MENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS AS A FACTOR OF FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES

The analysis of the competencies formed during the preparation of bachelors in agricultural engineering was carried out, which demonstrated the importance of knowledge of the basic laws of mathematical and natural sciences for solving typical problems and full participation in conducting experimental research in professional activities. The role of the course in electrical materials in the formation of students’ general professional and professional competencies is revealed. The authors describe the scientific and methodical work at the Department of Automation and Robotization of Technological Processes named after academician I. F. Borodin, Russian State Agrarian University — Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy aimed at the development of professional thinking and the formation of competencies of future engineers by means of the discipline. The article presents the results of a study to identify the relationship between the level of general mental development formed in the course of general education and the success of mastering the content of the course in electrical materials. According to the results of the study, 5 groups of students were identified, differing in the success of learning and proximity to the socio-psychological standard, and quantitative and qualitative indicators of their mental development were described. It turned out that successful subjects are most successful in verbal tests, indicators of spatial thinking are slightly worse. A feature of the subjects who are close to successful is an insufficiently developed ability to perform mental actions by analogy, while the remaining indicators are quite close to the socio-psychological standard, and the spatial representations are the highest. In the subgroup of the average success rate of the subjects, the average level of completion of all types of tasks is approximately the same. The least successful subjects are characterized by insufficient development of verbal intelligence and, especially, the ability to operate images. The correlation analysis of the results on the indicators of mental development and tests of the current control in the course in electrical materials was carried out. The obtained data established that there is a significant relationship between the success of solving problems in the discipline and the overall level of mental development formed during school education. At the same time, the possession of scientific concepts, the development of the mental operation of classification and the ability to perform mental actions by analogy were decisive. It is concluded that it is necessary to stimulate the mental development of students in the process of forming professional competencies, taking into account the specific features of the structure of intellectual abilities.

professional competencies, general professional competencies, professionally important qualities, distance learning, test tasks, online testing, logical operations, mental development, current control, diagnostics, socio-psychological standard.

Zanfirova L. V., Kovalenok T. P., Chistova Ya. S. Mental development of first-year students as a factor of formation of professional competences. Business. Education. Law, 2021, no. 2, pp. 346—353. DOI: 10.25683/VOLBI.2021.55.212.