Valentina Milenkova – Student Participation in Research Activities: State and Specifics

 

Valentina Milenkova - Student Participation in Research Activities: State and SpecificsAbstract: The present paper aims to analyse some aspects of university education as a specific environment for students’ involvement in research activities. The analysis is concentrated on the following issues:

– What are the characteristics of students’ participation in research activities;

– What personal traits are created in the process ofresearch activities;

– How young people evaluate various research activities.

The focusof the article is students’ viewpointfor their involvement inresearchactivities. The paperis based onresults obtainedduring the courseof the projects carried out at South-West Universityin 2013 and 2014.The main methodsused for obtaining informationare focus groups with students from humanitarian studies and survey with students.

Modern university education is a unity of teaching and research. Student centered learning is one of the crucial educational approaches, where the interests, perceptions and personality of the student underlie his/her studying, learning and understanding processes.

The involvement of students in research activities is important because:

– it improves students’ acquired qualifications and professional skills;

– it contributes to learning  through applied research;

– it forms an attitude towards future learning.

Through participation in theresearch activities:

– students become more concentrated and interested in studying and training;

– students apply what they have learned during the lectures and classes;

Inclusionof research in theteachingmethods is crucial for the effective education process because it is aimed at complex personal development both in terms of acquiring specific skills and competencies, as well as the formation of the qualities that are important for the establishment of a common cognitive attitude.

The paper concludes that students’ participation in research activities is a prerequisite for their future professional identity. The research emphasizes that the creation of students’ research skills is connected with the curricula, which should stimulate more creativity, individual approach and should be based on person-centered pedagogy. It is also necessary defining a variety of teaching and assessment methods inciting personality in the process of studying

Keywords: research activity, university, quality of education.

Rhetoric and Communications E-journal, Issue 17, April 2015, rhetoric.bg/, journal.rhetoric.bg, ISSN 1314-4464

Read the original of the text (in Bulgarian)