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Introduction. Currently, the higher education system is experiencing a reduction in classroom hours in favor of increased share of students' independent work. Therefore, the scientific and methodological problem of organizing extracurricular independent work of students in physics without losing the quality of education is relevant. Objective: within the framework of theoretical and experimental research, to develop and test methodological techniques for organizing independent educational activities of students for mastering general physics at a university while maintaining the specificity of physics as an experimental science, and to provide recommendations for correcting the educational process at the university. Methodology and methods. The study was conducted at FSBEI HE Vyatka State University (Russia). Three groups of second-year students took part in the pedagogical experiment (total sample was 180 people). Methods of experimental research were: written survey, element-by-element analysis of students' work, statistical processing of results (φ* – Fisher's angular transformation). Independent work of students in the experimental group was organized using specially designed and selected tasks aiming to master knowledge and key skills in teaching physics. It also aimed to compensate for classroom laboratory work; therefore it contained creative tasks that boost students' activities and help master symbolic physical thinking. Results. The experimental group showed statistically significant results in mastering subject knowledge and a number of experimental skills on a par with the group of students whose classroom workload was a third higher due to the laboratory practical training. At the same time, the experimental group showed the best results in mastering the skills of visual representation and description of phenomena (φ* = 5.187; p < 0.05) due to the orientation of the controlled independent work, including formation of symbolic physical thinking. Conclusion. The proposed methodological ideas for organizing independent activities of students focused on direct work with signs (pictures, texts, diagrams, models) contribute to maintaining the quality of students' knowledge in the conditions of reduced classroom load but do not solve a number of skills formation problems that develop when a full-scale physical experiment is conducted. The results of the study can be useful for doctoral students, postgraduate students, and university teachers.
Uvarova et al. (Sun,) studied this question.