TRAINING ENGINEERING MSC STUDENTS FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The paper discusses the organization features of training engineering MSc students for teaching and research activity. The authors have analyzed the historical and pedagogical aspects of the origin and development of master’s degree programs in Russia as one of the most important resources for providing the higher education system with teaching staff . The modern requirements of society for training university teaching staff in changing conditions and increasing their professional mobility are revealed. Training nonpedagogical MSc students for teaching and research activity at a university involves a pedagogical component in the teaching content structure, as exemplifi ed by “Fundamentals of Pedagogical Activity” or “Methods of Vocational Training” courses and teaching practice programs. Research conducted by the authors at the the Goryachkin Institute of Mechanical and Power Engineering at Russian Timiryazev State Agrarian University for three years, showed a high demand for lecturers with a master’s degree in modern technical universities, as well as high motivation of Msc students for teaching and research activity. The study involved 109 MSc students in the areas of training “Agroengineering”, “Heat Power Engineering and Heat Engineering”, “Electric Power Engineering and Electrical Engineering”. All the participants were taking a course of “Fundamentals of Pedagogical Activity” and having teaching practice at the university. As a result of the research, the authors have off ered some ways to solve the problem of training teaching staff with a master’s degree for technical universities. They include conducting fundamental research on the methodological issues of master’s degree training, considering past experience and modern trends; developing theoretical and applied issues of the master’s degree training content structure in order to increase the eff ectiveness of training programs, including the pedagogical component; identifying and implementing eff ective forms, models, and adaptive programs in the university study process to train MSc students for teaching and research activities and ensure their further professional development.