Abstract:

The present-day information society requires experts capable of using Information Technology in their professional activities. The emergence of professions, integrating human and natural sciences, has led to the upsurge of the requirements for the training of students of humanities in the field of Information Technology (IT). Therefore, the Information Technology course is included in the curriculum of students of humanities in the Leo Tolstoy Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication (IPIC) of Kazan (Volga) Federal University.

The training of students who are able to solve professional problems using the Information Technology is a priority for the IPIC. Therefore, the assignment of the primary purpose unifying the study of applied aspects of the Information Technology course, considering the examples of professionally significant problems for humanitarians, becomes an issue of current interest. It will provide the integrity of the course, improve the educational process efficiency and ensure a specific practical result for students of humanities.

Thus, the technology of understanding the main purpose of studying the Information technology course by students of humanities covers the performance of professionally significant tasks within the main topics of the course. Herewith, it procures positive attitude to the subjects studied by students of humanities, and the conditions for students’ practical problems solving by means of Information Technology are being created. The acquired skills can be used in the formalizing, processing the results of research and designing the presentation for the defense of a course or graduation work.

We have developed the scientific and methodological support of the IT course, which includes a specially designed set of laboratory works to develop the skills and acquire the methods of IT work automation; the rating system for monitoring students' competencies; guidelines for IT-training of students of humanities.
The monitoring of the results of the current and final control of students' progress for 2012 - 2014 years was based on a grade-rating system. Students learning the practical aspects of the course showed the GPA of 77, and students mastering the applied aspects of the course for solving the professionally significant problems showed the GPA of 82. The results indicate the positive dynamics of teaching students of humanities in the IT-course, where the main objective of uniting the study of applied aspects of the course is highlighted and which is aimed at solving the professionally significant problems for students of humanities.

Thus, our research suggests that the assignment of the main objective of the IT-course for students of humanities, which includes the automation of solving the professionally significant problems for humanitarians, gives positive results, provides the integrity of the course, increases the level of the educational process efficiency and gives specific results in practice.

Keywords:

Information Technology, professional activities, The training of students, practical task.