Analytical Projects As An Innovative Means In Training Of Programmers

The specifics of training future technician-programmers and the role of the mathematical module in it

As follows from the analysis of the requirements of the professional standard “Programmer”, the list of professional tasks is based on the skills of analytical activity. Writing computer programs, including those for automating operations of production processes (the basis of controlling any process is receiving and controlling input information, analyzing and preparing initial data for programming, writing algorithms and program codes, corresponding processing of information, including using serious mathematical apparatus, preparation of outgoing information, transferring it to the customer), their correction and optimization require analytical skills. All these actions are based on universal actions characteristic of analytical activity: analysis, classification, sorting out, generalization of information. Programmers perform such tasks as drawing up communication schemes, layouts, making work instructions and explanations for them, algorithms for the technological process of information processing, algorithms for solving problems, creating programs, debugging them, their experimental verification, holistic design of data processing systems and mathematical systems of computer - these tasks are mostly carried out in the mode of project activity ( Professional’nyjstandart “Programmist”…, 2013).

We made the conclusion that the integration of project and analytical activities creates a framework in the form of a generalized characteristic of the professional activity of a programmer, reflecting its substantive and organizational specifics. Formation of readiness for project and analytical activities is an important task in organizing the training process for future programmers.

This conclusion was confirmed by the Top 10 most valuable, according to employers, qualities of programmers, compiled by us on the basis of analysis of popular job sites in Russia: tendency to analysis and logical reasoning, quick mind (46%); ability to work in a project team (73%); design propensity (45%); ability to solve standard and non-standard problems based on analysis (54%); the ability to read, understand, analyze and maintain software created by other developers (78%).

In the course of our research, an analysis of studies on the problem of readiness for professional activity was carried out ( D’yachenko & Kandybovich, 1976; Platonov, 1970; Uznadze, 2004). As a result:

• the authors’ definition of the project-analytical activity of programmers is given: it is a motivated process that includes a set of analytical actions in the context of the project on development, debugging and verification of the program code: drawing up a plan and following it to achieve the goal, a description of the solutions to the tasks in accordance with the requirements of the technical task, development of algorithms for solving these problems and actions for obtaining a specific, pre-designed result in the form of program code using programming languages;

• the following components were identified: motivation-mobilization (interest in future professional activities, understanding of the social meaning and general content of the chosen profession; motivation for training in programming; ability to mobilize personal forces while carrying out a project), intellectual-reflective (possessing mathematical knowledge, analytical and design skills, ability to self-improvement on the basis of reflexion), active (practical skills to apply mathematical knowledge in the course of independent solving of interdisciplinary tasks, to use analytical skills for a specific project performance) and communicative (communication, team skills, focus on the overall result, and cooperation through the establishment of interpersonal relations);

• the group of diagnostic indicators for the formation of the component structure and levels of readiness for design and analytical activities (informational, functional, reflective) is substantiated.

An important stage in the development of a software product is the construction of a mathematical model that requires analysis and research of various algorithms, mathematical methods, and the solution of standard and non-standard problems. However, studies show that there is a problem with mathematical education ( Abylkassymova, Sedova, & Kalimullin, 2018; Owusu-Mensah, 2016), student surveys confirm low motivation to study mathematics. Meanwhile, senior college students noted that the lack of mathematical knowledge makes it difficult to master professional modules. Accordingly, it requires the integration of mathematical knowledge (disciplines “Mathematics”, “Elements of mathematical logic”, “Elements of higher mathematics”) and professional knowledge (general professional disciplines “Fundamentals of programming”, “Theory of algorithms”, “Information technology”, “Probability theory and mathematical statistics”, etc.). Thus, the concept of readiness for the future analytical work of project programmers in the context of mathematical training was clarified - it is an integrative set of personal and professional qualities of a specialist formed in the process of professional training, which includes mathematical knowledge, analytical skills, design ability and a steady need for fulfillment of professional functions.

The concept of an analytical project, its specifics, stages and possibilities

We define the analytical project as such an innovative way of organizing students’ activities that complements the instrumental sphere of contextual learning, which involves performing analytical actions in solving an educational and / or professional task in the project mode, while requiring the use of mathematical knowledge. The results of the implementation of an analytical project form an integral totality, including meta-subject (analytical, design, reflective, communicative skills), subject (mathematical or professionally oriented), personal results (in the form of motivation for future professional activity). In the course of the study, analytical projects were classified according to the project organization, skills formed and the presence of electronic support.

The readiness of students for project and analytical activities is cumulatively “grown” in the process of project implementation and is evaluated using the developed evaluation sheet for the integrity of the structure formed, while combining options for self-assessment, mutual evaluation and teacher evaluation.

The implementation of analytical projects was carried out sequentially in all training courses for future technicians-programmers. At first, an interdisciplinary project, “A meaningful approach to measuring information. Hartley Formula”(based on the integration of the academic disciplines “Mathematics” and “Computer Science”) was carried out. Next came an intra-disciplinary project “Matrix Algebra and Buhl Algebra. Logical connections”(based on the integration of the elements of the mathematical module “Elements of higher mathematics” and “Elements of mathematical logic”), as well as the interdisciplinary projects “Construction of a Turing machine for the intellectual game Bache”(integration of educational disciplines “Elements of mathematical logic”and“Theory of algorithms”) and “Plotting a graph on a fixed interval, plotting graphical functions” (integration of academic disciplines “Elements of higher mathematics” and “Fundamentals of programming”). Then the interdisciplinary “Binomial distribution - the law of distribution of random variable” (the integration of the elements of the mathematical module “Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics” and the professional module “Mathematical Methods”) was implemented.

Training activities were organized in accordance with the stages of the analytical project.

The first stage (meaning-building) is to ensure that students and teachers of mathematics and special disciplines understand the similarity of the stages of the study of a function and the stages of the algorithm for constructing a software product. Stage results: awareness of the importance of analytical work; the guideline for obtaining a high-quality software product, initiative, cognitive and research activity, responsibility and punctuality, ability to work in a group; the formation of the motivation-mobilization component of readiness for project and analytical activities.

The second stage (conceptual design) is the planning of project work by groups of students, identification of the need for specific mathematical knowledge and methods for obtaining it. The teacher, who knows the situation, helps to create conditions for understanding the educational tasks included in the project. Stage results: the formation of motivation-mobilization and intellectual-reflective components of readiness.

Operational and activity stage: students work in pairs, completing the task of the teacher of special disciplines to create a software product. The teacher provides counseling assistance, stimulates educational and cognitive activities and the organization of communications, interaction within and between groups. Stage results: the formation of the activity and communication components of readiness for project and analytical activities; identification of students’ difficulties (inability to organize their time, plan actions and activities in general, the distribution of responsibilities in a group, the extraction of significant information from the general array of information).

Reflective-meaning stage is the presentation of the created software product by mini-groups. Reflexion-discussion of the project implementation process and the results obtained, analysis and evaluation of personal achievements and concrete results of activity, quality of work in groups, the group as a whole, identification and analysis of difficulties in the implementation of the project, explanation of their reasons, suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the analytical project. Stage results: development of the intellectual-reflective and communicative components of readiness; students’ interest in other projects and opinions about their project; enthusiasm for work; motivation for success; self-confidence and desire to work independently, without teacher’s help; mastering the material in their academic disciplines.

The correction stage that accompanies all other stages of the analytical project implementation ensures the systematic activity of students and their control. The task of the teacher was to note the difficulties of students, help in removing them, in planning actions, formulating conclusions.

Organizing the launch of analytical projects and the analysis of their effectiveness in the training of programmers

To launch analytical projects in the college, creative groups of teachers are formed. Their tasks are to analyze the possibility of integrating mathematical and professional modules in order to simulate situations of professional activity and to introduce analytical projects into the educational process of the college.

The organizational conditions for the analytical project use included:

• preliminary preparatory work, including a collective discussion of topics and requirements for projects, as well as criteria for their evaluation;

• training teachers of modern approaches to managing student learning activities, focusing on success, ensuring their inclusion in cognitive activity, providing a positive attitude towards learning, promoting them on the path of self-development and self-realization;

• living through all stages of the analytical project by the teachers themselves.

The teacher training was organized in stages:

• informing teachers through the local network of the college about analytical projects, their stages; collecting teachers’ ideas on the possibilities of using an analytical project;

• a training seminar-discussion on the role of the teacher in organizing the implementation of the analytical project, teacher’s activities and the activities of students at each stage; discussion of possible difficulties, difficulties of teachers and methods for resolving them; choice of academic discipline (disciplines), setting educational and personal goals, selection of content;

• providing advisory assistance in the implementation of the project (personal, through a local network); removing difficulties, creating a positive attitude of the participants;

• master classes of participating teachers at meetings of committees for the dissemination of experience (presenting difficulties during the implementation of the analytical project and successes of their projects), involving other teachers to try analytical projects.

The effectiveness of analytical projects in the training of future technicians-programmers was evaluated by the level of formation of the components of their readiness for design and analytical activities. At the control and evaluation stage of testing analytical projects in practice, an increase of 18% in the experimental group of the number of students with a reflective level of readiness and a decrease in the number of students with an information level (by 42%) was revealed. There was also an increase in the number of students who reached functional and reflective levels of readiness for design and analytical activities (77%).