Ways to develop students' mental activity in the learning process

Abstract

The article examines the importance of developing students’ cognitive (mental) activity in the teaching process. It provides a comprehensive discussion of enhancing students’ thinking skills, independent learning abilities, and functional literacy through increasing their cognitive engagement. The works of scholars who have studied students’ mental activity in the learning process are analyzed, and their definitions and interpretations of “intellect” are systematized. The theoretical perspectives of M. I. Makhmutov, P. Ya. Galperin, L. V. Zankov, G. I. Shchukina, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are compared, and their applicability in classroom practice is analyzed. Different types of thinking are outlined, their distinctions are explained from a theoretical perspective, and ways of developing them are explored through practical tasks. The results are discussed. It is demonstrated through exercises and tasks that developing cognitive activity contributes to a deeper understanding of lesson content and improves skills such as analysis, comparison, and drawing conclusions. In addition, methods such as “Graphic Dictation,” “Information Organizer,” “Three Puzzles – Three Questions,” and “Peel the Fruit” are proposed as effective methodological tools aimed at enhancing students’ cognitive engagement, developing thinking skills, and fostering a conscious understanding of literal and figurative meanings of words. Overall, the development of students’ cognitive activity is analyzed in connection with psychology alongside the development of learning and cognitive skills in the process of mastering grammatical knowledge in the Kazakh language.