Transformation of higher education in the context of globalization: new formats and alternative models

Abstract

Discussed is the situation of the Universities inclusion in the transformation processes of Russian higher education, which is forced to respond to global challenges and internal needs for systemic changes. The key features of the higher education development in Russia are determined and the contradictions between the traditional formats of education organization and new educational models are identified. The general trends and problem areas of the development of educational systems of modern universities are highlighted. The transformation experience of the leading Russian universities, introducing alternative formats into the educational, scientific, socio-cultural field of the university, is analyzed. The results obtained enable to comprehend in a new way the changes taking place at universities and to determine promising directions for the development of the educational system. The presented materials confirm the possibility of an effective variant of the development of the transformation processes of university education, different from those ones being realized at the leading universities sites, as well as the preliminary results of the first stage of the experiment implementation of engineering education transformation carried out at Don State Technical University (the project “School X”, the creation of the Institute of Emerging Technologies). As further prospects for the development of the experimental activities of the university, the implementation of the unique project “T-University”, built on the basis of the principle of individual educational technologies, allowing to implement a new approach to the logic, design and content of the curriculum, which includes several levels: the university minimum, the field of science and technology, “Majors” and “electives”.