DEVELOPMENT OF INTERACTIVE ONLINE PHYSICS COURSES FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ON THE EXAMPLE OF UK EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The global surge in utilizing information and communication technologies in education, notably due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has driven the growth of online courses. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have emerged as transformative, providing unprecedented opportunities for learners and educators. This article explores the evolving landscape of online physics courses, emphasizing instructional design and language integration. The piece discusses the global impact of MOOCs, addressing accessibility and the critique of low completion rates. The focus shifts to Kazakhstan's educational system, introducing the Open University (OpenU) initiative on the Edx platform, emphasizing the need to address instructional design challenges in online courses for high school students. The study aims to enhance subject-language integration in physics education. Research questions and methodology, including a survey of 86 students to analyze UK-based educational platforms, are outlined. The comprehensive Course Scan survey, developed by Margaryan, offers a versatile framework for evaluation, focusing on core and extended principles of learning. Results from the Course Scan survey are presented, emphasizing strengths in problem-based learning, activation, demonstration, and integration. Deficiencies in collaborative learning, differentiation, and feedback are identified. The article establishes a correlation between instructional design quality and student preferences, highlighting that courses preferred by students generally exhibit higher instructional design quality. The limited implementation of subject-language integration in current online courses is underscored, proposing additional elements such as translations of terms, language switching, and support points within the text. The article highlights the Republic of Kazakhstan's commitment to a multilingual teaching policy and its effectiveness in subject-language integrated online courses. The insights gained are invaluable for institutions delivering science education in English. In conclusion, the article emphasizes the need for improvements in collaboration, collective learning, and feedback within online physics courses. It underscores the importance of subject-language integration, offering practical recommendations for enhancing language support in physics courses for high school students. As the education landscape evolves, the adoption of such courses aligns with the global trend of digitization, facilitating a multilingual approach to science education, enhancing access, and quality for learners across diverse linguistic backgrounds.