Development of critical thinking in first year cadets of an aviation university in the process of solving professionally oriented problems

The problem of developing critical thinking has always been and remains relevant for higher professional education, and is also the subject of study by foreign and domestic scientists. The analysis of scientific literature carried out in the article shows that foreign authors consider critical thinking in the aspect of freedom and independence, and Russian scientists and teachers - as a type of intellectual creative activity, which is based on understanding and comprehension of the information received. Since in military universities a significant share of the teaching load falls on practical classes, the article considers them as a type of educational activity that plays an important role in the development of critical thinking. This is due to the development of intellectual independence, reasoning and the ability of cadets to see a problem comprehensively when solving professionally oriented problems. The authors highlight the basic requirements that teachers must take into account when organizing practical classes aimed at developing critical thinking. And here it should be remembered that critical thinking is independent thinking, striving for logical and evidential argumentation, including the aspect of social communication. Information and asking the right questions to develop critical thinking are the starting point, not the end goal. The article examines an example of one of the professionally oriented problems solved by cadets during a practical lesson in the discipline “Informatics”. The authors also provide questions the answers to which are given by a teacher when preparing a practical lesson or by a cadet solving a problem in the process of mastering educational material. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that in the process of solving professionally oriented problems in practical classes, cadets learn to analyze information, assess probabilities and risks, identify key parameters and determine their impact on decisions made, apply logical and analytical methods, which contributes to the development of critical thinking.