Abstract:

Educational process can be perceived as a diverse world of teacher-student interaction. This is a challenging task because it requires a lot of teacher`s effort. For teachers of technical-oriented subjects the current challenges are very antinomic. On the one hand there is the phenomenon of the first industrial revolution in the society and on the other hand there is a long-term recorded decline in students` interest in technology study branches. One way how to enhance this interest, at least interest of secondary vocational school students, to continue in studying technical study programs at higher education institutions is a co-operation of these two types of education institutions at ensuring secondary vocational school students` professional practice.

Most of the study programs at secondary vocational schools are completed with practical leaving exam. These are carried out in form of a complex professional thesis solved by the students during several months. At the beginning of the fourth year of their study (fourth grade) after a discussion with a teacher students are given an assignment of the work, on which they usually work in couples. A result of the thesis is a functioning practical product, equipment or its part and its technical documentation.

A new idea for the thesis assignment, based on a long term developed co-operation between Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (at particular Department of Technology and Information Technologies of the Faculty of Education) and Secondary Vocational School of Polytechnics in Zlaté Moravce, was to solve the complex professional thesis in co-operation with the higher education institution (at particular Constantine the Philosopher University). This has meant to let the secondary school students to solve their assignments under the supervision of the university teachers, using the university special classrooms and labs with their equipment. An added value of this form of processing the assignments of the complex professional thesis has been that students already during their secondary school studies have gained (besides the new knowledge, skills and competences) experiences from the “practice” at the higher education institution learning environment. On the other hand, this new form of the co-operation brings to the university (besides the potential new students) also some new experiences and consequently knowledge (e.g. new views on the necessities to modify or innovate their study programs, new teaching experiences gained by the university teachers, new ideas for their further teaching and research practice).

The paper will present description of the pilot run of this new form of the complex professional thesis assignment, an analysis of the course of the pilot run carried out with the pilot sample of the secondary vocational school students, discussion of the gained experiences (its pros and cons) and draft of recommendations for the further development of this form of the mutual co-operation between the secondary and higher education institutions.

Keywords:

Technology education, professional orientation, interest in technology study branches, secondary vocational schools, leaving exam.