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ContentsCOLLABORATION BETWEEN AMERICAN AND SIBERIAN
UNIVERSITIES IN
ENGINEERING EDUCATION
(STATE-OF -THE ART, PROBLEMS,
PERSPECTIVES)
ABSTRACT
Since 90s Russia has entered the way of integration into the world economical system. There was a growing demand for a new kind of specialists in Russia to make successful headway. These specialists are supposed to know English, features of Western economics and production and to promote Western achievements under Russian environment. On the other hand, American firms need specialists who are able to estimate possibilities of very specific Russian market and carry out profitable work on this market. Mutual Russian-American program "Education. Business. Siberia." was organized in 1991 with the mission to train such specialists. Due to comprehension of educational tasks, this program covers all kinds of education: beginning from vocational schools up to training of university teachers.
The program is based on understanding and appreciation of Russian and American educational systems, aspiration to collaborate, to exchange educational experience. Twenty nine American and Russian vocational schools and universities were involved into realization of this program. Besides that, the main executors of this program were appointed by both American and Russian partners, i.e. Educational College of Ohio State University (USA) as well as seven vocational schools from several Siberian cities and two Tomsk Universities. Two Russian-American Centers were organized by these Universities to control and realize the program.
Five years of cooperation have been crowned by the following results. About 70 groups of teachers and students have participated in educational exchange programs. The first issue of the journal named "New Careers" was published and the second issue is being prepared now to be published. The program options which are available for its participants are presented in this journal. The system of computer distance education is being developed successfully in the framework of this program. Students of Russian and American Universities study some courses using the common programs which were developed having incorporated the best Russian and American achievements in the field of engineering education.
The main program executors consider now the possibility of establishing the academy and research institute of management in Tomsk. Thus, America and Russia carry out the real preparation to creation of united international educational space.
Unification of economic and cultural systems of many countries which also includes the educational area is the feature of modern civilization. There are educational centers in various countries which have some experience in this activity. A lot of science and practical problems stipulated for the most important interests of universities, countries and the world community in general arise in the process of collaboration between different educational systems. It becomes evident that the new organizational and pedagogical methods are necessary to create the united international educational space and to enhance the quality of education in individual universities or countries up to the international level. First of all, the national and international educational policy has to be changed to remove economic and legal barriers on the way of cooperation between educational systems.
Concerning the ordinary life of people the phenomenon of united educational space means that any kind of education in any countries will be available for everyone independently on citizenship and ideological views. It also means that the diploma and education certificates have to be convertable, and the everyone's possibility to be employed will be independent on the place where the education has been delivered. There are several ways to solve these problems. As applied to universities, the solution is in using the most modern science and pedagogical achievements and methods in educational process. The government level task is the creation of legal, economic and other guarantees for international collaboration in the educational area. Corresponding international laws as well as two- and multisided agreements are also very important for developing united international educational space.
Since 90s, Russia has entered the way of integration into the world economical system. There was a growing demand for a new kind of specialists in Russia to make a successful headway. These specialists are supposed to know English, features of Western economics and production and to promote Western achievements within Russian environment. On the other hand, American firms need specialists who are able to estimate possibilities of very specific Russian market and carry out profitable work on this market. The mutual Russian-American program "Education. Business. Siberia." was organized in 1991 with the mission to train such specialists. Due to comprehension of educational tasks, this program covers all kind of education fields: beginning from vocational schools up to training of university teachers. The program is based on understanding and appreciation of Russian and American educatuonal systems, aspiration to collaborate, to exchange educational experience.
One of the features of the "Education. Business. Siberia" program is wide use of computers, modern telecommunication equipment and Internet technologies. In 1995, the first experiment in international electronic distance education in Siberia was carried out using these equipment and technologies. Three technologies have been particularly used:
The course selected for electronic distance learning was "Decision Support Systems" taught by Dr. P.Partow, professor of California State University. Eight students of Russia-American Center by Tomsk Polytechnic University, specializing in "Informatics and management in banking" have been chosen for this experiment. All students are fluent in English and use computers effectively.
Delivery of education and training through electronically mediated instruction has opened new opportunities for higher education and the training of the workforce. Changing technologies will remain a persistent factor in higher education, and these changes can provide magnificent opportunities for economic growth and education development.
The opening style of modern education supposes double- or many-sided character. Every educational institute, which takes care on efficiency of its activity goes from the necessity of free exchange with science - pedagogical experience with foreign partner on educational contact. The cooperation between Tomsk Polytechnic University and Ohio State University has been made on such base. During 1992-1997 more than 10 seminars for professors and teachers of polytechnic universities in Russia and USA has been held, which more than 100 teachers took part in. Such a form of cooperation helps partners to learn each other, to know the methodology and technology of educational process, the peculiarities of polytechnic education in our universities.
During 5 years of collaboration about 50 internships of teachers from Russian Polytechnical Universities and schools at American Universities have been realised. During these years more than 60 American teachers have worked at Siberian Universities and Russian-American schools.
Thanks to the program "Education.Bisiness.Siberia" the collaboration of the undergraduate technical Colleges and Polytechnic Universities is existed more effective than in other countries. Great part of graduaters of the Russian-American schools becomes very often the students of the Russian-American Centers of the Siberian Polytechnical universities.
Such forms international educational space proposed mutual entrust of educational institutions for possible educational contacts and developing the international educational programs and corresponding structures on the paritet base.
The necessary condition to take part at the international educational programs is modifying of educational technologies, infrastructures, information and personal providing of the educational process.
At the creation study of the Russian-American Center on training specialists at Tomsk Polytechnical University special curriculums and syllables were developed in accordance with the best pedagogical experience of the Ohio State University and quality characteristics of the specialities, some courses were taught by completely corresponded American educational standards. So, such courses as International Economy and Marketing, the Bases of the Enternship, American History and Culture were studied in the English language by American teachers.
At the Tomsk Polytechnical University the exchange leadership program on the development: "Educational Management" was realized. The Vice-Rectors of the Tomsk technical Institutes and Universities ( Tomsk State University, Tomsk Polytechnical University, Tomsk Architectural- Engineering Academy) got the opportunity to train 3-weeks internship in the Ohio State University at the problems of the Educational Study Management and perspectives of the International educational exchange. At its activity at the development of the international cooperation Tomsk Polytechnical University went from the following methodological conception: "To every person with the exceptional abilities to engineering activity must be guaranteed the satisfaction of the educational requirements independently of the economical, political and other different circumstances and every person with positive intellectual engineering and morality deposits, which have the correspondent financial ability must be guaranteed the full satisfaction of the educational requirements."
The last 5 years Tomsk Polytechnical University with its foreign partners from Ohio, Texas,Michigan, New-York have organized and trained language and professional internhips of more than 150 future engineers of the wide specture of the specialities: oil and gas industry, geology, chemistry, machine-building, physics and energy-physics, economy, modern information technology, telecommunications and computer sciences and others. Such activity helps to put today the engineering education in Siberia at the new high step and standards and to train competionable modern specialists of the new time , who possess the knowledge not only about their engineering speciality, but completely mastered during its study at the university the modern information technologies and computer science, economics and foreign languages. So, today, considering the Russian-American experience on cooperation in the sphere of the high engineering education we can say about the serious non-debatable results and to say that this collaboration is the pledge of the creation of the united international educational space.