INTRODUCTION
1.
Having read the title of this book several years ago, my 12-year-old son
asked: “And what if there are no abilities at all?“ He asked the main question,
which arises each time we speak about the development of scientific (and other)
abilities. Here I shall answer it. The concept, stated in this book, comprises the
following. Scientific abilities can not be found by means of testing. They can
only be revealed during personal creative activity of a person, which, in certain
conditions, can begin to show up early, in senior school. However, such an
activity, especially in the initial stage, is impossible without a qualified scientific
supervision, hence, the development of scientific abilities is result of the joint
activity of the scientific supervisor (instructor, "master”, "mentor”) and his
pupil. This activity can be fully effective only when both the scientific
supervisor and his pupil use the above-mentioned technique and have the
opportunity to objectively estimate the achieved level of development. Thus, the
task of development of scientific abilities constitutes the organization of such
educational environment, which will allow, since the optimum age (14-15
years), to create necessary conditions for their display and development.
Is it possible to solve this task it the educational environment of the
present-day Russia? Generally speaking, the usual practice of the training of the
scientific staff pretends to be integral and system-like: circles and section in the
establishments of additional education, lyceums, grammar schools and colleges;
then, student research works in high schools, "cemented" by conferences and
competitions for students' research works; further magistrature, aspiranture and
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doctoranture. Thus, subject Olympiads (from school up to international ones) are
still carried out, summer and winter camps for gifted youth are arranged,
Presidential, governmental and nominal grants, and grants from various funds
are nominated. It may seem that any grain of giftedness will be immediately
noticed and potted. Reality, however, proves to be different.
The main reason is the absence of methodological integrity of the system,
because of a incomplete understanding of the contents of scientific abilities and
the following absence of theoretically reasonable and effective methods for their
development, and also its organizational dissociation on two poorly cooperating
parts: secondary and high schools. Neither the old merging of two appropriate
ministries, nor the wide individual attraction of high school scientists for joint
work with schoolchildren, does not change the situation. Maybe, that's why the
system fails long-term development monitoring, i.e. it does not incur the
responsibility for the destiny of a particular person, being limited to separate
local actions. Such system is "non-technological", if we understand technology
as a “systematical and consecutive embodiment of the preliminarily designed
training and educational process”, and the object, directed for transformation, —
as a developing personality.
The creation of this technology has become possible only now, when the
success of system analysis, mathematics and computer facilities allows to
present the sights and opinions of teachers, psychologists, and philosophers on
the contents and development of scientific abilities as a mathematical model,
allowing to make the measurement, estimation, planning and forecasting in this
area. The model, offered in the book, is based on original structuring of the
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scientific abilities and considers personal creative activity as the key factor of
development. According to this, the purpose of mathematical modeling is to
describe the interconnected increase in time of the components of scientific
abilities caused by individual research activity in its interaction with the external
environment. The interrelation is determined by the way, the functioning of a
person at performing (and developing) separate elements of the scientific
activity, influences on various factors, such as motivation (determining time,
spent on scientific activity), and also, probably, on developing the intelligence
and creativity. On the other hand, these factors set the rate of development of
elements of activity. The role of external environment involves the support of
scientific activity of the developing person (by other people's possible partial
replacement of separate elements of necessary personal activity: scientific
supervision, performance of ensuring works, co-authorship) and its stimulation
depending on the achieved results and qualification. It is necessary to note, that
scientific supervision on the part of a qualified scientist (except singular cases)
is the necessary precondition for the successful beginning of a creative work.
The realization of the model demands, first of all, a structured set of a
scientific activity. One of first was, apparently, the approach of A. Poincare,
who has allocated three stages in the creative activity: conscious work;
unconscious internal work, ending with "eureka"; new conscious work. Then at
different times the models of J. Due, G. Walles, B.M. Kedrov, M. Bunge, C.
Dunker, F. Jonset, Rossman, J. Dickson, D. Poia, A.S. Maidanov, etc., were
offered. Generalizing them, it is possible to allocate 9 basic functions of research
activity:
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 Research problem search,
 Scientific understanding of the problem,
 Nomination of key ideas and formation of a plan of the problem,
 Development or creation of necessary ensuring means,
 Realization of separate components of the plan,
 Synthesis of separate results into the joint decision of the problem,
 Result registration,
 Introduction of the result into scientific use,
 Internal self-criticism.
We differentiate also research activity on its scale and importance of
results on the 4 following levels:
 Initial (characteristic for beginning researchers, e.g. the received
results are included into clauses of the scientific supervisor),
 Separate tasks (e.g. publication of clauses in scientific magazines),
 Scientific problems (e.g. publication of scientific monographs),
 Scientific directions (e.g. the reception of results included in
textbooks).
Thus, 9*4=36 elements of scientific qualification are distinguished.
Modern information technologies of mathematical modeling, similar to those
used at management of space vehicles, allow to describe development of the
scientific qualification in appropriate 37-dimensional (including motivation)
phase space with 72 managements describing the distribution of efforts of a
developing person and external support between these elements. (It's noticeable,
that the movement of space vehicles is described only in 7-dimensional phase
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space). It appears, that the optimal strategy of development of scientific
qualification consists of consecutive performance under an individual scientific
management (supervision) of research works of the specially picked variable
methodical structure.
This strategy are simulated in three variants:
 Autocracy-empirical,
 Locally-optimal,
 Globally - optimal
The Autocracy-empirical strategy reflects the approaches, which are used
in the existing practice of work with the gifted youth. In this case, methodical
structure of research tasks, solved during development, is defined from
empirical reasons and as though is imposed to the developing person. We have
considered such two empirical laws of management: strategy of directed
development and strategy of consecutive development.
Locally-optimal strategy is as follows: the decisions are accepted by the
most developing person proceeding from aspiration to optimize expected results
of the activity in the nearest period. Thus, effective management of the
developing person includes formation of its purpose in an optimal way, from the
position of a person and society.
A development of this is the globally - optimal strategy. It assumes, that at
defining the strategy of scientific development a person uses an individually
adjusted computer model, predicting results of its activity for a significant
period. Despite of the singularity, we believe that, taking into account the
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prompt information process in a modern society, this approach is urgent and
rather effective.
The developed model is realized as a program complex. The carried out
multi-alternative accounts allow to prove the optimal strategy of development of
scientific abilities in typical variant, and individualized, in view of the features
of particular person. This strategy defines the technology of development of
scientific abilities as the decision of a sequence of research tasks of various
methodical structure (i.e. including various elements of scientific activity),
which should be offered to a developing person. The comparison of the
forecasted and real rates and the quality of decision of these tasks allow to carry
out monitoring and management of development.
In the school period works of 4 types are realized:
 Survey (10th class-1st course)
 Search (2-3 courses)
 Production (4-6 courses, Magistrature)
 Synthesizing (Aspiranture).
Main ("tones") and collateral ("overtones") methodical components
should be present at each of the works (in a gradually growing degree), and the
absence of not only tones, but also overtones (as in music) deprives works of
their developing value. For survey works a "tone" is the development of
ensuring means, specified by the supervisor, and realization of some elements of
the research problem, solved by the supervisor; alongside with it "overtones"are the acquaintance with popular scientific sources with search, formalization
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of problems, and advancement of new ideas at all levels of researches in the
appropriate scientific area, from the level of tasks up to the level of directions.
For search works, one of the basic "tones" becomes the search of research
problems at all levels, and activity is displaced from the initial level to the more
high level of tasks; to "overtones" the development of realization methods of
separate works on high levels of activity and internal self-criticism (then at the
initial level) are added.
At transition to production works "tones" are enriched by the scientific
understanding (formalization) of the problem and advancement of new ideas at
the level of tasks (i.e. already "present" sciences), and "overtones" - by the
development of results synthesis methodology at all levels.
At last, in the finishing period of education - in the Aspiranture
synthesizing research works are carried out. Their "tones" are almost all
functions of research activity at the level of tasks, except for formalization of
problems and self-criticism, which pass to "overtones" to release the researchers'
time for other elements of activity; to "overtones" six (of nine) consecutive
functions of research activity are added (from search the problem to synthesis of
results), all on high levels.
This is what the optimal
Scientific Qualification Change
Course
Prep.
1
2
3
4
5
6
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Average qualification
(%) in group
Exceed (times)
Control Experimental
9
6
10
1,66
5
7.5
1,5
5.9
13.5
2,29
6.4
18
2,81
4.9
11.4
2,33
13.7
strategy of formation of scientific
qualification is briefly. Let us
remind, that it was received not
from the reasons of "common
sense", and by strict mathematical modeling on a computer with the use of
modern information technologies. Though after all it can be found reasonable by
the reasons of "common sense", we shall notice, as well as any other rational
(but non-optimal) strategy, this strategy is provable! It is possible to argue on it,
it can be enriched and specified, but all this will occur within the framework of
precise model, where the arguments and counter-arguments are treated
unequivocally and are clear to all. From this point of view the strategy is
objective.
Experimental data confirming the efficiency of developed strategy, forms
and methods of its realization were received in the Samara State Academy of
Architecture and Civil Building, where the Line of Elitary Studies for pupils and
0,8
0,7
0,6
0,5
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
0
Fig. Qualification estimation of the students of the 4th
course.
students
works for already more than 10 years. This Line is methodically built
on the described information technology of development. The analysis of
qualification of the students - participants of the Annual Student's Scientific
Conference has shown the following (see. Tab. and Fig.). By the students
conducting research works in traditional ways, the scientific qualification,
considered as a set of mastered elements of research activity, remains practically
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the same with ages, while by the students of the Line of Elitary Studies it
constantly growing, surpassing qualification of other participants by 1,5-2,5
times.
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