У статті обґрунтовано й запропоновано як одну з форм самостійної роботи студентів фізичних спеціальностей закладів вищої освіти ведення словника фізичних понять (термінів), який може стати, як показує досвід, важливою складовою навчального процесу. Доведено, що ведення подібного словника може бути корисним і для студентів, які вивчають будь-яку дисципліну з певними застереженнями в методичних порадах щодо ведення словника.

One of the important problems of the methodology of teaching any discipline is the effective identification of the objective level of students’ knowledge, acquired skills and abilities in the study of a discipline. Traditional methods of testing and assessing knowledge contain some drawbacks: excessive time spent on the exam; elements of teacher’s subjectivity that may occur; inability to clarify clear criteria for assessing knowledge, etc. Based on this, and the prospects for the reform of higher education in Ukraine, such methods of knowledge control are needed, which would allow teachers not only to establish an objective level of students’ knowledge, but also to identify (diagnose) the causes of gaps in student learning so that they could on its basis help the student to overcome the identified gaps. This method, devoid of most of the above shortcomings, is computer testing, the use of which for a long time as a means of monitoring and evaluating students’ achievements in studying the course of General Physics and Profession-oriented English at the Department of Materials Science and New Technologies (State higher educational institution "Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University"), at the Department of Physics and the Department of Western and Oriental Languages and their Teaching Methods (The State Institution“ South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushynsky”) has shown that the use of computer testing in the study of Physics and foreign languages in the professional field should be subject to certain reservations, since this method has some advantages alongside disadvantages that can distort the results of monitoring and evaluation of students’ achievements. Based on the analysis of the authors' experience as well as the analysis of pedagogical, psychological and scientific-methodological literature devoted to this problem, an attempt is made to establish the conditions and limits of computer testing in the organization of the learning platform (courses) in the fields of General Physics and foreign languages for the students majoring in Physics at institutes of higher education. The article states that computer testing, on condition that tests meet the quality requirements, should be used only for the current (thematic) control of knowledge during each semester. This method is at the same time an express control method aimed at testing students' knowledge in the process of studying General Physics and foreign languages; it is also a “sensitive” diagnostic method which allows you to identify shortcomings of a student in time in the process of learning, giving the teacher the opportunity to timely influence its course. The learning progress control (testing in theoretical modules) can be carried out by means of computer testing but with the use of certain additional precautionary methodological measures. It is more expedient to carry out the final control in the form of a quality written-oral examination.

At the moment, the creation of methodological support for academic disciplines is an urgent problem of organizing the educational process in higher education institutions. As you know, the methodological support for the study of an academic discipline consists of four independent methodological documents: the program of the academic discipline, the working program of the academic discipline, the syllabus and the electronic educational and methodological complex of the discipline. The purpose of the study is a comparative analysis of these documents to determine their role in the organization of the educational process. The program of the academic discipline is the main normative document that determines the place and significance of the discipline in the implementation of the educational and professional training of the student, its content, the amount of knowledge, skills and abilities determined by the relevant competencies, as well as the sequence and organizational forms of studying the academic discipline. It is developed by one of the highly educated teachers of the department, discussed at a meeting of the department and approved by it, after which it becomes a working methodological document of the department. Based on a comparative analysis of the structure and content of the program, work program, syllabus and educational-methodological complex of the discipline, which are the main components of educational and methodological support for the study of the discipline, it has been established that all components of the work program in one form or another are repeated in the syllabus and educational-methodological complex discipline. At the same time, in contrast to the work program of the discipline, in the last two methodological components, these components have a large semantic content that is necessary in the educational work of students. In addition, the information contained in the syllabus and the educational-methodical complex of the discipline, the student can use at any time, since these documents are contained in electronic form on the websites of libraries of higher educational institutions and departments, which own the discipline, and the work program of the discipline is stored in paper form at the department and students' access to it is limited. The conducted comparative analysis leads to the conclusion that the work program of the academic discipline is not a necessary link in the methodological support of the discipline study.

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The article is devoted to topical issues related to the elaboration of modular educational programs, syllabi being their necessary components. The purpose of the article is to draw the attention of teachers and students in higher education institutions (HEI) to the problem of educational and methodological support of the educational process focusing on the content and meaning of a syllabus as one of the important educational and methodological instructional documents. The phenomenon “syllabus” is defined, its essence and objectives within the system of methodological support for teaching an academic discipline are revealed. A syllabus to the section of General Physics "Optics" intended for the specialty 104 (Physics and Astronomy) has been developed and introduced into the educational process, its most important elements have been singled out. Since, according to the authors’ viewpoints, the development of a separate syllabus for the laboratory workshop is inexpedient, one joint syllabus covering the theoretical part of the course "Optics", involving laboratory workshops within the study of this discipline, has been elaborated. The syllabus of optics consists of 16 sections as follows: title page; the contents of the syllabus; general characteristics of the discipline; prerequisites; post-requisites; discipline abstract; the purpose and objectives of the discipline; the results of the study; the organisation of training; course topics; academic calendar of discipline studies; knowledge assessment system; course policy ("Rules of the game"); policy of academic behaviour and ethics; recommended literature (references) for mastering the course. The syllabus is supplemented with a glossary of terms in the form of an appendix, which will undoubtedly be of service to the syllabus applicants. The results of the study revealed the content and importance of the syllabus for the educational process; its structure for the section of General Physics "Optics" was proposed which, in the authors’ opinion, fully meets the requirements of the credit-modular system of educational process. The authors hope that the designated syllabus will serve as an example for other sections of General Physics and some other disciplines. One of the authors has applied the structure of the developed syllabus with corresponding changes in its content for developing a syllabus of the discipline "Profession-targeted Foreign Language (English)".