Technologies of Organization of Students' Independent Work in Studying Pedagogical Disciplines at Classic Universities

The chapter deals with the problem of preparing a graduate of a classical university, possessing both professional and special competencies, which include expertise, knowledge, and skills obtained in the study of pedagogical disciplines. The effectiveness of student preparation largely depends on the results of their independent work, which is given a significant amount of academic time. At the same time, the teacher's task is to accompany the student's independent work and to draw up a system of non-standard tasks that develop communicative and creative skills, skills of working with scientific texts and project activities. The aim of the chapter is to reveal the possibilities of technologies of independent work organization that motivate students to dynamic cognitive activity while studying pedagogical disciplines (on the example of studying the course “Pedagogy” at Saint Petersburg State University).

Visual Storytelling as Generative Strategy for Social Educators

The chapter deals with the discussion of the results of an experimentation run in two consecutive academic years within the classes of the graduate course “Instructional Technology” in the graduate course “Science of Education” at the University of Macerata, Italy. The IT course is programmed in the third year of the curriculum for “Social Educators” and the contribution reports the results of a case study related to a workshop activity in which students could find a further opportunity to identify different dimensions of relation among theoretical aspects and the potential practical/applied connotations in professional contexts. The workshop was structured as an experiential learning process in which the value of the digital storytelling as educational approach was a strategy adopted to foster the students' understanding toward the intercultural issues in terms of improvement of relationship by taking a prospective position oriented to the other.

A New Model for Acceptance of Analytics in Learning Management Systems at Jordanian Universities (JLMS)

Learning management system (LMS) is usually used in higher education system. It has become compulsory to help the end users (instructors, students, and administrators) in their daily use, and learning analytics presents an auspicious approach. This chapter aims to investigate the acceptance of analytics and use of an LMS at Jordanian universities. It also focuses on the factors influencing acceptance of analytics in LMS at Jordanian universities. Therefore, the chapter presents a new model for acceptance of analytics in learning management systems at Jordanian universities called Jordanian Learning Management System (JLMS). This chapter is based on the most recent and related literature explaining various scenarios where LMSs address learning issues in the digital environment in a way that was not possible in the previous confines of print logic.

Implementation of Outcome-Based Education Through Activity-Based Teaching-Learning System

The chapter deals with effective implementation of outcome-based education following Washington accord through activity-based teaching-learning system with a comparative study with the results obtained from conventional input-output system. Effective implementation of this new pedagogical concept blended with technological tools is reflected through radical change while looking at the performance of the students in view of assimilation of knowledge vividly reflected through their industrial and academic placements. Result can be summarized in the form of more engagement in ABTLS which enhances the probability of acquaintance, thanks to the industry-mapped curriculum. Project-based learning in individual and group form increases the design and problem-solving skill, and requirement of industry is better satisfied. Achievement towards program outcome (PO) helps to produce better human resource in the context of present socio-humanitarian aspect and explores areas of further dynamic modernization of pedagogical methods for future society.

Students' Support in an ODeL Context

Open distance and e-learning (ODeL) gives students who occupy multiple roles and are affected by the barriers of distance, cost, and time an opportunity to pursue their studies; these students are called distance students. For them to be successful as distance students, knowledge of technology is important as teaching and learning is conducted online and students are expected to interact actively online. There is no value if you have knowledge of technology as a distance student but do not interact online. The student must actively interact with peers, lecturers, study materials, and the university; failure to do so will affect learning and teaching negatively. Most students do not interact online. ODeL institutions prescribe technological tools for the students to interact online, but they lack academic, administrative, and technical support, which is a concern. ODeL institutions must commit themselves to always supporting distance students – academically, cognitively, administratively, institutionally, and affectively.

The Post-Material Values of Young People and Interactive Technologies in the Formation of a Culture of Scientific Dialogue in the Student Environment

The task of reforming and improving the social and humanitarian component of modern education is related to the understanding of time as an existential experience associated with the phenomenon of age. According to the theory of generations of N. Howe and W. Strauss, age is defined as a measure of awareness of one's own living life. It is a methodological approach of this study. The generations of Y and Z are the subject of special attention in the study being the group that actually forms the requests for the educational policy of the state. Considerable attention is paid to the formation of skills and culture of conducting scientific dialogue in the student environment (the development of certain norms of behavior, the adoption of the normative requirements for scientific dialogue, the assimilation of various formats for discussions, projective activities, etc.).

Educational Programs in Social Entrepreneurship

The chapter presents a review of Russian and international experience in implementing educational programs in the area of social entrepreneurship. The authors analyze the specifics of the emergence and development of these programs, which reflect the dualism of the essence of social entrepreneurship. The chapter provides a classification of programs on the global market of business education by their types and forms of implementation. The authors list the peculiarities of education in the sphere of social entrepreneurship in Russia. They examine, in detail, the complementary professional in-service training program called “Project Management for Social Entrepreneurs,” which is administered in the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg State University with the support of the Citi Foundation since 2012. They conclude that it is important to teach business leaders attending MBA/EMBA programs to help them shape social entrepreneurship competencies aimed at creating shared value.

Teaching Methods and Syllabus Design in Business Strategy Courses

The chapter focuses on a problem that business schools all over the world face and which is connected with the necessity to include concepts and instruments of strategic management valuable for the managers into the syllabi of the courses. It is necessary to define the requirements and expectations of the managers for the syllabus development and methods of studying. The purpose of the study is to determine the existing conformity of strategic management course syllabus and the Russian managers' perceptions of sources of competitive advantage. During the empirical study, a survey of the students of the EMBA program has been conducted. The results of the analysis indicate that managers link the sources of competitive advantage with better position of the company in the external environment that leads to greater interest in learning strategic tools which are appropriate for its detecting. The findings raise serious challenges for strategic management teaching and put into question the usefulness of proactive development of competences in strategic management education.

Collaborative Educational Approach as Contact Work Technology in Higher School

The chapter focuses on collaborative educational technology and shows its efficacy in developing professionally significant qualities in college/university students. Both theory and practice of the technology are justified by history, description of technology stage launching, specifics in organization, and preparation of didactic material. Evidence-based research, which has been conducted with higher school students majoring in psychology, is presented. Sampling group involved in a transformative psychological and pedagogical experiment consisted of 60 subjects. Outcomes of the technology implementation can be students develop motivation in a course study, acquisition of knowledge in group work becomes more effective, researching students' psychological aspects of collaboration becomes significant.

Technology of Conducting Group Training to Increase Communicative Competence for Teachers of Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines

The authors present the training of increasing communicative competence for teachers of social and humanitarian disciplines. An overview of the current research in this area is given: the development of projects for training teachers with a communicative skill and the search for means to assess their effectiveness, the use of feedback and reflection, the use of active teaching methods. The necessity of an individualized approach aimed at self-knowledge of the teacher, the awareness of his individual style, personal characteristics, and motivation is substantiated. The theoretical basis of the training is based on the psychological understanding of the structure of the teacher's activity. The chapter details the goals, methods, the form of training, the necessary conditions, and the order of the training, which allow achieving the set goals and reproducibility of the results of training by other trainers. An approximate training plan, which includes six sessions, is described in detail. The results of the introduction of training and evaluation of its effectiveness are presented.