FOSTERING COGNITIVE MOTIVATION AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS’ RESEARCH CULTURE IN A DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The article provides a theoretical substantiation of fostering cognitive motivation as one of the key factors in the development of students’ research culture within a digital educational environment. It is demonstrated that, within this framework, cognitive motivation functions as an internal driving force of educational and research activity, ensuring the future teacher’s readiness to search for, analyse, critically reinterpret, interpret, and apply information in professional situations. The content of the concepts of “students’ research culture” and “cognitive motivation” is specified in the context of the professional training of future specialists in special and preschool education. The analysis has shown that the effective fostering of cognitive motivation in a digital educational environment requires purposeful pedagogical organisation based on four interrelated pedagogical conditions: professionally relevant problem-based content of learning; phased involvement of students in educational, research, and project-based activities with a gradual increase in the level of independence; purposeful use of the potential of the digital educational environment as a space for information search, interaction, and presentation of results; and individualised reflective support of educational and research activity. It is proved that these pedagogical conditions have a common foundation for the training of future specialists in preschool and special education, yet differ in the professional content of their implementation. This makes it possible to argue that the development of research culture in a digital educational environment should be built on a common motivational and pedagogical basis, while necessarily taking into account the specific subject content of professional training. The scientific novelty of the study lies in substantiating the pedagogical conditions for fostering cognitive motivation as a factor in the development of students’ research culture and in revealing the specific features of their implementation in the professional training of future specialists in preschool and special education. A promising avenue for further research is the empirical verification of the effectiveness of the proposed pedagogical conditions in the training of future specialists in preschool and special education.