DISCURSIVE UNCERTAINTY AS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE FORMATION OF SCIENTIFIC DESIGN THINKING IN JAS STUDENTS

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to theoretically substantiate discursive uncertainty as a prerequisite for the formation of scientific design thinking in students of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in the context of the integration of science-art, STEAM education, and continuous design education; to define scientific design thinking as an age-appropriate way of students’ entry into research and project-based activity.

The methodological basis of the study includes the concepts of research-based learning, philosophy of science, psychology of thinking, design theory, STEAM education, and continuous design education. The study uses theoretical analysis and synthesis of scientific sources, comparison of approaches to scientific and design thinking, generalization, systematization, interpretation of methodological materials of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and modelling of age-related dynamics in the formation of students’ scientific design thinking.

The scientific novelty lies in clarifying the concept of discursive uncertainty in the context of students’ research and project-based activity; substantiating the interrelation of science-art, STEAM education, and continuous design education as an environment for the formation of scientific design thinking; distinguishing the manifestations of uncertainty in classical scientific thinking and scientific design thinking; defining scientific design thinking as a propaedeutic stage of students’ entry into the logic of academic research.

Conclusions. It has been proved that discursive uncertainty is not an obstacle to cognition but performs the function of productive intellectual tension: it encourages students to formulate a problem, pose a research question, generate a hypothesis or project idea, critically verify sources, model a possible solution, argue their position, and reflect on the result. It has been established that science-art creates a field for combining science, art, design, and digital visualization; STEAM education provides an interdisciplinary educational framework; continuous design education ensures the gradual development of students’ project-based, visual-technological, and research thinking. It has been found that in classical scientific thinking uncertainty is mainly reduced through conceptual clarification, proof, and explanation, whereas in scientific design thinking it remains a space for variable project search. The main indicators of the formation of scientific design thinking in JAS students have been identified: cognitive, informational, discursive, project-design, methodological, reflective, and ethical indicators.