New amendments to the US law on higher education are considered, in particular, regulation of cooperation between the Department of Education and accreditation agencies. The article also examines grounds of different approaches (Russian and American) to the development of the national education quality assurance system as well as specific features of the recognition procedure of independent accreditation agencies by the government. The author suggests specific principles for the development of national «architecture» of HEIs accreditation based on the analysis of the American and European models of «accreditors’ accreditation». They may be relevant for establishing a new regulation for evaluating the quality of education during the “regulatory guillotine”.

The article presents the results of the national research universities (NRU) development programs implementation analysis for the period 2008–2018. The authors have held a comparative analysis of NRU activities with other strategic initiatives in the field of higher education in Russia, in particular, Russian Academic Excellence Project 5-100 on Competitiveness Enhancement of the Leading Russian Universities among Global Research and Education Centers; Project «Federal Universities»; support for strategic development programs of state educational institutions of higher education; sustainable relationships support between higher educational institutions and regional enterprises and organizations within the framework of the priority project “Universities as Innovation Drivers”. The analysis was based on 41 quantitative and 11 qualitative indicators. In the analysis, the following data sources were used: statistical forms 1-Monitoring, data from ranking agencies, etc. It has been determined that implementation of development programs for the entire NRU network is generally successful and positively affects the development of Russian higher education. The leading NRU – the participants of Project 5-100 have shown the greater impact on the enhancement of the Russian education in the world.

The possibilities of real individualization of education in Russian universities are constrained by the peculiarities of the type of organization of the educational process. Almost all Russian universities are characterized by stream-group organization of training, in which study groups and streams are formed once for the entire period of study. Students of each study group during the entire period of study have a common curriculum and a common schedule of training sessions. Opportunities for individualization of curricula and programs are very limited and confined to the choice of a foreign language and one of several disciplines of the socio-economic cycle. In modern higher education, the stream-group organization of education is preserved only in Russian universities, universities of the post-soviet and partially post-socialist space. Most universities in the rest of the world uphold the principles of individually-oriented organization of training, according to which each student has an opportunity to choose from the curriculum modules to study in the next semester, choose the teachers and the time of classes. In accordance with the choice of students, groups and streams are formed, which retain only during the current semester. Thus, we emphasize, not individual persons but all the students of modern universities have individual curricula and schedules of training sessions. The article discusses the opportunities and prospects of the individualization of education at Russian universities.

The article provides a comparative review of principles for the implementation of doctoral programs in education at leading world universities. The analysis is focused on the following aspects of doctoral education: organizational model (1), principles of doctoral candidates’ enrollment (2), educational program and workload (3), principles and mechanisms for tracking doctoral students’ progress (4), principles and procedures for completing educational programs and defending a thesis (5). The key differences of the Russian doctoral education are distinguished. The first difference is related to the rigidity of the recruitment rules and procedures: the universities in Russia pay no or little attention to the previous academic achievements of candidates. The second difference refers to the specifics of educational program, which, as a rule, is not aimed at the development of “soft skills”. Finally, Russian doctoral programs are based on the traditional model of doctoral supervision, when a supervisor is usually the only person who controls the doctoral student progress and helps him or her to work on thesis. Based on the experience of the world leading universities, the authors discuss some opportunities to develop doctoral programs in Russia.

The formation of a modern generation of engineers capable to drive changes that meet the requirements of the future necessitates a new approach in pedagogical training of engineering teachers. The international ENTER (EngineeriNg educaTors pEdagogical tRaining) project is being developed as part of EU Erasmus program focused on addressing the actual education needs from the standpoint of human and social capitals development both in Europe and in other countries. The ENTER project is aimed at the creation and development of an international platform for multilevel vocational training/retraining of technical universities teachers on the basis of the Eurasian interaction network. Surveys among employers, teachers, and engineering university students, as well as scientific periodicals analysis allowed us to determine the complex of universal and specific engineering and pedagogical competencies that educators should master not only for today, but also for the future needs. Based on the competency analysis, a three-level modular teacher training/retraining program (iPET program) has been developed and its international accreditation is planned.

This paper focuses on the justification and incorporation of sustainable development course into the certified training of engineering educators.
Under the ERASMUS+ Project ENTER, a consortium was set up to build the capacity of engineering HEIs by strengthening engineering educators’ preparation by an innovative kind of engineering pedagogy. One of the project tasks is to create a novel multicultural and international approach for formal post-graduate professional and pedagogical education of engineering educators.
After a thorough educational market analysis, study of HEIs requirements and educators’ needs, a formal training program was designed. One of the core courses of that program is the course on Sustainable Development. The main aim of this course is to help educators to develop a strategy how to integrate sustainable development principles into engineering education at large.

The modular organization of the educational process assumes the existence of a system of assessment tools that provides multidimensional assessment of the process of competencies development among students at different stages of training. However, at present, the design of assessment tools represents the most problematic area for the academic community, since the scientific foundations of this process remain insufficiently explored.
The purpose of our research is to study the functional characteristics of the assessment tools system in the structure of a competency-based educational program of modular architecture. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: a) a theoretical analysis of the pedagogical literature and normative documents on the topic, b) an analysis of existing practices in the development of a system of assessment tools, c) a generalization of the progressive practice of using pedagogical design, assessment and diagnostic procedures of modular architecture by teams of reputable universities.
A change in the approach to designing the university’s control and evaluation activities entails changes in the functional characteristics of its elements. The content of the functions of the assessment tools system is predetermined by the purpose, goals and objectives assigned to the system. Changing the goals and objectives of the assessment procedures entails a qualitative change in functions, which demonstrates the presence of a systemic relationship between these elements and determines the significance of the functions.
The results obtained during the study can be used by university teachers as a guide when designing their own model of the assessment tools system in the context of the transition to the modular construction of educational programs, which, in general, initiates changes in the field of control and assessment.

This paper provides a comparative analysis of approaches to teaching natural sciences disciplines on the example of chemistry to hearing impaired students and students without disabilities. Hearing impaired students make up the most difficult category of students at university of a general type with a verbal form of education due to their hearing impairment and concomitant disturbances in body functions that cause their disability. The key problem of their training at technical university is the limited content accessibility of the disciplines of the natural science cycle, including chemistry. They can master these disciplines only as subjects of adapted (inclusive) basic professional educational programs with creating special (distinctive) learning conditions for them. The authors developed and tested a methodological approach to solving the problem of content accessibility of educational resources in chemistry for hearing impaired students at technical university by creating special conditions for their mastering, taking into account their limitations. Particular educational conditions include support of hearing impaired students by additional adaptational course of chemistry with a focus on individualized teaching applying a number of cognitive technologies. In this regard, the offered approach is compensatory in nature. It allows teachers to identify the individual educational and rehabilitation needs of students with hearing impairment and meet those using organizational, technological and pedagogical solutions, thus leveling their educational opportunities with ones of students without disabilities. Due to the use of assistive tools and technologies compatible with the educational environment, it is possible to make it accessible to various categories of students.

Competence-based approach to the use of practice-oriented technologies and the creation of an innovative learning environment is the current trend of Russian higher education. The task of developing graduates’ communicative competence for the implementation of effective corporate communication and labor interaction in a multicultural business environment is still relevant. Being obligatory components of modern professional activity, dialogue and polylogue in English provide information exchange, promote joint decision-making, effective interaction and creative cooperation between specialists of different nationalities as well. Mastering the correct strategy in foreign language communication in the business world makes it possible to overcome language and communication barriers. It has a positive effect on building trust in multinational teams, on which the performance of the entire company depends. The authors analyze a number of difficulties associated with the teaching of these types of communication in the classroom. The article examines the foreign and domestic experience of teaching dialogue and polylogue and describes innovative methods of training students for professional communication.
The authors of the article investigate the readiness of students for foreign language communication in professional discourse and describe the practical experience of teaching dialogue and polylogue to non-linguistic students using alternative methods simulating real communicative situations in business communication. It is concluded that the competence-based approach is effective in developing the communicative competence of non-linguistic students in the classroom bilingualism.

Modern global challenges reflect the essential features of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and are directly related to the digital transformation of life. The teachers are obliged to master the relevant competences to meet the challenges, as their teaching practices experience significant transformations through the enrichment with the digital component. The current problems in the education system transformation force the researchers to identify the principle transformation characteristics, acquire some new types of pedagogical action and design new teacher education formats. The paper presents the authors’ vision of the new teacher education formats at the target, organizational, activity and technological levels. The authors analyze the regional experience of modernization in the higher pedagogical education on the basis of Federal Standards in Higher Education 3++ at the bachelor and master program levels. The realization experience of the federal project “Modern Digital Educational Environment in the Russian Federation” as a part of the national project “Education” is conceptualized in terms of professional skill enhancement of pedagogical personnel in the Tomsk region. The authors reflect on the development trend of the region research and academic complex in the concept of cooperation and resource consolidation for the “Big University” model. The guidelines for strategic development of Tomsk State Pedagogical University, associated with its digitalization, are outlined. The paper shows the development conditions in the digital transformation of the national system for continuous pedagogical education. The paper materials are based on such research methods as theoretical analysis, expert method, and survey.

The peculiarity of bioethics is the development of such invariant principles and rules that allow predictable variational interpretation depending on specific axiological and communicative formats of situations. The noted semiotic peculiarity is updated in connection with the project of collaboration of various universities within one region. The authors consider the success of the project in satisfying the request for the training of unique specialists. In this regard, the authors interpret the pedagogical bioethics as the training of self-defense of the individuality and as education of the desire to acquire unique experience. The authors present the directions of pedagogical bioethics, which enable: (1) to overcome the standardization of personality; (2) to become consulting for the formation of individual educational trajectories; (3) to perform the function of informed consent in the context of the implementation of innovative educational technologies based on the achievements of neurophysiology and cognitive sciences; (4) in the context of university integration, to play the role of a dominant of education in the humanities to overcome “moral color vision deficiency”. The listed initiatives of pedagogical bioethics are put forward on the base of the results of the research in the field of visual semiotics.

Creating conditions for the export potential is one of the drivers for the development of the domestic higher education. All the factors of socio-cultural adaptation of foreign students are to be identified in order to build a world-class educational background in Russian universities. The potential of physical education to solve the problems of foreign student integration into the Russian social environment is an urgent area of modern pedagogical research. The article presents the authors’ vision of organizational and pedagogical methods to transform physical education practice at university and to designate some new types of professional teaching activities of a physical education instructor. The research centered in the following Tomsk universities: Siberian State Medical University, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, and Tomsk State Pedagogical University. The international component in the educational ecosystem development in Tomsk Region is outlined in the field of the regional project to create the Big University. The applied methods for the research involved analysis of theoretical sources, surveys, observations, product analysis, and the expert assessment method.

It is necessary to develop special assessment tools for international students, which will comply with the principles of evidence-based education. This is especially important in the context of Russian higher education export. Multiple choice questions (MCQs) are an essential part of the assessment and are suited for assessing the knowledge level of international students. The “Organic chemistry” is a basic course for pharmaceutical students, which is necessary for the understanding of principal subjects. The study objective was to develop a normative-oriented model of the “Organic chemistry” MCQs based examination for international students (the specialty 33.05.01 “Pharmacy”) in accordance with the recommendations of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE). The previously developed interactive “Organic Chemistry Test Simulator”, created at the Sechenov University, was used as the basis for the examination MSQs bank. It was analyzed by five independent experts, who work as teachers of organic chemistry. The average timing and the cut score were determined by the Angoff method, 90 sec and 64%, respectively. Among analyzed MCQs the 3% were found irrelevant, 22% were recommended for revision and modernization. Valid MSCs (600 items) served as the basis for the creation of extended examination MSQs bank. An algorithm for modeling the “Organic chemistry” MCQs based examination was proposed. The standardized examination test has 30 MSQs of different types. The standardized normative-oriented model of the “Organic chemistry” MCQs based examination for international students (the specialty 33.05.01 “Pharmacy”) was validated in terms of relevance and representativeness, optimized in time and cut score.

The article discusses the university academic reputation as an indicator of its leadership in the global education services market. In the international rating systems for assessing the universities, academic reputation is one of the main indicators of status and prestige. Most higher education experts who look at the state of modern universities recognize that this factor is a key to attract the attention of the world academic community, industrial stakeholders, investors, prospective students and their parents to the university. We analyze the factors that improve university academic reputation using sources of empirical data such as QS World University Rankings database for 2017–2019 (open data analysis method), as well as the sociological research results including the opinions of experts (n = 5) (semi-structured interviews were selected as an appropriate method of data collection). The study results showed that China’s universities occupy a leading position. The key conclusion of the study is that the high academic reputation is one of the basic indicators of a university’s position in the global educational services market, but for leading universities it is a stigma reducing the need for innovation and the educational process development. BRICS Universities that create or change strategic development programme should be oriented towards achieving the leadership positions by not only institutional rankings but also subject and broad subject area rankings. This is a good indicator of the academic reputation growth for university, and it can be considered as a qualitative result of its goals and efficiency achieving in general.

This paper discusses the processes of the educational travel of the Chinese students abroad. Based on data of the Ministry of Education of China, publications from the Chinese Internet, original articles published in the world periodicals, the reasons elucidated why the number of students leaving China changed from 2001 to 2018; describes funding sources of educational travel. Information on the contemporary preferences of Chinese students in selection of countries and study programs, aims and reasons of educational travel abroad is provided.
The hard competition of the young persons after school on educational services market, expected job difficulties after graduation from national universities and influence of parents are pushing young Chinese people to consider studying abroad. Over the past 10 years, the number of Chinese citizens studying in foreign universities rates more than doubled and reached to 662.1 thousand in 2018. The aim of such migration is not only acquiring advanced western knowledge or improving foreign language skills but also getting the so-called symbolic capital, which arises after graduation from the famous foreign universities. This capital will bring tangible employment benefits and future career privileges in the Chinese companies. Therefore, currently the largest number of Chinese young people seek to become students in English speaking countries, where the concentration of the best world universities included in the top-100 of international rankings is high. The modern professional preferences of Chinese students correspond to the development trends of the China’s national economy and science, and depend on the future employment and opportunity to receive the scholarships from the Government of China.