Abstract:

The training of highly qualified specialists requires continuous improvement of the educational process, which should be based on the student's personal activity. COVID-19 has made changes to the well-established training system. To maintain the effectiveness and quality of the educational process in the specific modern conditions of blended distance and traditional learning, it is necessary to introduce changes in the familiar forms of organizing educational activities by integrating well-known educational technologies into the online learning process.

We use the motivation and activity concept of active learning in teaching physics. This concept implies a comprehensive, systematic approach to enhancing cognitive activity using all possible means of organizing and conducting the educational process.

When teaching engineering students, the task is to develop students’ research and experimental skills. It is important to start this work from the first year. We implement this approach in two ways: as a part of the training activities in laboratory practical classes and by involving students in research and project-based activities. Research activities allow students to acquire the skills necessary to perform scientific research, develop independence and initiative, intensify students’ cognitive activity, and contribute to the creative thinking of a future engineer. However, at present, the training format imposes restrictions on students’ performance of experimental activities. The performance of computer laboratory works does not allow students to use the advantages of a "live" experiment to develop research skills. Focusing on a practice-oriented approach, we pay attention to the discussion of the experimental procedure, specifics, and nuances of experiment implementation in laboratory and practical classes. Also, students are invited to participate in project activities, the topics of which are aimed at studying the methods of setting up classical physical experiments.

To attract students to research activities, we have organized a section for first-year undergraduate students within the Scientific Student Conference held annually at our university. This year, amid the pandemic, the implementation of experimental activities presented a challenge, so the project topics were adapted to the specifics of the blended learning format. The topics of research projects that were proposed required independent study of issues that go beyond the scope of a regular physics course. The work was carried out using the flipped classroom technology. The topics proposed for research concerned the methods of setting up classical physical experiments, the study of physical phenomena of applied significance, and the biographies of great physicists in terms of their contribution to science. This year, 15% of the first-year undergraduate students of the Physics and Technology Institute of Petrozavodsk State University presented their research results in the conference section.

The presented experience ensures students’ educational activity and promotes their involvement in the educational process. Engagement in scientific research in the first year works for the long run, allowing the student to develop universal competencies throughout the entire period of study, such as the ability to self-study, receive, analyze and systematize information, and think critically.

Keywords:

Active learning, project-based learning, flipped classroom, teaching physics, research activity.