastering the actual engineering profession, some career guidance work related to the engineering business would not be superfluous. In any case, it is useful for a student aiming at the profession of an engineer to imagine in advance that a prototype of something created by an engineer, even if it is very promising and in demand, is not the end of the process, but only the start of a whole range of special business events that bring development into a life.
In this regard, the following idea arises: by promoting engineering classes in a broad sense, one can find a useful place in this process for a part of students in socio-economic profile classes. In any case, the experience of our gymnasium shows that the students of these classes are interested in the direction of "Engineering Business and Management". It seems that the involvement of classes of a socio-economic profile in interaction with the relevant faculties and departments of universities not only does not “load” the project “Engineering Classes” excessively, but also reasonably supplements it, in view of what has been said above about the division of the roles of the engineer himself and the entrepreneur who promotes engineering developments in life.
IT is nowhere without them!
As one of the SEE-2016 speakers aptly remarked, a modern aircraft, rocket and many other pieces of equipment are, in many respects, IT products. In the sense that their essential part is the software and hardware systems that control them. What can we say about "pure" IT-services, which consist entirely of the actual programs and represent a huge field of activity. And here another problem pops up - the lack of not only engineers in the classical sense of the word, but also acute shortage of high quality programmers. Another confirmation of this was given at the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum “Territory of Meanings”, which was held in June-August, namely, at the third shift “Young scientists and teachers in the field of IT”, which opened on July 13, 2016.
Thus, this problem also deserves to be dealt with already from school. Turning again to the topic of design and research activities, it is appropriate to “enrich” its content with IT projects and create conditions for students to get programming practice, participate in real projects of process automation at enterprises as part of project teams.
At the meeting on June 30, 2016 on the plans for the development of the project “Engineering Class at the Moscow School” for 2016/17, the Moscow Department of Education informed that a pool of partner enterprises from the IT industry is already being formed, which will be involved in career guidance with schoolchildren. We will probably see another trend - increase in the proportion of students in engineering classes oriented to work in the IT field and choosing the appropriate universities and departments for admission.
Conclusion
Understanding, taking into account and responding to existing and emerging trends in any segment of education, in particular, within the framework of the project “Engineering Class at the Moscow School”, there is a necessary condition for the effective preparation of students.
The project “Engineering class in a Moscow school” creates conditions for expanding network interaction between general educational organizations, organizations of higher professional education and research and production enterprises. Combining the resources of the project participants opens up new real ways for schoolchildren to become an engineer.
In Arkhangelsk about one of the first experiences of introducing robotics into the school curriculum, the development of thinking and inspiration.
— Denis Gennadievich, tell us how your path in educational robotics began. When did you start getting interested in her? How did it all start?
Is there a day that dramatically changed my worldview? Basically two days. On September 1, 2006, I finally started working as a school teacher. At that moment, our school did not yet have a second computer science classroom and had to run around the classrooms and teach computer science to schoolchildren with chalk in hand. When you have been working as an engineer in an IT company for 10 years before, the contrast is breathtaking. Therefore, at the first stage it was necessary to create a normal office. In principle, the office of informatics acquired its recognizable shape in the summer of 2008. The second question arose: in the form in which computer science was present in textbooks, this academic discipline did not please me much. In addition, in 2008 fabulously talented children came to the 5th grade. “Giving a textbook” to such children is not self-respecting.
It so happened that at that time I received the mayor's award and ended up in the Detsky Mir store, which sold the Lego MINDSTROMS NXT set at a discount. The amounts matched. And the next day, the 10th graders were happy to independently study the designer in robotics, and stayed in the office for 6 hours. And then everything began to develop very actively. Now in our gymnasium we have the best base for technical creativity in the field of robotics in the Arkhangelsk region and we have everything: Lego WeDo, MINDSTORMS, VEX, ARDUINO, myDAQ, myRIO, TRIK, etc., etc.
These children from 2008 to 2015 (grades 5-11) with their talent, just an irrepressible desire to learn, practically forced them to work, work, work. Until now, all roboticists remember them: how was it possible to study technical vision on the TRIK platform until 22:30 on December 30, while studying in the 11th grade? And not because there were some competitions or conferences (there were none). And because it is interesting and it turns out.
— Tell us about yourself, where did you study, what is your professional path?
- By education - a teacher of mathematics, computer science and computer technology. Graduated with honors from the Pomor State Pedagogical University named after M.V. Lomonosov, this is in Arkhangelsk. Later, the educational institution became part of the Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov. However, he did not immediately go to school. He served in the Border Troops, was engaged in scientific activities in graduate school (the theory of semigroups; but did not defend himself), worked as an engineer, at the same time became interested in the physics of a condensed state of matter, learned to write scientific articles ...
And only after that, having the knowledge, methodology, experience and understanding of what I would do and how, did I go to work “according to my profession”.
Why is technical creativity important? Are future engineers “discovered” at robotics lessons?
— Engineers must be trained and are being trained at the university. And engineers are obtained when they themselves, having received an education, implement engineering projects and perform engineering tasks.
Everything that a school can do: career guidance, motivation, upbringing and development. I didn't even use the word "training". Since nothing can be taught to anyone, but you can only learn. Therefore, we at the gymnasium try to create conditions in which the child will have the opportunity to find his own way, there will be a choice of an educational trajectory that ensures his development and there will be motivation. This year, 67% of 9th grade graduates have chosen computer science as an exam - this is about the issue of technical creativity as an effective career guidance.
On the other hand, it is important who listens to the answer. Being engaged in technical creativity, it is easier for the teacher to work with children, since the issues of educational motivation no longer bother him. When we were just starting out in educational robotics, we conducted studies on the educational motivation of schoolchildren. For the sake of this, I even went through training at the “School of a teacher-researcher”, in which candidates of pedagogical sciences explained how to do everything correctly and “according to science”, so that the result was real, and not the one that you really want. The motivation of schoolchildren is definitely growing.
Information for parents: you sent your child to the sports section (or close in direction), you sent it to the arts, but did you forget about the development of intelligence? Tutors do not develop it.
Schoolchildren: doing technical creativity, grades in mathematics, physics, computer science, English and Russian improve. Surprised? Each roboticist will tell their own success story. You want to understand that your knowledge is actually scattered. Yes, there are grades, but what about knowledge? Come and check. Or do you only study for grades? When you solve a problem, the teacher always knows the answer. But in robotics, things are different. We will search together. This is real creativity, this is your independent thinking!
— At Gymnasium No. 24, robotics is included in the general education program, is that right? When did it happen? In Russia, this is still a rarity.
- I'll start again from afar. The educational organization, in which he came to work in 2006, had the following name: "Secondary school No. 24 with in-depth study of subjects in the artistic and aesthetic direction." Music, theater, choreography, visual arts - these are the core subjects. In such an environment, it was very evident that the children really lacked the technical component in the educational trajectory. Where to take her? For this reason, all equipment began to be used as a methodological tool for a computer science teacher. The curriculum allowed this. That is, children programmed both robots and microcontrollers at computer science lessons (in 2009 this happened with the Lego MINDSTORMS platform, in 2011 with the Arduino platform).
Then we started the project “Beginning of Engineering Education at School”, within the framework of which, in a specially created learning environment based on engineering laboratories, students from grades 5 to 11 study computer science in close connection with the issues of physics, engineering, and mathematics. This is how we implement STEM education (STEM is an abbreviation for science, technology, engineering, math, i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Later, in the curriculum of the gymnasium, the fifth graders got robotics, and the older elective subjects in technical areas. So, for example, 10th-graders of a profile physical and mathematical class have a mandatory elective "Introduction to Digital Electronics", this course already uses the educational capabilities of the myDAQ platform of the well-known company National Instruments.
It just so happened that in 2012 we ceased to be “with in-depth study of subjects in the artistic and aesthetic direction” and became a gymnasium.
In 2015, I read to graduates fragments of the approved Model Program of Basic General Education, in which robotics, microcontrollers, 3D printers became an integral part of computer science in grades 5-9. And everything that a few years ago was some kind of innovation became commonplace.
— Tell us about your textbooks on robotics, because these are still rare textbooks in Russian education, not counting translations.
- To be honest, as they say, “not from a good life” textbooks materialized. It’s just that at that moment (2010, it was then that I handed over the first manuscript to the BINOM. Knowledge Laboratory publishing house) there was nothing but one book by Sergei Aleksandrovich Filippov. In 2012, the publishing house released a workshop and workbook "The first step into robotics" (further reprinted 2 times). The peculiarity of the manual was that the Lego MINDSTORMS robot could be effectively used in studying various topics, for example, studying the coordinate method (which, by the way, is in the computer science program) and creating prototypes of various devices.
In 2013, representatives from National Instruments offered to write a tutorial on the NI myDAQ platform without limiting creativity and ideas. A year later, the workshop "Introduction to Digital Electronics" appeared, and the wonderful myDAQ platform acted as an effective tool for this. The manual was published on the Intel Educational Galaxy website (in the form of posts), but unfortunately the site will cease to exist this summer.
In 2015, I was lucky to participate in the preparation of the training manual "Microcontrollers - the basis of digital devices" for the Amperka TETRA educational kit. This is Arduino platform programming in grades 5-7.
In 2016, prepare a textbook “Technology. Robotics ", divided into 4 parts (grades 5, 6, 7 and 8). It can be used as a workshop for new textbooks on technology (authors: Beshenkov S.A., Labutin V.B., Mindzaeva E.V., Ryagin S.N., Shutikova M.I.).
Right now I am writing a book on modeling in OpenSCAD. I don’t know how her fate will develop further, but in my work she is simply vital for me. In computer science, there is such a topic as "Algorithm Executors", and among these executors there is a Draftsman. In my view, it is no different from a 3D printer, and in OpenSCAD, the model is not drawn, but described by a script in a C-like language. That is, again, programming.
- How are the classes in room 211? What about outside of class? Why did you abandon the circle model?
For the first time, children encounter technical (engineering) areas in the 5th grade, again at computer science lessons or at an elective. And then the principle “If you want to live in an office, live!” is included. Students choose when it is convenient for them to come. The result is an educational environment where students in grades 5-11 simultaneously do what they like in technical creativity. The older ones help the younger ones, the younger ones “copy” the older ones. It's like a school, not in the sense of an "institution", but as a direction in science and culture.
The circle model... I won't criticize the circle model. The circle model is about finances and teacher remuneration. Not a single methodologist, and not a single inspector will allow classes to be held with students in grades 5-11 at the same time, because no one will be able to write a program (which, of course, must take into account age characteristics). Everything is possible on a voluntary basis. So I don't have circles.
In 2015, we had an amazing graduation of schoolchildren at our gymnasium, who formed our trend “Live in the office!”. I had an emotional "explosion" - as a result, the book "The Beginning of Engineering Education at School" appeared with the Intel logo on the cover. If any of the teachers is at a crossroads whether to start his path to educational robotics - look through, and you will make an unambiguous choice.
- You use different equipment, you have as many as 15 directions. Why is there such diversity? Children interact with everything?
— Firstly, the variety of equipment is very convenient for the teacher, as it allows taking into account the individual characteristics of students and the characteristics of the class as a whole. In addition, we tried to build the entire age range of grades 5-11, and this is already 7 directions at once.
Secondly, in specialized physics and mathematics classes we try to provide such areas as research and project activities. There are about 60 people in specialized classes. Everyone will die of boredom if there is only one direction, and I will be the first.
It is worth noting that the directions do not arise from the equipment. For example, we started the directions related to National Instruments technologies at the gymnasium for the reason that our Northern (Arctic) Federal University has 8 research and educational laboratories based on their equipment. That is, in each of the areas you can continue to work after graduating from our gymnasium.
In fact, most likely, we would not have had such a large number of areas and equipment without the graduates of 2015. I just did not have time to them, as they say, "to bring shells." That release knew and worked with all the equipment: it was unpacked right in front of them, and very often the delivery was right at the lessons. I will give one more example. There was a guy in that class who loved English (now he is studying to be a linguist), naturally, for him I got a thick book of 700 pages Arduino Cookbook. You can’t imagine with what thirst he “ate” it (the word read doesn’t sound here), while doing experiments with Arduino. Three guys came to assemble the first 3D printer in the office on Sunday, then they studied the software faster than me (you need to model it) and helped me. What I prepared for the lessons for a week - they absorbed in 2 days. Well, I had to cook new, new, new.
— You hold your own festival — RoboSTEM. Was the first festival in January of this year?
— Yes, together with the Arkhangelsk Center for Youth Innovative Creativity. The first one took place this year. We decided that it was important to hold our own (regional) festival. Why now? Our robotics graduates have already matured enough: the panel of judges consisted of graduates who were engaged in robotics in our gymnasium and in the 17th lyceum of the city of Severodvinsk (this is another powerful center for the development of educational robotics in our region).
- How it was? How many children participated in it?
- On January 15, our Arkhangelsk gymnasium No. 24 hosted an open festival on technical creativity in the field of robotics "RoboSTEM", which brought together 132 students from 23 schools in the Arkhangelsk region. The extensive program of the forum made it interesting for participants of all ages. Playgrounds were organized for students where it was possible to work / play with equipment, exhibitions for festival guests. And, of course, everyone could feel like a fan or a participant in robotics competitions.
At the opening of the festival, parting words were addressed to the participants by: Vitaly Sergeevich Fortygin, Deputy Chairman of the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies; Semyon Alekseevich Vuymenkov, Minister of Economic Development of the Arkhangelsk Region; Sergey Nikolayevich Deryabin - Chairman of the Regional Association of Initiatives for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, General Director of InterStroy LLC and other distinguished guests of the festival.
Schoolchildren participating in the festival prepared more than 100 robot models assembled on the basis of various platforms: Lego EducationWeDo, Lego MINDSTORMS, Arduino, VEX EDR, TRIK, NI myRIO and others.
The youngest participants are 9 year old schoolchildren. Among the winners and prize-winners of the festival are representatives of 12 schools, and 42% of them are girls. It is important to maintain gender balance.
On the one hand, the festival allows to support schoolchildren in their passion for robotics, on the other hand, to attract new participants, popularize this area of innovative creativity, make young northerners feel like real engineers and inventors, educating designers of the future.
I want to separately thank the Lego Education company, which supported our festival and established prizes for 5 educational institutions for preparing the best teams and supporting the best coaches.
How will the festival change in 2018? Are you planning any changes in the program or nominations?
— Evolutionary changes, of course, are planned. There will be more nominations. There will be more competitions. For example, there will be a competition for working with 3D pens. We have already purchased the necessary quantity. There will be an Olympiad on Lego WeDo and WeDo 2.0, and teachers from the Arkhangel Center for Technical Creativity, Sports and Child Development help us organize it. The 3D modeling contest will be strictly based on T-FLEXCAD.
— What other educational and competitive projects are you involved in? What are you planning?
— Of course, the most unexpected and amazing result of the festival was the holding of the Future Engineer Olympiad in April. Representatives of small business manufacturing companies, having visited the festival, set the task of making a prototype of a grinding machine based on Lego MINDSTORMS, ensuring good repeatability of actions and clearly describing the mathematical model. This is how the Future Engineer Olympiad appeared, which was held on April 26. The winners of the Olympiad spent 4 hours “handing over their work”, as they say, “on record” (dictaphone, camera). Schoolchildren's solutions will be embodied in real equipment, in operating machines.
Now on the territory of our gymnasium, the old greenhouse building is being reconstructed, which, after the completion of the work, will house a center for technical creativity. This project, which is called "Promshkola", is supervised by its non-profit partnership "Association in the field of shipbuilding, ship repair, mechanical engineering and metalworking" Krasnaya Kuznitsa ", which unites 16 small enterprises.
This year, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Arkhangelsk Region plans to create a regional program for the development of robotics, teachers are also included in the working group.
There is also a “project” that needs to be done, but it just doesn’t lend itself to me: a robotics tutorial based on the National Instruments myRIO platform. The deadline is 09/01/2018, since the students under whom all this is being started will be in the 11th grade.
- Tell us about your successes, the successes of schoolchildren, what do you remember most recently?
“The most important thing is that we have built a system. Reliable, flexible, renewable.
This year we had an event, the results of which we plan to dispose of very carefully and slowly (and we will not rush anywhere for the first time). This year, for the 5th regional robotics tournament Robonord, which takes place in Severodvinsk (this year on April 23), most of our teams were trained by schoolchildren, that is, I was not the coach, but our experienced robotics. And on April 26 we have the Future Engineer Olympiad, of course, I was all in preparation for an important Olympiad. So, our superheroes (coaches) prepared teams better than I ever prepared schoolchildren for competitions (24 prizes out of 33 possible).
At the same time, 5 teams of fifth-graders were prepared by sixth-grader Polina: she organized everything and everyone through a social network, explained the regulators to them, and she never used this word (she revised and adapted the whole theory), developed a strategy, controlled everything, “fought” with judges at competitions, citing positions. And she was very happy when her five-graders succeeded. All 5th graders know why to do robotics. To become like Polina.
