The article analyses the features of students’ social behavior during the period of preparation for training and the period of Master’s study at University. We have chosen third- and fourth-year Bachelor programs students and first- and second-year Master’s programs students from seven regional state universities of Russia as a research object. We have used a specially developed questionnaire. The analysis of the results of complex monitoring of Bachelor and Master’s students made it possible: to estimate the degree of Bachelor students’ awareness of the purpose of master studies and their readiness to make the choice; to define the motives of both groups of students for studying on master’s programs; to estimate financial position of the Russian master’s students. We discuss the mechanisms to improve the quality of Master’s program educaional process at Russian higher education institutions, which will promote more effective functioning of the master’s studies system in Russia. We also offer a complex of scientific and methodological resources providing a general information field for all the participants of educational process aimed at improvement of the quality of master preparation at Universities.

The article presents reflections on the problems and prospects of humanities and humanitarian education in Russia, taking into account the basic program documents of the Russian state in the field of science and education. The author believes that in these documents the so-called social and humanitarian aspects characterizing functioning of science and innovations are insufficiently thought out. Meanwhile, these aspects reveal a powerful conglomerate of problems and opportunities – from the use of social and cultural knowledge as one of the sources of creativity and innovation, to the the implementation of forecasts and foresight, expert perception of development scenarios and managerial decisions, identifying risks and consequences in the process of increasing influence of science on nature, society and man, formation of value orientations and educational prospects. It is noted that in this situation it is very important to move away from a predominantly technocratic and economic understanding of the priorities and results of the scientific and technological development of Russia for a historical perspective, to avoid reducing information about the progress of a person, society, and the state to technological and economic criteria; to recognize a special status of Humanities, social sciences, and education as the most important resource confronting the technologically accelerated destruction of nature and society, to view them as a factor of cognition, dialogue and management.

The article presents an analysis of educational failure of Russian students, as well as the resources needed to solve it. The urgency of the problem is revealed. Methodological approaches to its sociological research are substantiated. Among them – the theory of human capital, the resource approach, the theory of social community. The results of the authors’ researches of higher education conducted in 2011–2017 have provided the empirical base of the study. The article gives an interpretation of the concepts of “educational failure” and “problem students” and dwells on the social causes of the phenomenon of educational failure. The authors argue that educational failure can be traced from school to college and University and then – to labour market. An unsuccessful student with a high probability will be an unsuccessful worker. The authors present a typology of modern students based on two criteria – the level of educational motivation formation and the readiness to study at University. Special attention is paid to the risks arising from the growing number of unsuccessful students in higher education institutions of provincial Russia. The article shows the prospects for overcoming educational failure of students.

In connection with the transition of the Russian higher school to the Federal state educational standards FSES HE 3 ++, the process of designing new educational programs for training specialists is currently underway. Designers of educational programs require the knowledge of psychological characteristics of modern students, which actualize new pedagogical approaches and practices in the educational process. The article discusses psychological features characterizing the behavior of the new generation of students in the educational and cognitive spheres and special aspects of pedagogical work with them. This generation is referred to as the “digital generation” (generation Z). The article presents the results of the survey on the “digital behavior” of modern students. The students of Volgograd State Technical University from first year to fourth year (N=495) responded to the survey. The data obtained showed that modern students are active users of digital technologies both in the everyday sphere and in educational and professional fields, but they are not always superior to the older generation (generation X, Y). The widespread and active use of various gadgets and devices leads to a change in the mechanisms of cognitive processes and to the formation of new behavioral trends. It actualizes the need for innovative teaching methods adequate to the new reality.

Educational system is the most important social institution, which provides the development of a personality and frames his/her worldview and the conception of subjective well-being. Despite the large number of studies on the issue of psychological and pedagogical security of educational environment, the sphere of higher education still remains underexplored. The available empiric material has not received sufficient methodological justification and conceptualization. This article aims to provide the conceptualization of the risk category as applied to the educational environment of a higher education institution, as well as empiric investigation of the risks within the educational environment as viewed by applicants and students.

Materials and methods. 213 applicants and 547 students of the Kuban State Technological University took part in the survey. The following investigation methods were used: expert assessment, interview, questioning, content analysis, analysis of means method, cluster analysis and factor analysis.

Investigation results. Comparative examination of the manifestation degree of risks within the educational environment as viewed by applicants and students of higher education institution showed significant differences in the assessment of risk by these groups of respondents. From the point of view of applicants, the main risks are connected with social and psychological aspects of the educational environment of a higher education institution, relations within student groups and interaction with teachers, as well as with the issues related to the educational management and leisure arrangement. As viewed by the students, the risks within the educational environment include external and social and psychological risk factors, motivating risks and risks arising from the learning process organization and management and the related issues. Applicants’ notion of the risks within the educational environment of a higher education institution was mainly influenced by information they received from media and by the opinion of their relatives and age mates.

Consideration and conclusions. It was proved that the applicants’ idea of the risks within the educational environment of a higher education institution is determined by the opinion of people they know personally, however it changes during the process of studying in higher education institution and acquiring their own experience of being within the environment. The investigation results allow creating a model of psychological and pedagogical security within the educational environment of a higher education institution. This model makes it possible to forecast main risks of the educational environment, their development, and evolvement and find solution to them. 

The presented work is devoted to the analysis of the modern stage of development of the theory periodic properties of chemical elements as a fundamental aspect of scientific worldpicture. Studying of the phenomenon of periodic properties of chemical elements has gone far beyond chemistry. It should be taken into account that even today, after the creation of two quantum theories of the electronic structure of the atom, after a century of experience in the study of chemical elements and the experimental discovery of antihydrogen, this problem is far from being exhausted. The generalization of theoretical and experimental studies of the quantum-mechanical aspects of the chemical properties of matter, the first results of the study of antimatter made it possible to set a hypothesis of the existence of a new fundamental characteristic of chemical element and to formulate the Periodic Law adequately – in keeping with modern concepts.

The article discusses the questions concerning the presentation of the essence of the D.I. Mendeleev’s Periodic Law in the modern educational process in the framework of general educational and special chemical disciplines “General Chemistry”, “Inorganic Chemistry” and others. Some incorrectness have been noted both in the formulation of the Periodic Law itself and in the formulations of principles that are fundamental to the interpretation of this law (Hund’s rule, Pauli’s principle, Klechkovsky’s rule). Also, the article proposes the amended formulations of Mendeleev’s Periodic Law and each of these three principles.

The article aims to discuss the problems of teaching and studying the scientific laws. It is dedicated to the anniversary of Dmitriy Mendeleev’s Periodic Law, but the author discusses the scientific laws in a broad epistemological and educational context. In the first section of the article, the author determines the purpose of education at a research university on the basis of Wilhelm von Humboldt’s ideas. She emphasizes that, in contrast to school education, which is focused on the transfer of ready-made knowledge, university education should generate critical thinking. In the context of such distinction between educational goals, a research question is formulated. How to make the practice of teaching a scientific law truly relevant to research university, and not only and not so much to school education? The answer to this question consistently considers two interrelated aspects of the possible education of future researchers. The author describes the historical aspect of teaching the scientific laws through two strategies of the history of science – antiquarianism and presentism. She demonstrates that antiquarianism can contribute to the formation of critical thinking. The author reveals the ontological aspect of teaching the scientific laws and relates it with the critic of objectivism in interpretation of scientific knowledge. In conclusion she argues that the proposed approach may contribute to the generation of scientific thinking aimed at finding new knowledge.

The author expresses critical remarks regarding the article by O.V. Mikhailov on teaching the topic “Mendeleev’s Periodic law” by at the national research University. Some specific errors of O.V. Mikhailov relating to historical-scientific and quantum-chemical issues are indicated. The article also presents a general critical assessment of his approach to teaching.

The education of a future nuclear professional provides the basic competencies that will influence the performance of a future specialist throughout his or her future professional career. The article discusses the best practices and main trends in higher education that have developed in the field of nuclear technologies in Russia and abroad. The analysis is based on the materials prepared by various international organizations and professional communities, and the experience of the MEPhI. The article discusses such issues as interaction between state, nuclear industry and higher education institution; the quality of nuclear education (four basic principles of training nuclear specialists in MEPhI), the transition to two-tier system in nuclear education; the international cooperation in nuclear sphere; export of nuclear education; and vocational guidance for school students.

The article discusses the results of the impact of WorldSkills International Movement on the development of national higher education. The authors analyze the main stages of its development, the results of the implementation of WorldSkills standards in the Russian higher education system, dwell on the procedure for the formation of the system of competences that increase the competitiveness of modern specialists. The article includes algorithms for conducting demonstration WorldSkills standards exam, and makes the case for integrated studies to identify trends in the formation and development of professionalism in various activities, develop models of successful specialist, as well as use diagnostic technology to assess his/her personal and professional qualities. In addition, the authors show the relevance of educational innovation through the adaptation of WorldSkills system in conjunction with the modification of training system, and multiplying a promising experience and transfer it to different occupations.

The aim of this work is to summarize the experience in the development and implementation of industry-oriented educational programs in the field of digital engineering in the educational process.The article presents an example of the interaction of the Higher Engineering School of NRNU MEPhI and the Engineering Division of ROSATOM State Corporation in terms of training for industrial-oriented master programs. The authors present the data on the needs of ROSATOM State Corporation for young personnel in the field of digital engineering, discuss the advantages of the introduction of industrial-oriented master programs in the educational process and the main problems encountered in their development. The article makes the case for collaboration between representatives of the university and the enterprise on the creation and filling of training modules with theoretical and practical material, and gives the main recommendations for solving the emerging difficulties.

The article analyses the experience of the National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI» (hereinafter the University) in the field of formation of managerial competences of the personnel reserve. The authors dwell on the features of implementation of training and developing programs in the field of additional professional education, discuss the issues of the efficiency and effectiveness of realization of training actions. The model of formation and development of the personnel reserve of the University is oriented primarily on solving the problems of increasing competitiveness by enforcing the competencies of high-potential employees in the following key spheres: performance management, goal-setting, motivation, effective communication, time management, planning, organization and control. The model is based on the best practices of domestic and foreign high-tech corporations and educational organizations, primarily using the experience of Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation. The personnel reserve is considered as a competitive advantage in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of activities within the framework of strategic development and implementation of target promising high-tech and knowledge-intensive projects and programs.

In this paper, we show the importance of including the large corpus of scholarly, popular and media texts describing the experience of 20th-century Russian and Soviet Indologists in bachelor’s Asian studies programmes. We explain the significance of the practical work of Soviet Asian scholars on developing and implementing international communication strategies and practices and show that this work is topical and relevant for modern tertiary education. We emphasize the extensive experience accumulated by Russian Indologists in developing scenarios and models of interaction between Russia and Asian countries that take regional particularities into account. We examine the work of the Russian Indologist, scholar, journalist, publicist and professor Leonid Mitrokhin (1934-2002), winner of the Nehru Award (1985), who worked for over a decade in India and devoted his entire life to studying South and Central Asia. We analyse Leonid Mitrokhin’s key communicative practices, whose results are reflected in his monographs, popular books and articles. The results of our linguocultural study confirm the effectiveness of the implementation of friendly communication strategies in Indo-Soviet relations in the 1960s and 1970s. The case study of Leonid Mitrokhin’s work shows the broad range of professional competencies of Soviet Indologists, who had in-depth knowledge of the political and sociocultural makeup of South Asia, the systemic connections between individual social, economic and political groups and institutes, and the ethnopsychological, ethnocultural and religious particularities of interethnic communication. The knowledge and skills of Soviet Indologists allowed them to make accurate forecasts of the development of the political and economic situation in South Asia and neighbouring regions, promote communication, make expert assessments in key areas of interaction between the USSR and countries in the region, elaborate effective communication strategies, and shape a positive image of their country in the international arena. The study of the communication experience of Soviet Indologists shall help contemporary students to learn the methodology of area studies, develop their strategic thinking, expand their study and research interests, improve their knowledge of the region’s history and interregional relations, and learn the basics of foreign impact strategies and the practice of foreign propaganda in Asia.

The paper analyzes measures adopted by the Russian Federation on internationalization and globalization of the higher education system, its integration into the international scientific and education area. One of the initiatives of the authorities of the Russian Federation in this direction is Project 5-100, designed to increase the competitiveness of both a selected group of universities and the Russian higher education system as a whole. Among the successful practices of Project 5-100, one can identify the presentation of a single stand of participating universities at the international education exhibitions APAIE, EAIE, NAFSA. Within this study, we explore the cooperation of the universities participating in Project 5-100 with potential international partners at global educational exhibitions by means of network analysis with graphs. The effectiveness of such cooperation from the point of view of integration of the universities from this group into the international higher education area is determined through estimations of the usefulness of participation in such events made by the universities and through scientometric analysis. As a result of this study, it was revealed that active participation in international educational exhibitions including negotiating, establishing contacts with international partners, contributes significantly to the promotion of the universities participating in Project 5-100 in the international arena.