METHOD OF PROJECTS AS A COMPONENT OF PRACTICE-BASED APPROACH AT THE TEACHING NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE COMMON LEARNING SPACE "SECONDARY SCHOOL - TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY"

This paper discusses the using of the method of projects at the continuous natural science educational system "Secondary School - Technical University".

The modern system of education in Russia is now practice-oriented. It is very important to teach students how to find information and to use it in practice. It is necessary to encourage the students to seek new knowledge and methods of activity.

Various educational technologies can be used in the formation of practical skills of schoolchildren and students. One of these technologies is the method of projects. It assumes the existence of a problem that students have to decide together with their teacher or almost alone.

The project is a purposeful, organized, independent work of the student to obtain any results, which should have the practical, theoretical and cognitive significance. In the course of the project's realization, the intellectual partnership of the teacher and the students helps create a strong motivation for independent cognitive activity of learners and deeper development of modern tools and technologies. Such collaboration promotes familiarization with different points of view on the issue under study and the search for more information and options for its use for the problems to be solved. The project-based technology helps to create pedagogical conditions not only for the development of creative abilities and qualities of the student's personality, but also allows formation of specific skills needed for a successful career in future.

This paper describes about the collaboration of Tver State Technical University and Tver Secondary School no. 45. This activity is a successful example of the integration of science and education at the system “Secondary School – Technical University”. Sharing of the intellectual and material resources of the school and the university has enriched the education process with variety of new possibilities. In particular, the integrated approach to the application of modern software and hardware has allowed creating the uniform lecture & laboratory complex, which uses the majority of modern educational technologies, especially the method of projects.

One of the joint projects of the school and the university was devoted to the working out and the application of the new technologies and models of continuous natural science education on the basis of use of the modern equipment for studying of nanotechnology and nanomaterials. The project involved schoolchildren, which under the guidance of lecturers and scientists of the university, mastered the basics of nanotechnology and the use of a scanning probe microscope «NanoEducator» for the study of the surfaces of different nature. The practical nanotechnology classes really helped pupils to achieve advanced results in physics, chemistry and biology. Students are greatly motivated to study and research, when they can see molecular structures by their own eyes. Modern approach to the educational process requires not only knowledge of the theoretical foundations, but also good practical skills. So, implementing their projects, the schoolchildren now can study the world of nanotechnology, learn how to use the techniques of SPM and solve various research tasks.

The use of the method of projects leads to better education’s quality and contributes to the improvement of educational and scientific processes both in the school and at the university.