A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING FUTURE TEACHERS' COMPETENCE IN DESIGNING LEARNING-COGNITIVE ACTIVITY

SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 146 A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING FUTURE TEACHERS' COMPETENCE IN DESIGNING LEARNING-COGNITIVE ACTIVITY A.A. Rashidov Teacher, Shahrisabz State Pedagogical Institute https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17277496 Abstract. The article presents a model for developing the project competence of prospective teachers in their educational and cognitive activities. It examines theoretical foundations, pedagogical conditions, and practical mechanisms for fostering project-based learning skills. The proposed model aims to improve students’ ability to design, implement, and evaluate educational projects that combine professional knowledge with innovative teaching methods. Particular attention is given to the development of creativity, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving skills, which are vital for the professional growth of future teachers. Keywords: prospective teachers; project competence; educational and cognitive activity; pedagogical model; professional development; project-based learning; creativity; critical thinking. Introduction The complex socio-economic changes occurring in today's society constantly lead to transformations in the field of education. The primary task of the modern higher education system is to achieve a level where a graduate is not only highly intellectually capable and prepared to perform professional activities at a creative level but also possesses a number of competitive advantages over other graduates. The Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated October 8, 2019, No. PF5847, "On Approval of the Concept for the Development of the Higher Education System of the Republic of Uzbekistan until 2030," outlines the priority directions for the systematic reform of higher education in Uzbekistan. It aims to elevate the process of training highly qualified personnel with modern knowledge, high moral and ethical virtues, and independent thinking to a new qualitative level. The modernization of higher education, based on advanced educational technologies, is directed towards the development of the social sphere and economic sectors. Its implementation can serve as a foundation for carrying out fundamental reforms in the higher education system [6]. In our research, the project design competence of future teachers is considered as their ability to utilize modern technologies in the educational process, apply project design skills, develop integrated projects, and engage in project-based activities organized for solving problems of professional growth and development. We can examine this phenomenon in both a broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, project design competence indicates the future teacher's ability to develop specific projects, conduct independent research, process data, and utilize projects effectively. In today's context, in a broad sense, project design competence signifies that the future specialist possesses project-based thinking, is aware of interdisciplinary connections, and has the capacity for self-education, professional growth, personal development, and enhancing their competitiveness through the project design process. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 147 Project design proficiency is formed during the process of project activity—that is, work organized to create original products (projects) aimed at solving professionally oriented tasks. It is directed towards acquiring and developing skills and personal qualities necessary for the individual. For future teachers, project design provides an opportunity for self-awareness, revealing creative potential, achieving professional growth and development, and gaining experience in independent cognitive processes. For the teacher, it is one of the methods that enables the transformation of theoretical knowledge into professional experience and creates opportunities to enhance students' competitive abilities and educational aspirations [13]. The main goal of enhancing students' project design competence in higher educational institutions is to prepare them for the professional process and ensure a high level of competitiveness, which can positively impact their suitability in the demanding conditions of the labor market. Based on the analysis of contemporary requirements, we can identify the following key components of a modern specialist's project design competence [15, 17, 19]:  Possession of project design skills and abilities;  Project-based thinking;  Readiness for self-education and self-improvement during project activities;  Ability to adequately evaluate the quality of project work. Project design proficiency encompasses the following skills and abilities [16, 18]:  Cognitive: Organizing independent cognitive activity, analyzing and synthesizing information, possessing analytical thinking, and intellectual capacity.  Research: Ability to work with information (searching, selecting), defining tasks and goals, creating plans and structures, and drawing conclusions.  Integrative: Understanding interdisciplinary connections and the ability to synthesize knowledge in projects.  Multimedia: Using multiple channels for information perception in a project, working with multimedia tools, and creating presentations.  Creative: Presence of creative thinking, striving for creative exploration, and originality. A crucial aspect developed through the project process is design thinking—the ability to perceive objects as potential projects and engage with them from a project perspective. Project-based thinking is a more effective process than mere contemplation. It involves future-oriented planning, designing, generating new ideas, transforming them into structured final products (projects), and achieving tangible results through project activity. This type of thinking develops progressively from project to project. It includes the ability to predict final outcomes, correctly vector project actions, prioritize effectively, and present the project from its conceptual core to implementation. Project-based thinking is inherently open to innovation. It is refined and described through reflection and self-evaluation. The skill of adequate and proficient project evaluation indicates a high level of project mastery. The evaluation process involves determining the project's value, significance, strengths, and weaknesses. A student's project design competence can be assessed based on the following criteria [8]:  Presentation skills;  Depth of project content;  Level of creativity/originality;  Foreign language proficiency (if applicable); SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 148  Aesthetics of presenting results;  Ability to provide clear and reasoned answers to questions;  Quality of information (problem relevance, originality, novelty);  Successful defense. Each criterion can be evaluated on a five-point scale, with a total score calculated for the project [12]. Our observations of future teachers' project work led us to categorize their project design competence into three distinct levels: High, Medium, and Low.  High Level: Characterized by well-developed skills for executing high-quality projects. The student independently and effectively conducts learning activities, engages in selfeducation, actively strives for self-improvement, adequately evaluates projects against all criteria, and possesses well-developed design thinking. Their projects are distinguished by originality, interesting design, creativity, and vivid presentation. The student demonstrates strong subject knowledge and provides precise answers to questions.  Medium Level: The student possesses sufficiently developed skills for creating averagequality projects. They are generally capable of independent cognitive processes, are prepared for self-education and development, and can evaluate a project against most criteria. However, their project-based thinking is not fully formed. Projects are satisfactory but lack creativity and uniqueness. They cannot answer all questions posed.  Low Level: The student has not sufficiently mastered project design skills and abilities. They are only occasionally capable of independent learning activity, their project thinking is underdeveloped, and there is little to no drive for self-education and improvement. The student struggles to evaluate projects adequately and has difficulty answering questions. Higher education institutions must organize targeted and systematic work to enhance students' project design competence. This is a crucial step in preparing competitive personnel who can meet the demands of the modern labor market. Based on the obtained results, we concluded that to effectively improve students' readiness for the project process, the following conditions must be met:  Developing a model for preparing students for the project design process.  Creating authentic, problem-based tasks that require solutions through project development.  Organizing students' search and research activities within the project framework. As indicated by explanatory dictionaries of general and social pedagogy, an educational model is a systematized set of basic patterns for organizing the activities of both students and teachers in the educational process [10]. In pedagogical science, both the educational process and pedagogical activity are subject to modeling. In our view, a key advantage of scientific-pedagogical models is the integrity of the presented information, which in turn enables a comprehensive understanding of the object and the implementation of a structured approach. The model consists of the following main blocks: Goal, Methodology, Pedagogical Process, and Result. These are expressed through the components of project readiness and levels of development. Thus, we present the model we developed for enhancing the project design competence of students in higher education institutions. Goal Block Social Mandate: Organizing the Training of Specialists with Project Design Competence Employer Requirements Requirements of the Credit-Module System in Higher Education Qualification Requirements for Educational Fields and SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 149 According to our view, the creation and implementation of pedagogical technologies reflecting the principles of person-oriented and competence-based approaches contributes to the development of future teachers' readiness for project activity. Creating conditions for future teachers to make independent decisions during project activity consists of developing acceptable ways to implement the project. The time allocated for project implementation is determined by its topic and problems. Consequently, projects can be short-term or long-term and are carried out by students over a week or throughout an entire quarter. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 150 Organizing activity implies its transformation into an integral system carried out in a certain temporal sequence by stages and steps [14]. The completeness of the activity cycle (project) is determined by three stages: the design stage, which has a structured method for solving the problem and a plan for its implementation; the implementation stage, the result of which is the solution to the problem; and the reflexive evaluation stage, which results in assessing the outcomes and determining the need for their further correction or "launching" a new project (Table 1.1.1). 1.1.1-Table. The content of project activity Stages of project design Project activity Project activities Project design Situation analysis Identifying the necessity to resolve the contradiction between existing and required conditions Problem-based approach Identifying the project problem and the causes that led to the problem Formation Formulating hypotheses, predicting relationships between events and phenomena in the surrounding world Goal setting Defining and formulating the project's goals and objectives as directions and methods for problem-solving Modeling Creating specifications and developing a model of the final product, along with criteria for its evaluation Planning Ability to define implementation stages, sequence of actions, time constraints, and responsible interim outcomes Implementation Implementation Ability to develop the final product of the project Presentation and evaluation of the project product Ability to present and defend the accepted project product. Evaluating the quality of the project result according to the developed criteria. Reflective evaluation Reflective Evaluation of project activities by participants and identification of future prospects for gained experience Within the framework of the person-oriented approach, the individual is considered as a conscious subject possessing a stable system of individual characteristics, and individuality is viewed as a characteristic inherent to any person capable of carrying out their own life process, formed throughout life as the subject of its formation [17]. The project-modular teaching system provides opportunities that account for the interests and inclinations of future teachers, broaden and deepen knowledge in specialized subjects, and ensure the solution of pedagogical tasks that form professional competencies [20]. Furthermore, we must simultaneously achieve the assimilation of theoretical knowledge by future teachers while encouraging them to organize effective project-based activities. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2025 ISSN: 2181-3337 | SCIENTISTS.UZ 151 REFERENCES 1. Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Education" No. ZRU-637, adopted on September 23, 2020 (National Database of Legislation, September 24, 2020, No. 03/20/637/1313). 2. Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On the Strategy of Actions for the Further Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan" No. PF-4947, dated February 7, 2017, Collection of Legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan, 2017, No. 6, Article 70; No. 20, Article 354; No. 23, Article 448. 3. 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