The article discusses the possibilities of the project method implementing to the university education in the transition period from offline to online training. The pedagogical aspects are considered in the context of the interdisciplinary approaches of digital humanities as learning content and teaching methods. Such approaches to the higher education pedagogy allow to improve the quality of education and ensure the successful mastering by students of the competencies necessary of the digital labor market specialists. The article presents the results of an experiment that was carried out as part of the pedagogical activities of the Department of Information Systems in Art and Humanities of the Faculty of Arts of St. Petersburg State University during 2018-2021. The results obtained indicate that the approaches of digital humanitarian pedagogy contribute to the more effective development of students' competencies of a specialist in a digital society.
In pedagogical context the current period is a transition from offline to online learning. Research (long-term included surveillance, surveys, interviews) shows that the main pedagogical solution at the moment is the mechanistic transfer of offline teaching methods to online. Wherein, peculiarities and advantages of the online learning are not fully exploited. Therefore, studying of pedagogical approaches are adequate to the online environment is very relevant.
If in the first decades of 21 centuries scholars and practitioners focused on the technological and even technical aspects of the problem, recently there has been a tendency to concentrate on humanitarian aspects of complex which includes technological, pedagogical and learning content aspects (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge concept). In this connection with the concept of digital humanities as a theoretical basis for the development of digital pedagogy is very promising.
As a rule, the learning environment of a modern university develops on the basis of a combination
of corporate and open sources. In this context, the courses «Digital Heritage» and «Information
Technologies in Museums» included in the curricula of the Faculty of Arts of St. Petersburg State
University are digital humanitarian educational resources (Figure 1). They are developed on the basis
of the interaction of corporate materials and open web resources [
Hypothesis of the research is that the virtual learning environment requires special pedagogical approaches and methods that are adequate to the content of the course and information and communication technologies for its delivery. An issue of development teaching methods that are adequate to the digital environment of modern society is interpreted from the point of view of the personal development of future professionals interacting with the electronic learning environment.
The research context is concepts of Digital Humanities [
Digital Humanities postulates the equality of technological and humanitarian components and TPACK consider learning as interaction between learning content, pedagogical approaches and technologies. Main role in this tirade obtains learning content, namely fundamentals of scientific knowledge.
From the didactic point of view, the research focuses on the study of those conditions which
contribute to the development of digital humanitarian competencies of the classical university
students. The complex of virtual environment and learning assignments is considered as a tool for
development of the specified knowledge, skills, and abilities of future professionals. According with
the Taxonomy of Pedagogical Goals by B. Bloom, the tasks are designed in a such way that students
gradually acquire skills and knowledge from the reproductive, algorithmic, heuristic to creative level
[
In this case, digital humanitarian competences can be described in the terms of the methodology of
Human-Centered design, HCD («Design Based on Human Engagement»). It is a way of designing
and managing the process of creating products and services, when each stage of problems solving
based on the developers creative thought and emotional involvement. Human participation is
implemented with observing a project realization challenges, brainstorming, conceptualizing,
decision making and fulfill the solution. The project object in this case is a virtual museum, which is
being developed by a third-year student [
According to UNESCO suggestions one of contemporary pedagogical issues is development of
learning methods which allow including students in research activities already at the stage of future
specialists training [
The virtual learning environment of the presented courses is digital content which includes files are created by different developers, namely highly qualified professionals (experts from the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg State University), members of student groups, and open sources. Thanks to this, conditions are created for the development of such competencies as (1) understanding connection and equality of digital and humanitarian components of electronic resources, (2) evaluation web resources according to following criteria (2.1) reliability in context of their heterogeneity in the scientific level of knowledge in connection of the level of the developers qualifications, as well as (2.2) relevance to project tasks.
Consideration of ways to solve these problems is carried out on the basis of the theory of digital humanitarian knowledge (DH) and pedagogy, namely TPACK. It should be noted the complexity of defining the DH subject area, as well as the dynamics of its development.
Digital humanities today encompass a wide range of research methods and social practices: rendering large sets of images, 3D modeling of historical artifacts, alternate reality games, mobile production and learning spaces, and more. At the same time, continued interest in the traditional areas of DH digital archives, quantitative analysis, projects to create electronic tools for the implementation of digital research.
The Digital Humanities Rack [
The Digital Humanities Manifesto [
The theory reflects the pedagogical aspects of the educational paradigm of the information society.
TPACK concept was introduced by Jhon Shulman in 1986 and Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler
[
Hypothetically, each electronic learning resource consists the following types of knowledge (1) Content Knowledge (CK), (2) Pedagogical Knowledge (PK), (3) Technology Knowledge (TK), (4)
The second level of knowledge occurs at the intersection of two areas of expertise, namely (4) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) (5) Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) and (6) Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPACK).
Pedagogical content knowledge is knowledge about how to combine pedagogy and content effectively. This is knowledge about how to make a subject understandable to learners. Technological content knowledge refers to information about how technology may be used to provide new ways of teaching content. Technological pedagogical knowledge refers to the affordances and constraints of technology as an enabler of different teaching approaches.
The highest level of knowledge is (7) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). It address to the knowledge and understanding of the interplay between CK, PK and TK when using technology for teaching and learning. It includes an understanding of the complexity of relationships between students, teachers, content, practices and technologies.
In our view, the theory gives a whole picture of the education development in information society. It allows solving aforementioned problems. The TPACK provides an idea, that the Content Knowledge is component, which determines technological design and pedagogical methods of elearning resources. It is obvious, that a course of Mathematics or Fine Arts needs sets of different technological solution and pedagogical activities. Thus, we can see path how wide range of trendy and disparate methods gradually turn into a methodology of information society education.
The issues of the development of «social educational space» and «social educational environment»
as well as the interaction between them are in the focus of modern pedagogical research in Russia
(T.N. Noskova, N. . Morze, J. Malach, P. Kommers, T.). Scholars emphasize constantly increasing of
the global electronic environment significance as a component of professional and personal
development. The contemporary professional is faced with the task of individualizing this space. The
systematization of the above questions is presented in the concept of the educational pedagogical
environment, developed at the Russian State Pedagogical University. A.I. Herzen [
Emphasis the following aspects of the theory: consideration of the pedagogical environment as a system based on the interaction of virtual and classroom spaces and including the following components: target, subjective, scientific and educational, psychological and didactic, subjectmaterial, organizational and managerial, socio-psychological. Highlight the psycho-didactic component. It describes the methodology for solving the research issues through the development of a system of assignments, which implementation leads to the development of the competencies of a specialist in a digital society. There are competencies which are manifested in sufficient knowledge and skills, both in the humanitarian and technological areas of knowledge. An example of the Implementation of this approach is presented in this article.
3.3.
According to M. Knoll, [
The main didactical purpose of the project method is to provide students with the opportunity to independently develop their competencies in process of a practical problems solving or issues that require the integration of knowledge from various subject areas both theoretical, and empirical. For example, humanitarians and technological ones are in context of the presented research.
The project method has a long history. Founded in 1577 by the Academia di San Luca in Rome, and developed in 1763 by the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris. It was originally aimed at training architects, but then was increased to other subject areas and now is successfully used by European universities. In 1860th the project method was moved to the American continent by the founder of MIT William B. Rogers, supported by a number of American universities and is also actively developing to this day. The philosophical rationale of this method is the concept of pedagogical constructivism is presented in the writings of L.S. Vygotsky, J. Dewey, and others.
The classical models for the implementation of training based on the project method are linear, holistic and universal, proposed, respectively, by Calvin M. Woodward (1879, Washington University, США), Charles R. Richards , 1900, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA), William H. Kilpatrick, 1918 Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA). In the 90s, this list was replenished with a telecommunications project, the author of the term is E. Polat (Institute of Secondary Education, Russian Academy of Educationб IOSO RAO).
The educational project presented in the paper is linear and telecommunication. It is an educational, cognitive, research, creative activity of students, having a common problem, goal, agreed methods of activity directed to achieve an individual results. It is realized via computer telecommunications and wide range of pedagogical approaches. There are lectures and essays, independent work, communications with external experts, classmates, open sources study, reflection via PMM, the project results presentation and evaluation.
The experiment tool is a complex of virtual learning environment and the set of tasks aimed at
developing digital competencies through pedagogical communication in blended learning
environment. The depth of development of competencies is carried out on the basis of the systematic
of B. Bloom's pedagogical goals [
An aim of the research is to study the relationship between the development of educational content of universities and teaching methods in the context of digital humanities, TPACK. To achieve this goal, a blended learning environment was designed, based on the courses «Museum Information Systems» and «Theory of Communication». These courses are included in the main educational program of the Faculty of Arts of St. Petersburg State University in the direction 09.03.03 «Applied Informatics» with the assignment of the qualification (degree) - bachelor in the profile «Applied Informatics in Art and Humanities». Also a component of the virtual learning environment is a massive open online course «Basics of working in a digital environment», in the development of which the authors actively participated.
The digital learning environment requires the development of adequate teaching methods. Below are presented the results of an experiment aimed at studying pedagogical approaches which make conditions for students to develop competencies which are manifested in sufficient knowledge and skills, both in the humanitarian and technological areas of knowledge.
The research includes the following components: (1) formation of a blended learning environment;
(2) development of a methodology that allows students to be included in activities related to the
implementation of research already at the stage of training future specialists [
There are following research methods were used: participatory observation, analysis of works and surveys of students, as well as semantic mapping (РММ).
The implementation of the educational project is included in the course program and consist in creation electronic resource called «Virtual Museum» by each student. The project realization is carried out through the following set of tasks: (1) formulation the museum title; (2) development of the concept of the museum (including the target audience (audiences) of the museum and methods of its (their) activities; (3) making of the museum collection; (4) grounding of the technological solutions for implementation of the museum; (5) development of virtual tour around the museum; (6) creation of the project presentation; (7) evaluation of the project by fellow students, instructor and external experts, if possible. The work on the project takes 16 hours, provided by the Program of the course in the block «Practical tasks».
1st stage (1-3 lessons): defining the subject area of the museum, the goals of its activities and implementation technology, for example, page on social networks, blog, website, etc. Creation of the collection in accordance of the subject area and the goals of museums are started on this stage.
2nd stage (4-13 lessons): development of projects, which is accompanied by the publication of the resource prototypes in the web space. It allows the participants to discuss the working process with fellow students, as well as consult with the teacher and external experts.
3rd stage (14-15 lessons): defense of the project in a student group and assessment of the project by fellow students, teachers and external experts.
In the process of implementation of aforementioned stages, the experimenters examinated the level of students' mastering of cognitive operations related to the design of virtual museums in the following components: (1) subject area of the museum, (2) implementation technologies, (3) comprehension of the equality of technological and content components.
The experiment was carried out for 3 years (2018/19 - 2020/21). It was attended by 36 third year bachelors. The 2018/19 group was considered as a control group, and the 2019/20, 2020/21 groups were considered experimental.
The level of mastering cognitive operations (table 1) was checked on the basis of the taxonomy of
pedagogical goals by B. Bloom [
To solve the identified problem in 2019/20 the following adjustments were made to the pedagogical design of the course: a system of written assignments aimed at understanding the role of humanitarian knowledge in the development of the museum was developed, and an excursion to the multimedia center of the Russian Museum was organized. The result was a positive trend in the development of these competencies.
Circumstances of 2020/21 made possible to add changes in the conditions of the experiment via involvement of external expertise of projects and activation of the online component of pedagogical communication. Analysis of the results obtained allows us to draw the following conclusions. External examination of projects (Nanjing Pedagogical University, Nanjing, China) led to an increase in the quality of projects by introducing additions to the content which need for understanding the materials by carriers of Chinese culture. Reducing classroom interaction with students does not have a significant impact on the development of knowledge and the implementation of projects.
Hypothesis of the research is that the virtual learning environment requires special pedagogical approaches and methods that are adequate to the content of the course and information and communication technologies for its delivery. The presented study examined the implementation of the project-based teaching method in a virtual learning environment.
The virtual learning environment of the presented courses is digital content which includes files are created by different developers, namely highly qualified professionals (experts from the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg State University), members of student groups, and open sources. Thanks to this, conditions are created for the development of such competencies as (1) understanding connection and equality of digital and humanitarian components of electronic resources, (2) evaluation web resources according to following criteria (2.1) reliability in context of their heterogeneity in the scientific level of knowledge in connection of the level of the developers qualifications, as well as (2.2) relevance to project tasks.
In addition, the inclusion of a student in the interaction with the Network as a member of the
community of professionals working in the space of open resources at an early stage of training [
Finally, analysis of the projects results obtained shows that regarding technology, web sites are mainly used as implementation technologies. Only one student chose a social network (Project «Museum of Computer Games»). The blog has not been chosen by anyone.
Themes of virtual museums developed by students: «Virtual Museum of Neuroart», «Virtual Museum of Talking Walls», «Museum of the History of Computer Games», «Trail of the Silk Road in St. Petersburg», «Countries of the Great Silk Road», «Retrospective of video games», «Internet meme as an arts of youth» , «Where art meets technology», «Museum of Fonts», «Museum of Video Games».
Subject areas of sciences presented in the themes of virtual museums implemented by students in 2018 / 19-2020 / 21: art history, intercultural communication, history, social problems. They reflect the digital humanities perspectives. Together with the data on the performance of other tasks, this indicates the achievement of the set goals.
In the context of the concept of digital humanities, the presented methodology makes it possible to implement an innovative direction of interdisciplinary research, which corresponds to contemporary educational demands for the development of the competencies of a professional working in the modern society.
Also, the presented pedagogical solution is a methodology that allows students to be included in
the educational process and to implement activities related to the implementation of the functions of
scientific research, discoveries, innovations already at the stage of training future specialists [
Finally, these pedagogical approaches are associated with expanding the accessibility of users to
digital materials based on an expert assessment of the compliance of electronic material with
educational goals [