A COMPETENCY VIEW OF A MATH PROBLEM

Abstract

The implementation of the competence approach in all educational degrees has been on the agenda for
several years. The approach is started in kindergarten, goes through school and reaches higher education. The
competence approach is not new, but in recent years the need for its application has been particularly emphasized.
The concept of competence comes from Latin and is based on the word ability, and it is this "ability" that is a
sought-after effect in the realization of the labor market.
Within the normative documents in the Bulgarian education system, competences are considered as "a dynamic set
of knowledge, skills, attitudes and attitudes that are acquired in the learning process".
According to the Ordinance on the state requirements for the acquisition of the professional qualification "teacher",
the discipline "Competence approach and innovations in education" is set as the main specialized discipline in the
preparation of teachers. Within its framework, students should familiarize themselves with the ideas and theoretical
statements of the competence approach and find opportunities to implement the competence approach with
innovative technologies in the subjects they will teach.
The given article examines an example that is played out and realized with the students of Shumen University, from
the specialties in which mathematics teachers are trained.
A different perspective is presented on a popular task that is traditionally included in the "Axisymmetric" topic. The
task initially has prerequisites to realize the qualitative application of the competence approach. The work examines
additional possibilities for provoking students to pose and deal with life problems with the help of the mathematical
apparatus. Tasks of this type are particularly useful for students. They stimulate the achievement of not only
educational goals, but also the formation of a number of personal qualities and soft skills. Using the presented idea
of reframing a familiar task, teachers can also modify other familiar tasks by placing a purely geometric situation
into a real-life problem, such as establishing walking paths in a park; landscaping that follows certain shapes, etc.
The given task can be refined and implemented, depending on the interests and capabilities of the students in the
specific class in which it will be applied. It is possible to implement ideas with the help of a dynamic drawing and
experiment with the different positions of the cities
There are tasks in the current textbooks that could be reworked in such a way that the competence approach would
come to the fore, but our observations show that students find it very difficult to do so. The majority of students
highly appreciate the opportunity to apply such examples in their practice, but prefer to receive ready-made ideas for
tasks and guidelines for their implementation applying the competence approach.