The article highlights the importance of introducing students to design skills while teaching them 3D modeling at the pre-university level. Theoretical justification of the approach is offered; the approach uses a step-by-step differentiation of the orienting basis structure of the students' training-related activities as the principal psychological model of the process of developing the design skills. Three stages of developing the professional skills are distinguished and described:

more »

... , basic and professional. Types of assignments for each stage are analyzed. A case study of using the approach in question for courses in 3D modeling at Schoolchildren's Computer Center (SCC) of ITMO University (St. Petersburg) is detailed, its efficiency is assessed.