Formation of design and research competencies in future teachers in the framework of STEAM education

Abstract

In today's digital society and economy, professions associated with high technologies are becoming increasingly in demand: programmers, system engineers, IT specialists, biotechnologists, project leaders, etc. In this regard, school graduates should have not just good knowledge of school subjects, but also interdisciplinary knowledge, the formation of which is a long process, starting already in school, and cannot be achieved by using only traditional methods. One of these innovative technologies is STEAM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). To implement the concept of STEAM education, the system of pedagogical education is tasked with training the relevant personnel with the necessary competencies, among which the most relevant ones are meta-subject and design and research skills. In the authors' opinion, one of the possible innovations in the preparation of teachers for STEAM education is the inclusion of the "Robotics" discipline in the content of training of future teachers of physics, mathematics, technology, visual arts, and others. The authors conducted a survey among future teachers studying at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences and the Engineering and Technology Faculty of the Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University, which showed that the problem of preparing graduates of general education institutions for the challenges of the new time is more relevant than ever. Only 18% of respondents are aware of the STEM and STEAM education programs existing in the world and the country, 15% of the students surveyed believe that they are ready to implement project activities and only 10% of students believe that they are ready to lead project activities. These data indicate that not only the problem of teachers' readiness to implement new educational programs, but also the problem of preparing future teachers to implement practice-oriented educational activities based on the formation of design and research competencies is coming to the fore.