Abstract:

In the article, we present the results of a comparative analysis of teaching methods and their effectiveness in the assessments of students of higher education institutions in Russia, Belarus and Hungary.

The aim of the study was to identify the most promising and popular methods of teaching STEM specialists in regional universities of the post-Soviet countries and countries with similar cultural backgrounds in terms of the greatest distribution and effectiveness according to students.

We had formulated these research tasks: to identify the teaching methods that are most often used in the teaching practice of the university; to identify the factors that effect the quality of training of STEM specialists; to identify the most effective teaching methods in the assessments of students; to comparatively analyze the level of national education and the prevailing teaching methods in the higher education system of the studied countries for the objectivity of the assessment.
The methods of teaching STEM specialists evaluated by the respondents include lectures, online courses, seminars, laboratory work, master classes, business games, projects, colloquiums and industrial practices.

The effectiveness of the proposed training methods was evaluated on a ten-point scale, where 10 is the most effective training method, and 1 is the least effective training method according to the subjective assessments of the respondents. The similar socio-cultural background of the studied countries allows us to analyze the system of higher STEM education from the perspective of three main actors involved in the educational process: the labor market, the faculty and the state. The object of the study was the student community of regional universities in Russia, Belarus and Hungary, as a particularly sensitive and accurate indicator of the most effective methods of teaching STEM specialists.

The result of the study was the identification of the most effective teaching methods applied to the training of STEM specialists.

Keywords:

STEM education, career choice, transformation of the higher education system, factors determining the choice of an engineering profession