No 3 (2020)

The introduction of distance technologies in the educational process is a critical task at all levels of education, and in the higher education system as well. The complexity of implementing such technologies at a medical university is associated with the practical orientation of most disciplines, in other words, with the necessity of the formation of practical skills of the students. Before the lockdown regime, full-time students had the remote access only to tests or some recorded video-lectures and video-consultations posted on the university educational portal along with other materials of the academic and methodological complex. The paper describes the educational experience of distant teaching Bioorganic Chemistry to the students of the Ural State Medical University during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, taking into account technical capabilities and resources that were available in this period. The paper presents the positive and negative consequences of replacing face-to-face lectures with the video-format. The authors analyzed the technical capabilities of free web services for their use when organizing the educational process. The paper specifies the main difficulties when giving chemistry practical classes on the ZOOM on-line platform and describes the students’ behavior patterns during such studies. The authors compared and analyzed the results of midpoint assessments carried out in full-time and distance forms, as well as the learning outcomes of the past and current academic years. The paper presents the student survey data on the satisfaction degree of distance learning. The authors conclude on the impossibility of the equivalent replacement of full-time chemistry education with distant teaching.

The paper studies one of the priority challenges for the modern Russian higher education system - to integrate into the international educational environment, the main characteristic of which is multiculturalism. One of the ways to create a multicultural environment in a university is to organize and stage cross-cultural events with the participation of international students. The analysis of scientific and reference literature demonstrates that the problem needs more detailed and thorough research at the level of a regional university. The purpose of the research is to study the experience on how to organize cross-cultural events with the participation of international students and develop practical recommendations on how to arrange these activities at a university. The study describes the main prerequisites for organizing events aimed at improving the quality of intercultural communication within a university, acquiring social skills to interact in a multicultural group, harmonizing inter-ethnic emotional relations, developing tolerance and respect to “an alien” culture. The study also reveals the potential of such events to solve problems related to the training and adaptation of international students in a new educational environment. The novelty of the research lies in defining the main thematic areas and stages of organizing and staging extracurricular cross-cultural events, describing the mission of a teacher. The results of the study present the assessment of the positive dynamics of changes in cross-cultural knowledge and skills of the participants in one of the cross-cultural projects. To determine these changes among the participants of the event before and after its staging, a survey was conducted using the author's questionnaire designed based on the Intercultural Development Inventory. It allowed identifying the ability of Russian and international students to perceive cultural differences and change their behavior model in accordance with them.

The internal pattern of disorder, as a component of the Self-concept, influences the mechanism and effectiveness of a person's social adaptation. The main objective of the study is to determine the features of the Self-concept and the content of the main components of the internal pattern of the disorder in adults with intellectual disabilities. The research methods: “Tell Me About Yourself” technique (Shchetinina, 2000), “The Study of Internal Disorder Pattern” conversation technique (Adeeva, 2018), “Social atom” technique (Moreno, 2001), a technique based on the method of semantic differential (Adeeva, Tikhonova, Khazova, 2019). The study sample is represented by 22 people; the average age of the group is 23.

The results of the study revealed contradictions and insufficiency (difficulties) in the formation of the Self-concept and the internal pattern of the disorder characterized for the people with mental disorders. On the one hand, the Self-concept is characterized by the stability and absence of contradictions. The majority of respondents highly rate their physical and personal qualities, recognize their basic life skills, and do not want to change anything in their life. The internal pattern of the disorder has contradictions. The respondents are satisfied with their body condition and appearance (physical component). The respondents note that they differ from other people in character, appearance, and skills. Approximately 25% of the respondents deny having a disorder. However, about 70% of the respondents indicate difficulties in learning and performing some commonplace activities. The majority of the respondents demonstrate the lack of knowledge about their wellbeing, its causes, and restrictions (the cognitive component). About 30% of the respondents are not satisfied with their health condition, suffer significant difficulties in social interaction. They experience anxiety when communicating with strangers, visiting shops, and government agencies, moving around the city. The system of social relations of such respondents includes only two or three people. A significant place in the system of their social relations belongs to parents.

Modern trends in education reveal the need for a systematic assessment and development of the adaptive psychophysiological potential of students for their successful adaptation in the situation of a rapidly changing education system. The paper presents the results of a study of the psychophysiological status of 50 students of both sexes aged 16-17 who have no deviations in health. The students in both groups demonstrated evident right-handedness (dominance of the left hemisphere), however, the number of people with right- and interhemispheric activity was greater among girls. A significantly higher level of semantic memory was found in boys, whereas girls registered a higher quotient of neural processes mobility and a high rate of attention switching. The male group registered the prevalence of excitation processes in the cerebral cortex, while the group of girls displayed the prevalence of inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex. The discovered psychophysiological peculiarities are important for theoretical and practical research in modern education. The main idea of the work is to emphasize the need for systematic monitoring of the psychophysiological indicators of students - this can preserve their mental health and improve adaptation to the changes in the modern educational environment. An innovative approach to assessing the success of the educational process should consist of regular comprehensive monitoring of students’ psychophysiological indicators and the dynamics of the educational process. The obtained data on the psychophysiological status will make it possible to take into account the individual characteristics of students of both sexes.

The study of self-destructive behavior risk in late adolescence, the issues of forming of hardiness in adolescence, as well as the study of the correlation between these parameters, which allows comparing the results of the research with foreign data, is an actual research issue in modern society due to the need to organize safe educational environment. The authors describe the situational and personal components of the risk of self-destructive behavior among adolescents. The paper presents the results of the study of the relations between self-destructive behavior risk and the hardiness level among late adolescents. The study involved 297 students of 9-10 grades, aged 14-17 years (M=15.3; SD=0.26). The authors identified the situational and personal components of self-destructive behavior risk in late adolescence. The paper describes the most significant restrictive factors of self-destructive behavior: for the majority of late adolescents, it is a belief in the possibility of solving problems and the responsibility to the family. The study identified and described the significant relationships between self-destructive behavior risk and hardiness. The level of hardiness and its parameters (involvement, control, and risk) are associated with both the personal and situational components of self-destructive behavior risk. However, hardiness is most closely related to the personal factors of self-destructive behavior in adolescence. Among situational factors, solving current life problems correlates with a higher level of hardiness in this age. A high level of hardiness also negatively correlates to all risk parameters of self-destructive behavior in late adolescence.