Mentoring and developing project thinking for students’ professional self-determination

Abstract

This article covers the main problems associated with using project activities as a link between training and practical application of the knowledge acquired by students. It examines mentoring difficulties with training highly qualified personnel for industries and enhancing engineering education, which is a strategic state-level objective and a priority for the country’s development. Also discussed are the issues of training students as specialists since childhood. The theory behind the future link between training and practical skills is the ‘Concept for supporting professional self-determination in students during continuous education’. We touch on the issues of training and identifying specialists starting from preschool education, implementing the learning process and identifying students with specific talents and abilities, as well as supporting children who have motivational skills but lack such abilities. Arrangement of children’s play space is discussed as a way to enhance the creative and technical development of a future student and specialist. The article also lists project activity types and considers such issues as student support and mentoring as well as implicit and explicit aspects of the joint work of the supporter and the designer. It also compares the implementation of functions as a result of the application of project activities of educational and professional work. The relationship between learning and the application of the acquired knowledge, and a creative approach to the work of a student carrying out technical activities from design to a finished product is studied as well. We also validate the importance of not only the ability to use ready-made knowledge, but also of its independent extraction and the formation of competitiveness as a way of developing a versatile personality in a student. We also identify the characteristics of students capable of team thinking and work at all levels of training: from a kindergarten to a higher education institution. This article highlights project culture and worldview as professionally significant qualities of a specialist, including a value attitude to project activities, project knowledge and skills at an individual creative level, and a desire to transform reality and improve one’s abilities. The purpose of this work is to consider the importance of introducing partial programs for teaching future specialists: training current kindergarten students in technical specialties and mentoring as the main stage laying the foundation for the child’s evolving personality.