THE IMPACT OF TEACHING THE “THEORETICAL MECHANICS” COURSE USING SOFTWARE-BASED EDUCATIONAL TOOLS ON LEARNING EFFICIENCY

Аннотация

В данном исследовании анализируется учебная успеваемость студентов, обучающихся по направлению «Физика» в учреждениях высшего образования по дисциплине «Теоретическая механика». Представлен сравнительный математико-статистический анализ результатов обучения при использовании программных образовательных инструментов в процессе преподавания по сравнению с результатами, полученными при традиционных методах обучения. Ключевые слова: язык программирования Python, программный образовательный инструмент, эффективность обучения, теоретическая механика. Each student of a higher education institution aims to acquire knowledge, skills, and competencies that will benefit their personal, professional, and social life. The main objective of education is to prepare students to learn new materials, facilitate the perception of knowledge, strengthen practical skills, review and generalize the knowledge and skills, identify and address weak areas, and enable the application of acquired knowledge in real-life situations and behavioral patterns. During the learning process, by forming the basic competencies related to the subject of “Theoretical Mechanics,” which is one of the theoretical courses in Physics, students develop interest in the study of mechanical motion, coordinate systems, phenomena occurring according to the laws of conservation of energy in nature, planetary motion physics, and the nature of space and time. As a result, students gain sufficient skills to form the foundation for scientific 119 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference research and physical experimentation.The process of providing in-depth knowledge of the subject “Theoretical Mechanics” is a two-way interaction that incorporates both the teacher’s instructional activities and the student’s engagement during the lesson. In this context, it is relevant to analyze the possibilities, advantages, and outcomes of using a software-based educational tool named “Theoretical Mechanics Teaching Program.” From this point of view, it is necessary to compare the results of lessons conducted with this software tool and those carried out using traditional teaching methods. When using software-based educational tools during lectures and practical sessions of the theoretical mechanics course, it has been determined that students better comprehend complex topics. This is made possible by the availability of relevant videos, presentations, graphics, complex diagrams, topic-based problems with their solutions, and graphs corresponding to those solutions—all integrated into the software tool. These materials allow students to study both during the lesson and independently, gaining sufficient knowledge, skills, competencies, and core proficiencies related to the subject. In higher education institutions, alongside delivering theoretical knowledge, the use of software-based educational tools in teaching theoretical mechanics proves to be an effective and reliable method for expanding students’ understanding of the subject, enhancing their problem-solving and analytical skills, comprehending the underlying essence of physical phenomena, and fully developing their subject-related core competencies. In order to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of this methodology, a pedagogical experimental trial was organized. This trial aimed to define the content and implementation stages of using software-based educational tools in teaching theoretical mechanics within the Physics education curriculum at higher education institutions. The experimental trial to improve the effectiveness of teaching and develop students’ subject-specific competencies using software-based learning materials was conducted in the following stages: 1. Analysis of results obtained during the experimental trial conducted at selected higher education institutions. The generalized results of the experimental trial were compared between the experimental and control groups. These results were then processed using mathematical-statistical analysis methods. 2. Based on the final outcomes of the experimental trial, scientific and methodological recommendations were developed aimed at increasing the 120 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference effectiveness of teaching and improving students’ core competencies. These recommendations are based on using learning materials and tools from the “Theoretical Mechanics Teaching Program” developed using the Python programming language as a software-based educational tool. In the study, mathematical statistics-a method used to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching process-was applied to process and analyze the results of the experiment. During the re-analysis of the results, as specified in mathematical-statistical methods, the effectiveness of the educational process was assessed by determining the difference between the initial and final indicators of students in the experimental and contro