Pedagogical methods of formation of ecological and critical skills of future teachers of natural sciences using digital technologies

The article discusses pedagogical methods for developing ecological and critical skills in future teachers of natural science disciplines, exploring ways to foster the development of these skills in future educators. Particular attention is given to approaches that promote the integration of ecological knowledge and critical thinking in the educational process using digital technologies and GIS. The study involved 76 studensts from two universities and 155 secondary school students. The pedagogical experiment was conducted in four stages: theoretical, practical, analytical, and final. Particular focus was given to using GIS technologies to develop students' spatial analysis skills and encourage research activity. The results showed that 85% of biology students and 79% of geography students achieved the learning objectives at the levels “excellent” and “good,” respectively. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is confirmed by these results, and it can be recommended for use in training future teachers.