Aslanova Margarita S.

Background of this study is determined by the increased interest in mathematical education in recent years. Teachers and researchers are concerned about the conditions and means of developing mathematical education. Along with this, there is no consensus on what constitutes mathematical abilities, what is their structure and development.

Objective of this study is to compare the development of mathematical skills of first-graders in different educational programs and to identify specific to each program features.

The study sample consisted of 434 first-graders of Moscow schools (54.8% of boys), among which: 37.1% of first-graders learn programs of increased complexity, 44% ― traditional programs, 18.9% ― developmental education program.

Methods. An author's set of tasks was developed to diagnose the mathematical skills of first-graders in this study. It included "classical" tasks children must perform regardless of the training program and "specific" tasks that test the awareness of meaning of the mathematical actions performed.

Results. The analysis showed that most of the classical mathematical skills are not related to the character of the program and it developed by all first-graders in the course of training. However, complex arithmetic skills (working with two-digit numbers and searching for an unknown sum component) developed more effectively in programs of increased complexity. Specific skills related to reasonable action with a number (tasks for a number line or measurement) showed an ambiguous development dynamic. It allows us to assume that the content of programs does not affect specific skills.

Conclusion. This study allows us to form a hypothesis that the selecting students for programs affects only the rate of development of a number of classical mathematical skills. Whereas specific skills are more dependent on the content of the program. It requires further study.

Relevance: the problem of diagnosing perfectionism in sports activities is relevant for solving a large number of research issues related to the study of emotional states and factors of success in athletes, as well as practical tasks related to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of athletes. In this regard, the design of a method for diagnosing perfectionism in sports activities seems necessary and relevant.

Objective: to test the method “Sport Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale”, and to check the reliability and structural validity of this method.

Methods: testing was carried out on a sample (N=323) of Russian athletes of different kinds of sports. In the process of adapting the questionnaire, a direct and reverse translation of the questionnaire was performed, the factor structure of the questionnaire was checked using exploratory factor analysis, the internal consistency of the questionnaire scales and convergent validity using correlation analysis.

Results: a five-factor model of the method was identified. It included the following scales: “Organization and high personal standards“, “High parental expectations”, “Doubts about actions“, “ Concern over mistakes” and “High coaching expectations". Analysis of the reliability of the scales showed significant internal consistency of each of them. To assess convergent validity, a correlation analysis of the scales of the tested method and the “Three-factor perfectionism questionnaire” by N. G. Garanyan and A. B. Kholmogorova were performed. The results of the analysis showed that the method “Multidimensional perfectionism scale in sports” has the high convergent validity, which indicates a fairly predictive value of this tool.

Conclusions: for the first time in the field of Russian sports psychology, a tool for measuring perfectionism in athletes has been tested, which has shown high structural validity and reliability. In this regard, the method “Multidimensional perfectionism scale in sports” can be used for practical purposes to solve diagnostic and psychotherapeutic problems in the field of professional sports.

Relevance. There is growing interest in the market for educational applications in Russia. A significant number of these are aimed at preschoolers. Although much is known about the key features of preschoolers learning ( due to the cultural-historical approach as well ), there is still little research analyzing whether these features are taken into account in the design and methodology of mobile applications available on the market.

Objective. To analyze math apps for preschoolers from the standpoint of cultural-historical theory. 

Design. We went to Google Play and AppStore with the query “mathematics for preschoolers” and selected four apps that are most popular among users and recommended by experts. We analyzed them according to the following criteria: (1) adult engagement, (2) quality of the child’s interactions with the application content, (3) types of content, (4) forms of material presentation and the correspondence of the method of number concept formation to the preschool age specifics, (5) the quality of mathematical content, that ensures the principle of continuity with the primary school curriculum. 

Results. None of the apps was based on developmental learning methodology, and none used opportunities for involving an adult in a dialogue and joint activities with a child. Not all the apps considered the characteristics of the age group in their design of content and the child's interactions with the app. Only one of the apps provides continuity with the primary school curriculum. 

Conclusions. Scientific knowledge and practical achievements in the field of mathematical education for preschoolers are not always reflected even in the most popular programs. Our analysis allows to draw the attention of parents, teachers, and developers to important design elements that could make an app really educational for preschool children. 

Relevance. Knowledge of the spontaneous development of learning skills (LS) of University students is important and relevant, because the lack of LS adversely affects the success of independent learning, reducing the level of social and professional mobility of students and their competitiveness in the labor market.

Objective. Determining the dynamics and extent of spontaneous development of basic and additional LS students with an engineering profile in usual side developmental   nature of learning at the University, as well as of their relationship with academic performance.

Methods. For the diagnosis of basic LS specially designed tasks to build knowledge on the material of technical disciplines were used. Additional LS were tested using the author's questionnaire with scaling.  

Sample. 135 students of the 1st, 4th and 6th courses of technical universities of Moscow: 89 boys and 46 girls aged 18 to 33 years.

Results.  During the full 6-year course of study, students of engineering profile showed an increase in the level of basic LS: non-independent knowledge building (+31.25%), independent knowledge building (+12%), mixed knowledge building (+81.96%). The growth of additional skills as conscious work with the cognitive sphere (+2.8%) and with emotional states (+13.33%) was established, but the ability to work with motives and volitional regulation decreased (-8.18%),  as well as to work with knowledge as learning objectives (-16.12%), and to plan the order and time of activities (-10.21%).

Conclusion. It is necessary to take into account the reduced opportunities of students in decoding and generalization in the process of obtaining knowledge from messages with their ambiguity and a large amount of specific content. These types of basic LS need to be purposefully developed. The negative dynamics in the development of a number of additional LS also indicates the need for their special development at the University.