SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITY IN COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL: STIMULATING AND HINDERING FACTORS

The formation of scientific research activity (SRA) abilities in comprehensive school is undoubtedly, a very important sphere that has not received a proper attention yet. Current teaching and learning process has changed, in fact, from the point of view of paradigm – subjects taught are becoming a means of the realization of learners' needs and interests. Scientific research activity is not an entertainment but responsible, thorough work requiring a lot of self-independence. During such an activity pupils' analytical thinking gets stronger, information searching and using abilities are formed, they learn how to analyze gathered material, prepare reports, make research presentations and so on. A teacher who tends to organize pupils' reproductive activity more often can achieve desired results, however, the fact that pupils have mastered ready-made information and have acquired knowledge and skills does not mean that they have mastered creative, scientific research activity experience. Learning only according to an example, a pupil does not acquire self-learning and searching skills. We will get a significantly bigger effect while throwing a pupil into a situation in which he will get a feeling of uncertainty and doubts and many questions will arise to him, rather than explaining everything and teaching according to an example. Such a situation is very easily created during a scientific research activity in which conditions are formed to create pupils' scientific and critical thinking, insight, creativity and to develop personal features. While organizing scientific research activity, conditions are formed for pupils to work actively and independently. Working in that way pupils learn to explore, perceive a problem, formulate aims and tasks, raise a hypothesis, make its validation plan, analyze research results, check the reliability of received conclusions, raise a new problem in case of need and so on. In other words, pupils master scientific cognition elements. The research was carried out in January-April, 2010. 380 respondents – Natural science and Mathematics teachers participated in the research. The article deals with Natural science and Mathematics teachers' opinion about factors stimulating and hindering scientific research activity in comprehensive school. Semantic categorization carried out of respondents answers to open questions is presented here, i.e., semantic structure of the opinions / attitudes to scientific research activity stimulating and hindering factors is revealed. After carrying out semantic respondents' answer analysis it was stated that: • The most important scientific research activity stimulating factors are related to participants' in education – teachers and pupils' motivation. Professional information is the least influential in developing SRA in comprehensive school. • The most important hindering factors of SRA are related to material basis of educational institutions (laboratories, equipment, instruments and so on) also to participants' in education - teachers and pupils'- motivation. • Insufficiency of teachers' methodological preparation is also considered a serious hindering factor. Nuances of education policy are not viewed as an important factor limiting the development of SRA.