2.8. Independent work of students

Independent work of students (IWS) is their planned cognitive, organizational and methodically directed activity, carried out without the direct assistance of a teacher, in order to achieve a specific result. An integral part of IWS is independent work performed by a student under the guidance and supervision of a teacher by reducing the obligatory classroom (lecture, etc.) classes.

In modern didactics, independent work of students is considered, on the one hand, as a type of educational work carried out without direct intervention, but under the guidance of a teacher, and on the other, as a means of engaging students in independent cognitive activity, a means of shaping their organization methods. The effect of the independent work of students, on which we count, can be obtained only when it is organized and implemented in the educational process as an integrated system that permeates all stages of students' training at the university.

Independent work of students requires substantial organizational and methodological support. Even with a sufficient number of textbooks and other “sources of information,” it is not enough to simply send to them. When you submit the course section for self-study   It is necessary to introduce students at a lecture in this section. After that, specify the literature for independent study with the accuracy of the necessary chapters. It is necessary to indicate the peculiarities of the presentation of the question in various sources; appropriate sequence of their reading; tasks and exercises that need to be addressed; algorithms and relationships that should be carefully dismantled, and possibly remembered. The most independent work requires the ability to periodically receive advice from teachers.

In the curricula of technical universities there is no subject that would teach students the techniques of learning new material, its “accumulation” and memorization. It is assumed that each semi-intuitively learns everything necessary. This approach does not seem to be optimal. If the teacher intends to really instill in the students the skills of independent work, they should be taught this (see paragraph “On the methods of assimilation of information”).

However, independent work, of course, is not limited to the study of sections of subjects in literature. The study of theory is not an end in itself, but a means to acquire skills in solving engineering problems. However, slower than the master of the case, and perhaps mistaken more often than the master, they should be able to complete these tasks. And this “end” can be a formula, an algorithm, a program, numerical values, curves of numerical dependencies, block diagrams, constructions.

Thus, increasing the independence of students does not mean a transition to any fundamentally new types of academic work. It is still practical classes, laboratory work, work on computers, teaching and research work, coursework and projects, thesis design. It is all about the methods of their implementation, providing active promotion to the acquisition of skills of independent work.

Consultation

The consultations are intended to provide pedagogically expedient assistance to students in their independent work in each discipline of the curriculum, as well as in solving various problems of a theoretical or practical nature. They help not only students, but also the teacher, being a kind of feedback, with the help of which one can find out the degree to which students acquire the program material. Usually, consultations are associated with lectures, seminars and practical exercises, laboratory work, preparation for tests and exams.

Consultations are conducted at the request of students or at the initiative of the teacher. You can set certain days for mandatory consultations, when teachers of the department specifically meet with students, answering their questions on various topics of the course. Students should be taught to think that it is necessary to prepare thoroughly for consultations, to work out notes, literature, to ask questions on the merits. Consultations cannot be turned into coaching students, they should awaken in them a desire to deepen knowledge.