TRAINING OF LEARNERS’ SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITY ABILITIES AND INTEREST IN COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL: THE ANALYSIS AND PROGNOSIS OF THE SITUATION

Field: Social Sciences (Social Sciences)

The formation of scientific research activity abilities in comprehensive school is undoubtedly, a very important sphere still awaiting of particular attention. Current teaching and learning process has basically changed looking from the paradigmatic point of view. Teaching subjects become the means of realization of learners’ demands and interests. Scientific research activity is not an entertainment but a very responsible, thorough work requiring great self- independence. During this activity children’s analytic thinking becomes stronger, information search and usage abilities are being developed, they can learn to analyze the accumulated material, make presentations, prepare research reports and so on. It is important to make more pupils interested in this activity. This shouldn’t be the privilege of gifted pupils only. However, talking about the developing of scientific research activity at school, several essential questions arise: • Is it possible to teach every child to perform research activity? • What to do if a pupil wants to take up scientific research activity but school can’t provide elementary conditions for this purpose (for example, there is no equipment, no competent leader and so on.)? • How to integrate effectively scientific research elements into teaching content? Research object is training of pupils’ scientific research activity abilities and interest in comprehensive schools. Research purpose is to describe current situation of organizing and performing scientific research, to define essential factors encouraging and disturbing the pupils’ interest in scientific research activity, to determine essential peculiarities of teachers’ competence in the sphere of organizing and performing scientific research activity. Expert inquiry was applied in the research. The kind of expert inquiry is “Delphi research” which foresees expert questioning for several times (stages). The research was carried out from March to May 2008. From the group preliminary formed from 45 experts, 30 took part in the research. Experts were communicated with using e-mail. The first data analysis round was followed by the preparation of the second stage questionnaire, which consisted of closed type questions. Second stage data have been processed employing mathematical statistics. The third stage questionnaire has been prepared according to the second stage generalised results. Generalizing the results, the following conclusion can be made: • Scientific research activity in comprehensive school is undoubtedly a meaningful, integral sphere, however, for developing such kind of activity in Lithuanian comprehensive schools not an adequate attention was paid up to now; • Comprehensive school teachers seeking to form scientific research abilities and to develop such activity in the training process face various difficulties: lack of administration support, lack of pupils’ motivation, shortage of material and financial resources, etc. • According to experts, the majority of pupils are more or less interested in scientific research activity, however in a greater part of schools there are no favourable conditions. More than two thirds of experts have evaluated the current teaching process as not very appropriate for scientific research activity and teachers’ competence in the formation and development of pupils’ scientific research abilities in the training process has been evaluated as average; • It is stated, that factors disturbing pupils’ interest in scientific research activity in the teaching process are: a) lack of teachers’ motivation, b) pupils’ orientation to choose an easier, less effort demanding way, c) poor material basis of schools, d) lack of methodology how to organize pupils’ scientific research work, e) insufficient teachers’ preparation for scientific research work. • It is stated, that essential encouraging factors in the pupils’ interest in scientific research activity are such: a) teacher’s personality and activity, b) pupils’ curiosity, their wish to develop knowledge, to show themselves, c) pupil’s abilities, d) different teaching subjects’ pupils scientific conferences, seminars and other similar arrangements, e) trips, excursions to scientific establishments, meetings with scientists. • It is stated, that for positive development of scientific research activity influence should have: a) giving priorities to young scientist competition winners entering high schools, b) balance and reduction of the amount of teaching material, c) more effective cooperation of schools and scientists, d) the raise of teachers’ qualification, improvement of pedagogical and psychological preparation and so on. The majority of experts think that in the nearest 5 years there won’t occur any essential changes in this sphere: situation in the development of scientific research activity will improve a little, teachers’ competence will slightly rise. Key words: scientific research activity, comprehensive school, science education, career.