Dr.Hab., Professor V.D. Povzun¹
Associate Professor, PhD V.V. Apokin^1
1Surgut State University, Surgut

Keywords: educational technologies, student's axiological self-identification, academic education.

Background. A major challenge for the modern academic educational system is to find the most efficient educational models to help the students master huge educational material for very limited time assigned for the bachelor and master courses [1, 6, 8]. It is also important for the university to help the students shape up their values and self-identification systems, find the life meanings and goals and accumulate the intellectual resource in the academic educational period. In the context of the academic educational process research model, the values of educational and axiology-sensitive ideas of the academic courses may be viewed as the external motivations for the students’ self-identification process [2,5]; whilst the modern educational technologies provide a powerful toolkit for freedom of choice as the key driver for the individual self-identification [3, 4]. Our analysis of the students’ guiding values and their priority life senses and goals made it possible to find the following axiological determinants (reference points) of the academic educational process: life, freedom, knowledge, global culture, work, communication and cooperation [3, 6, 7].

Therefore, objective of the study was to analyze the practical experience of the modern educational technology application in the academic pedagogical disciplines to facilitate the students’ axiological self-identification in the academic space and process.

Considering the individual axiological self-identification as an educational phenomenon and the process for an individual to find life meanings, goals and resources in the academic space and process [6], we believe that the modern teacher education curriculum shall be designed on the following grounds:

• The academic curriculum shall be updated to respond to the ongoing global reforms in the policies, science and culture, with the updates being driven by the reforms of the social value system;
• The value system research shall be considered a key “assemblage point” for the natural scientific, social and humanitarian components of the academic educational process;
• Values may become a key driver for the individual self-identification only when they are highly relevant and appealing for the individual life agenda with its senses and goals directly connected with the academic educational process priorities;
• The key concepts of the modern academic educational system are the following: strict division of the facts and their interpretations; diachronic and cross-cultural approach; relevance/ authenticity of the educational process content and toolkits; diversity of interpretations; competency in the assessment and choice tools; contribution of good old ideas to modern solutions; and high commitment for the modern educational and information technologies;
• Key academic process update policies are the following: closer relationship of the cultivated competences and skills with the academic curriculum; integration of new research models; special priority to and support (including assessment and encouragement) for new curricula and technologies; small group learning formats; special text processing tools etc.;
• The key mission of the modern academic educational process is to protect and enrich the core of the national academic educational system on the whole and the pedagogical education in particular, with an emphasis on the learning process efficiency.

Our analysis of the practical experience accumulated by the Institute of Humanitarian Education and Sports of Surgut State University in its Bachelor (Pedagogics; Basics of Psychology and Pedagogics; Psychology and Pedagogics; Special Pedagogics etc. disciplines) and Master (Axiology of Education; Modern Didactics; Education Philosophy and Modern Educational Polices etc. disciplines) training courses – shows that due succession of the educational process values, content and technologies provides a sound foundation for the professional training of the future coaches and instructors and facilitate their axiological self-identification process [6].

Having analyzed the educational curriculum and its proposed new content in the context of the modern academic educational space and process, we would highlight the following benefits of the educational model:

• The courses are designed on an integrated basis to embrace the widest possible scope of modern human culture including knowledge in humanities– based on integration of values and systemic, personality-centered and mobilizing educational aspects;
• Wide range of educational issues including modern human knowledge on the whole and modern achievements in philosophy, psychology, education and sociology in particular; with the students’ attention being focused on the values of life, freedom, knowledge, global culture, work, communication and cooperation to shape up their consistent understanding of the modern educational reality;
• The new curriculum gives the means to prioritize the students’ knowledge and encourage their self-discovery, values apprehension, life senses and values realizing process – that may be described as the mature personality building process driven by the life agenda;
• The modern educational technologies give the means for the students to exercise their freedom of choice in opting for the following:
• Sources of information;
• Partners in the educational process found in the couple/ group educational models;
• Preferred roles in role games and trainings;
• Self-reliant work models and tools including concept matrices, abstracts, reports, essays, portfolios etc.;
• Learning pace and effectiveness; and
• Self-reliant works and accomplishments presentation models under the relevant educational modules, and for exams and tests.

The new curriculum offers huge arrays of information to be learnt by the students – that needs to be “concentrated” for the lectures and workshops. The learning process shall be facilitated by the relevant modern educational technologies including Case Method, Text Grouping; Critical Thinking Developing Reading and Writing; Debating models etc. geared to mobilize and activate the “human nature in every individual”.

The new pedagogical education model is designed on a modular basis with every module designed to attain some specific didactic process goals, with specific topics viewed as the prime elements of the educational process structure. Prior to the training module, each student gets a list of tasks to be completed for the semester, with deadlines and progress rating system. Teachers would readily consult the students on every aspect of the educational module giving them the right to opt for the most convenient task combining and completing formats.

The modular educational format is highly effective in combination with other modern educational technologies, and one of the reasons for its efficiency is that it offers the material in tables and charts to save time and motivate students for further analyses of the relevant research materials with the material being duly systematized and classified to find its logics and contradictions if any.

Prior to the course, the students would attend a few consulting sessions to help them design their own learning process. Each student is encouraged to put together an individual academic calendar with a semester schedule including sessions, tasks, deadlines, tests, exams etc. Then the students would plan their time as required by the process goals to be attained within this timeframe. The individual action plans for the semester shall be performed in writing and approved by the teacher.

The above educational process model was found beneficial as verified by a questionnaire survey of the Masters majoring in Pedagogical Education in the academic years of 2015-2017. More than 80% of the sample opted for the interactive (as opposed to the directive) academic educational process model with the following tools: informal discussions in classes; increased share of workshops for account of lectures; free attendance format; initiative encouragement tools; group learning formats with their collective efforts; permanent progress control system applied in every semester; increased scopes of written works etc.

Responses to the question “What is most important for you in the academic educational format?” were dominated by the following options: initiative encouragement (24% of the sample); informal discussions; authenticity of information learnt; and self-reliant learning format (16% of the sample). In the practical sessions and workshops the students clearly preferred the couple/ group learning formats, with 100% opting for portfolios; above 80% for essays; 76% for tables and charts; and 64% for theses.

Conclusion. The modern educational technologies make it possible to intensify the learning and knowledge structuring process and make it time-efficient. The new model implies the student accepting the systemic guidance to activate the axiological self-identification and learning – and these are the benefits of this effective tool for individual self-identification in the academic educational space and process.

References

1. Apokin V.V., Povzun A.A., Povzun V.D. Gumanitarnaya sreda VUZa kak uslovie tsennostnogo samoopredeleniya studentov [University humanitarian environment for value self-determination of students]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury, 2014, no. 4, P. 92.
2. Kiryakova A.V. Aksiologicheskie dominanty podgotovki pedagogov v universitete [Axiological dominants of academic teacher training]. Pedagogicheskiy zhurnal Bashkortostana. 2017, no. 3 (70), pp. 11-19.
3. Kiryakova A.V., OlkhovayaT.A., [Karabushchenko N.B., Sungurova N.L.] Aksiologicheskiy podkhod k analizu problematiki sovremennogo universitetskogo obrazovaniya [Axiological approach to study of modern university education related problems]. Psikhologiya i pedagogika XXI veka: teoriya, praktika i perspektivy [Psychology and pedagogics of the XXI century: theory, practice and prospects]. Moscow, 2015, pp. 79-94.
4. Kiryakova A.V. Tsennostnye orientatsii studentov – aksiologicheskiy resurs kachestva universitetskogo obrazovaniya [Students’ value orientations - axiological resource of quality of university education]. Mater. Vseros. nauchno-metod. konf. 'Universitetskiy kompleks kak regionalny tsentr obrazovaniya, nauki i kultury' [Proc. Nat. scie. method. conf. 'University complex as a regional center of education, science and culture']. Orenburg State University publ.. Orenburg, 2017, pp. 2847-2853.
5. Povzun V.D. Tsennostnoe samoopredelenie studentov v pedagogicheskom obrazovanii v usloviyakh universiteta [Axiological self-determination of students in academic pedagogical education process]. Herzen RSPU publ.. St. Petersburg, 2003.
6. Povzun,V.D. Tsennostnoe samoopredelenie lichnosti v universitetskom obrazovanii. Dis. dokt. ped. nauk [Individual axiological self-determination in academic education: doctoral diss. (Hab.)]. Surgut, 2005.
7. Povzun V. D. Missiya universiteta – istoriya i sovremennost [Mission of the University – History and Modernity]. Vestnik OGU, 2005, no. 1, pp. 13-21.

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Abstract

Considering the axiological individual self-identification as an educational phenomenon and the process for an individual to realize the life agenda with its meanings, goals and resources in the academic space and process, the authors analyze the practical experience of the modern educational technologies being applied in pedagogical disciplines as a tool for axiological self- identification of a future specialist in the modern academic education service. The study analyzes the practical experience of the Institute of Humanitarian Education and Sports of Surgut State University in this domain. Authors believe that modern education technologies make it possible to intensify the learning process, make the student's values formation process time-efficient, activate the axiological self-identification and learning process – and these are the benefits of this effective education model for an individual self-identification in the academic education space and process.