Professional-oriented education approach in mechanics physics course for future career track

Future career prospects are crucial for guiding the next generation of physicists and scientific professionals. Many students struggle to identify the best future path based on their talents and abilities. The objective of this paper was to compare the effectiveness of a professional-oriented education approach to traditional teaching methods among high secondary school students in aligning students to their suitable career education track in Kazakhstan. The study underwent a two-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design utilising a mechanics physics course. The samples involved two groups of students over 26 months - a control group (n=58) and an experimental group (n=57). A quantitative data was collected through a test administered before and after the learning class. The findings indicated that both teaching methods improved the Kazakhstan student's performance. However, the experimental group exhibited a significantly higher level of improvement than the control group where students were aligned to the best track, i.e., the general education track as compared to secondary vocational education or the initial vocational education track both categories as middle and lower track. In conclusion, this research demonstrates that a professional-oriented education can align students' future professions with their interests, capabilities, and strengths, enabling them to pursue their desired careers brightly.