The department of Software Engineering and Management Intelligent Technology NTU “KhPI” is implementing a new educational concept – the practice-oriented training approach to education. This program is aimed for maximizing the rapprochement with the student, the university and employers. Students have the opportunity to combine their learning process and work, that is to obtain the necessary theoretical knowledge and work in an IT company in the chosen profile.
The main point of the practice-oriented training approach lies in the organization of the educational process in the Master’s Degree, when the fundamental theoretical training is carried out on the basis of the department, and the practical part is implemented as part of the working process at the enterprises of the IT industry. The learning process is organized in such a way that students of the department attend the first double-period and study on Saturdays, and the rest of the time they work full-time in an IT company or are engaged in internal projects. This approach to learning has completely proven itself in European countries, and its implementation in our department solves the following crucial tasks:
– adaptation of professional knowledge and skills of graduates to the rapidly changing conditions of the labor market;
– improving the practical training of senior students;
– training of specialists who meet the qualification requirements of employers and professional standards;
– confirmation of the graduate’s competitiveness in the labor market.
To implement the practice-oriented training approach, the following steps at the department were taken:
– development of new curriculum;
– changing the schedule of the curriculum;
– introduction of a new format of graduation design;
– introduction of innovative learning techniques;
– creation of the conditions for the successful combination of study and work.
The practice-oriented training approach to training at the SEMIT department helps students to effectively combine successful learning and productive work and gives the following results:
– combining theoretical knowledge with practical work experience;
– reducing the time of adaptation in the conditions of the modern labor market by 2-3 years;
– the graduate gets work experience required for further professional growth.
At the same time, the implementation of the practice-oriented training approach provides the following benefits for IT companies:
– the ability to influence the educational process for the preparation of a specialist with the knowledge, skills and competencies that are in demand in today’s environment;
– the possibility of the development of the company (the implementation of new projects) due to the availability of qualified personnel.
As for the educational system as a whole, the use of this approach opens up the following possibilities for Ukrainian universities:
– access to current information about the current state of workflows in IT companies;
– improving the quality of education due to the on-the-spot correction of curricula.