The course «Pedagogy of Higher Education» in English has been developed and implemented in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) to prepare PhD students for pedagogical activity in higher education in accordance with the requirements of Professional Standard «Instructor of Vocational Training, Higher Education and Professional Development» and FSES of HE of the 3^rd level. The course is practice oriented. The aim of the course is to design educational resources for using during PhD student pedagogical internship. The course priority is engineering education. The principle requirements to educational resources are the use of PhD student's research results and application ofproblem-based teaching methods. The course structure and content, and the results of the course mastering by Skoltech PhD students in 2016 are presented in the paper. Basing on the experience ofthe course «Pedagogy ofHigher Education» implementation the course «Practical Pedagogy ofHigher Education» has been developed in Russian for on-line delivering in Tomsk Polytechnic University in 2017.

The article discusses a modern understanding of the goals of the participation of the Russian Federation in the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Currently, the main goal is to enhance the international competitiveness of Russian higher education, among other things, in order to foster the development ofthe export of educational services. The authors present a retrospective review of publications on the subject of the Bologna process and the reform of the higher education system in Russia; provide an overview of the evolution of the views on the problem, taking into account the changing approaches to the identification of Russian higher education in the international context from declarative postulates to the application of criteria used in internationally recognized university ranking systems; and provide information on Russia's participation in the governance of the EHEA since 2015.

In the paper, the authors ponder on conceptual prerequisites and foundations of engineering pedagogy, thereby, the study has a problem-oriented and reflective character. The purpose of the paper is to set a problem ofthe status of engineering pedagogy, to propose a metatheoretical level of its consideration, and to invite the researchers for further discussion. Training of technical university teachers in engineering pedagogy is a prerequisite of advanced higher technical education. Because of this, reflections on engineering pedagogy have involved many Russian researchers. The analysis of papers published in the journal Higher Education in Russia for the last ten years has enabled the authors to regard engineering pedagogy in the following three aspects (dimensions): 1) as a pedagogical technique emerging in a technical university teacher's activities; 2) as a discipline taught at different levels ofhigher education and in professional development courses aimed at training technical university teachers; and 3) as a field of study (and the corresponding specialty). This approach allows to define the aims and objectives of engineering pedagogy in a systematic and multidimensional way. Since technical university teachers are expected to obtain pedagogical, methodological and research competences, developing and practicing engineering pedagogy enable them to perform as teachers, methodologists and researchers in their unity and diversity.

The article addresses the issues in the sphere ofoil and gas education. The authors propose an integrated methodical employer oriented system for oil and gas education. This is a problem-based educational model implementing innovative educational technologies for organization the real and virtual communication space for students and lecturers. The model uses active and interactive learning methods such as business games, round table discussions, brain storms, case study and others. An important element of the proposed educational system is an assessment toolkit including a set of typical tasks, tests, which feature the close connection with the special needs of employers. One of the final assessment tests in this model is an interdisciplinary examination, which since 2016 is being held in online test format in Tomsk Polytechnic University (180-minute standardized exam). The implementation of the innovative model implies creating of new centres for formation gruaduates'professional competences in oil and gas sphere. These centres will provide conditions for students' activities in engineering organizations with an expert support. According to CDIO standards these centres will also provide so called "social" education. On the whole the proposed model of innovative oil and gas education enables to reduce the disbalance between the demands of oil and gas companies to graduates and the currently performed education program "Oil and gas business."

The article analyzes class attendance in different forms of education: traditional and blended ones. Literature review shows that attendance is linked with students' academic performance. The author gained the data on attendance of seminars by the 4^th-year students in the biological department ofMSU and applied mathematical methods to process the data. The attendance of seminars by students has been analyzed in two educational forms: traditional learning (face-to-face classroom seminars were accompanied by autonomous paper work) and blended learning (face-to-face classroom seminars were accompanied by autonomous work on a specially created educational wiki website). The results show that blended learning, more than traditional learning contributes to the formation of a high level of attendance.

The article highlights the role ofsummer schools at universities. Methods and empirical base: content analysis of the summer school's resources. The materials of 128 summer schools in Russian and foreign universities (2013-2015) were analyzed. 26 interviews of the schools' organizers were collected and analyzed. University Summer School is the form of life learning, career and recreation. It helps in getting new knowledge, skills, competencies on major and other branches of studies, in developing interdisciplinary fields, and lets students be involved in research and practical activity. Summer school activities positively influence on corporate culture, provide the special atmosphere of interaction between academic staff and students. The activities encourage the formation of regional and international professional network by interest. Personal contacts make special academic environment. Summer schools create a positive university image and become a kind of university business card, a university brand. They can promote the implementation of the university's social mission, strengthen public relations.

The article presents the results of a sociological study of the role of university students in the formation of the cultural and educational space of the Urals megalopolis. The authors reveal the socio-cultural, personnel, economic, managerial, image functions of universities, show the relationship between the social resource ofa large city and the resource ofstudents as a key educational community of universities. The empirical basis of the article is the materials of focus groups and a questionnaire survey conducted among university students in Ekaterinburg. The purpose of the article was to reveal the possibilities and problems of integration of students as an educational community in the structure of the urban community. The research tasks were to reveal: 1) the students' opinions about the importance of university and higher education communities in the the urban community life; 2) the degree of students' awareness of the cultural and educational resources of the city; 3) the peculiarities ofthe positioning of universities in the urban life space.

The round table discussion of the journal Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii (Higher Education in Russia) took place on March 14, 2017 within the framework of Humanities Readings at Russian State University for the Humanities. The key theme - the model of the modern research journal in various aspects: philological (academic writing, IMRaD), philosophical (criteria of scholarly publication), historical and cultural, economical. The participants have touched upon such issues as interrelations between an author and an editor, types of peer review, the epistemological model of editor's activities, assessment of research activities, scientific communication. Special attention was paid to academic writing and suitability of IMRaD format for Humanities papers, scientometrics.

The article addresses the influence of interference on errors and mistakes in academic writing made by students earning their Master's degrees in math and physics. The author briefly characterizes types of interference and errors, and analyzes the effect of the Russian language grammar when students transfer specifically Russian patterns to the English language. Students face problems when dealing with the structure of the English sentence and word order, tense system and active and passive voices, articles and prepositions. The author provides examples of common grammar errors and mistakes caused by students' mother tongue interference. Special attention is paid to the ways of preventing such errors and to teaching students to recognize and correct errors on their own.

The article focuses on describing the structure and functional characteristics ofthe Academic Writing Office of South Ural State University (National Research University), member of the project 5-100, which provides for increasing competitive ability of Russian universities in the global research and education market. The Office aims to improve the academicians and postgraduate students' writing skills in English and to support those authors wishing to publish their papers in high-ranking scientific journals indexed in scientometric databases Scopus and Web of Science. The implementation of the goals of Academic Writing Office of South Ural State University (SUSU) is assured by the interaction of its administrative, consulting, translating and educational blocks supported by Office official site.

The article considers the possibility and prospects of e-learning implementation in the educational process of future doctors and pharmacists. On the example of Tyumen State Medical University the authors show how the model ofe-learning platform can be implemented in the framework of a unified electronic educational environment of the University. The model of e-learning platform in the framework of full-time study medical specialties showed itself as a modern methodological basis for teaching and optimization of students' independent work, with the formation of cognitive strategies of self-learning and self-education as a basis and an integral part of future professional medical activity. The article demonstrates the application features of the main structural and functional elements of e-learning courses in medical school, adduces the examples of filling the theoretical, measurement and methodological blocks.

The paper introduces the concept of "pedagogical ICT tools", which makes it possible to identify the necessary professional teacher activity transformations in electronic educational environment. The paper presents the typology of tools and describes their features. The introduction of the concept allows revealing the range of opportunities and transformations of the university teachers' activity in electronic environment. Experimental data on the use of pedagogical ICT tools by teachers of European universities was obtained during the implementation ofthe European IRNet project.

The purpose of the study is to identify possible forms of organization of dialogical interaction of educational process participants in distance education. Research methods included an analysis of information about capabilities and services of distance learning systems in the organization of dialogue of a teacher and students. The main results are presented in the positioning dialogue as an effective form ofpedagogical interaction, which contributes to the formation ofthe subjective position of a teacher and student, their personal development. The authors show the relevance of the educational dialogue between teacher and students in implicit and explicit form with the use of the powerful potential of modern ICT. The paper adduces examples of electronic discussion within an electronic educational resource. The authors highlight the importance ofexpanding the dialogue interaction in the online space through the use offunctionality of learning management systems, we-binars, blogs, video conferencing, Skype technologies, collaboration with an interactive whiteboard, massive open online courses. All these tools can be effectively used in students' learning process. The paper discusses the perspective areas of research on improving the dialogue interaction in distance education.

The article touches upon the problems of training foreign citizens at a higher education institution (the sphere of culture) located in a relative distance from the capital region (Urals Federal District). The authors present the results of a study of the motives for entering the University by different groups of foreign students - citizens of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and far abroad countries. The authors have analyzed the main similarities and differences between the groups selected for the study such as: 1) the main motives for entering a Russian university of culture; 2) the presence of anxiety before entry into Russian Federation and change of this feeling during the first weeks of stay in the educational organization. The paper reveals the key factors affecting the adaptation offoreign students during the initial period of training.

The paper highlights the 25-year experience ofthe implementation ofthe international theatrical educational program "Moscow Art Theatre Semester" organized by the Moscow Art Theatre School together with the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre. The program should be regarded as one of the longest continual cultural and educational exchanges between the U.S. and Russia. The authors dwell on the history of its creation and on the related parts, which enable foreign students to achieve full development of professional knowledge and skills. The Moscow Art Theatre Semester immerses students-actors in the Stanislavski training method. Daily movement and acting classes are complemented with design, voice, Russian language, and Russian theater history. In addition to a conservatory-based training regimen - six days a week taught by masters at one of the world's most renowned theater companies - students experience the rich theatrical culture by attending performances of theater, opera, ballet, and music throughout the semester as well as enjoying frequent museum visits. The results of the program implementation confirm the necessity of carrying out international theatrical educational programs which is facilitated by the ongoing growth of global student mobility.

In the article is concerned with the research results regarding the creation, development and implementation of the international theatrical educational program organized by the Moscow Art Theatre School together with the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre. Emphasis is placed on the related parts of the international theatrical educational programs, which enable foreign students to achieve full development of professional knowledge and skills. The results obtained confirm the necessity of carrying out international theatrical educational programs which is facilitated by the ongoing rise in global student mobility.

This article reveals the importance ofvolunteer activities performed by students (future special pedagogues) and analyses experience of organization student volunteer support for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder in educational organizations implementing inclusive practice. The authors focus on the realization of the educational project "Inclusive molecule: technologies of supporting children with ASD in conditions of educational organization" started in September 2015. The project was aimed at formation of students' professional competences in the sphere of special pedagogy and inclusive practice. The volunteer activities included three stages: 1) preparatory, 2) pedagogical support of children with ASD during the inclusive practice, 3) reflexive analysis of students' practical pedagogical experience. The authors give concrete proposals aimed at raising the efficiency of students' participation in volunteering projects.

The article analyzes legal and methodological materials, which standardize the process of organization and carrying out of student practical training. The author classifies theoretical approaches to practical training design, matrix technology of its organization, and presents the main ways of implementing the suggested approaches on the example of bachelor training in the field of Pedagogical Education (code: 44.03.01).