Experience of interdisciplinary projects implementation in the training of pre-serviced IT-specialists

Abstract

Abstract The problems of contemporary IT specialists’ training in terms of the high requirements to their mathematical and computational thinking skills as well as the urgency of raising their motivation to mastering math and algorithmization are discussed in the paper. It is pointed out that initial university courses should involve the students in the experiences that focus pre-service IT-specialists on the deep understanding of a mathematical backround and an algorithmic nature of any coding task, demonstrate them the role of math in the analysis of algorithm characteristics, and importance of math knowledge in for successful IT-career. One of such experiences presented by the authors is involving the pre-service IT-specialists into the work upon the interdisciplinary projects. The said activity is elaborated basing on the core didactic principles of PBL with the focus on the interdisciplinary project peculiarities. The goal, stages and results of the said PBL are described and analyzed in terms of its impact on the students’ awareness of mathematical knowledge value in their vocational activity. The levels of of formation of the IT-specialists’ awareness of mathematical knowledge value are established and determined. The survey and monitoring program were developed and realized which showed the changes in the distribution of pre-service IT-specialists by the levels of the said awareness for their future IT career. The prospects of further research are outlined in terms of holding the empirical research for the verification of the offered PBL activity impact on the motivation to IT-specialists’ learning mathThe software module’s core components are distinguished and the set of requirements in terms of their design are formulated according to the logic of the components work.