Moscow University Research Articles

Особенности организации фестивалей ГТО в университетах Москвы

The relevance of this study is due to the high level of attention of the state policy in the field of physical culture and sports (PC&S), namely in the part of the All-Russian physical culture and sports complex “Ready for Labor and Defense” (VFSK GTO). According to the development strategy of PC&S for the period up to 2030 (the program “Priority – 2030”), the VFSK GTO is given an increasingly significant role in improving the level of physical activity and fitness level of the population. The purpose of the study is to determine the scheme of cooperation between educational institutions of higher education and the Testing Centers of the GTO “Mosgorsport” of Moskomsport, the effectiveness of holding multi-day GTO Festivals at universities for students and teachers, the advisability of organizing academic and independent classes in physical culture in accordance with the types of VFSK GTO tests of the VI–X levels. The hypothesis of the study is that the organization by the university of its own GTO festivals, held by the departments of physical education in conjunction with the GTO Testing Centers “Mosgorsport” of Moskomsport, can significantly increase the number of students involved in the implementation of the GTO standards, and in addition, which is also important, leads to an increase in the number of badges GTO (students with various insignia of the VFSK GTO). The study examined official statistics, current regulatory and legal documents, as well as information from pedagogical research conducted among students of universities in Moscow. In the course of the analysis, key positions that determine the possibility of holding GTO Festivals in educational institutions of higher education were identified. The study involved an analysis of international experience in the development of university sports and the study of existing models. A feature of the study is the consideration of the issue of organizing and holding GTO Festivals in educational institutions of higher education, taking into account the peculiarities of organizing the educational process in the discipline of physical culture.

Формирование российских интеллектуальных элит в эпоху Просвещения

During the age of Enlightenment, the processes of national elites' formation in Western Europe somewhat differed from country to country. While in Britain, especially in Scotland, intellectuals constituted a fairly homogeneous group of literati, which included university professors, educated priests, civil servants, and enlightened nobles, in France the ideological attitudes might have been shared by clerics, university professors, and "free thinkers," primarily "encyclopedists." In Russia, the situation was peculiar. At the beginning of the 18th century, the structure of the intellectual elite changed. The clerical Orthodox elite became segregated due to the restrictive decrees of Peter the Great. After the founding of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1724 and Moscow University in 1755, an academic elite emerged, and a noble intellectual elite took shape. While European intellectual elites developed within a single paradigm and built their internal oppositions most often along the lines of ideological irreconcilability (for example clericals and encyclopedists in France), Russian intellectual elites were barely connected to each other. They were formed in the context of different educational trajectories, shared no common intellectual institutions or communication platforms (it is not by chance that Russian universities had no theology departments: theological education existed in the framework of separate church schools), and they appealed to different authorities. All this contributed to the parallel existence of very different intellectual models and philosophical systems. The situation became even more complex in the 19th century with the emergence of the intelligentsia as a social group in its own right.

«Считаю своим долгом…»: к проблеме этоса российского ученого на рубеже XIX–XX вв.

The article suggests one possible account of the motives that prompted more than 130 Russian university professors to quit in 1911 as part of the so-called "Casso affair." For this purpose, the author draws on ego-documents, mostly private letters, to analyze the ethos of various social roles which the professor of crystallography Yuri Wulf and his subordinate mineralogist Iosif Sioma took on while corresponding with their colleague, the natural scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The analysis shows that Wulf and Vernadsky, as well as a number of their colleagues, did not separate the ethos of the social role of a scientist from that of a citizen with liberal political convictions, and that a ‘decent person’. This allows us to suggest that their resignation from Moscow University was a move in the political struggle, a demonstration of corporate spirit, and offended decent persons’ response to dishonest behavior on the part of the Minister of Education Léon Casso. However, not all university employees demonstrated such inseparability of social roles: Sioma’s letters to Vernadsky show that he distinguished more clearly the ethos of a representative of the oppressed Polish people, the ethos of a researcher and the ethos of a university employee. This suggests that a range of intermediate variants between the two poles could be identified by a study drawing on a broader range of sources.

Specific Features of the Use of Distance Learning Technologies in Foreign Language Classes with Postgraduate Students


 The study substantiates the effectiveness of using distance learning technologies in preparing postgraduate students in technical specialties for candidate minimum examinations in the foreign language during the transition to distance learning in Moscow universities due to the epidemiological situation in 2020-2021. The present study reveals both positive and negative aspects of distance learning and provides an understanding of the key vector in the development of the methodological basis of pedagogical activity. The study emphasizes the special organizational role of a foreign language teacher in distance learning. The empirical section of the study presents the results of a questionnaire survey of postgraduate students in aerospace specialties collecting their opinions on the distance learning format of the “Foreign language” discipline using information and communication technologies (ICT) at the Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University). Seventy first-year postgraduate students participated in the survey. The study also uses a questionnaire interview of teachers working with postgraduate students. This survey used open-ended questions. Overall, the study demonstrates students’ positive attitude to the distance format of the “Foreign language” discipline. The use of ICT raises interest both in the learning process and the discipline itself.

Reading Practices of Students of the Metropolitan Metropolis: “Amateurs” and “Pragmatists”

Modern social processes (globalization, urbanization, digitalization, succession of generations and others) actualize public and scientific attention to students’ reading culture, reading practices and their various aspects (gender, social, economic, and others). The issue of culture of reading, reading practices, their features and structure is a topical and relatively under-developed topic of interdisciplinary analysis. These phenomena are considered in sociology within the framework of some concepts: as a separate type of practice in the process of personal literacy formation, through the connection of cultural heritage and social class, through the analysis of subjective and existential meanings of the reading experience, and others. It is interesting to study the reading practices of students due to the specificity of the subject-object role of this social group in the process of cultural intergenerational continuity. The article highlights the results of an empirical study conducted among students of Moscow universities. Two types of students’ attitudes to works of fiction are revealed: pragmatic and value-reflective. The characteristics of these two groups are given, compared with other indicators (love of reading, reading as pleasure, volume of reading, genres of fiction, and others). The main conclusions and results presented in the publication will be of interest to teachers, scientists, representatives of state and public organizations and specifically to students.

The System of Sociocultural Adaptation of Foreign Students at Leading Russian Universities (On the Example of Azerbaijani and Chinese Students)

The number of foreign students educating in Russian universities is increasing every year. With the growing number of such students, the issue of their adaptation becomes more re levant, because that adaptation also determines the success of education. The substantial role in this process falls to the share of universities and their educational system, which in the initial stages is aimed at accelerating the adaptation of foreign students to everyday life in Russia, also to provide high-quality and promising education.The article presents the results of a study conducted in order to investigate the features of sociocultural adaptation, the difficulties, which are faced by students during their education period and their expectations, coverage of the place and role of universities, therefore, and scientific and pedagogical staff. To achieve an accurate result, we conducted a survey of international students from the Republic of Azerbaijan and the People’s Republic of China studying at Russian universities. 107 students in total (45% Azerbaijani students and 55% Chinese students) from leading Moscow universities participated in the questionnaire-based survey, the age cohort of respondents ranged from 21 to 35 years. Analysis of the results of the survey made it possible to determine the main types of adaptation of students to identify objective and subjective factors of sociocultural adaptation, to compare the principal features of foreign students from Azerbaijan and China in order to understand the main problems of intercultural communication of students from different ethnic groups. The relevance and uniqueness of the study are based on cross-cultural differences between the studied groups, which made it possible to identify both principal and specific features, and their significant difference from Russian culture.The authors of the article concluded that the acceleration of the process of sociocultural adaptation is possible, first of all, through the study of the Russian language and pre-departure training in their homeland, which includes studying of Russian culture, history, traditions and specifics of intercultural communication. Based on the results of the study, the authors proposed recommendations for the formation of a system of measures aimed to optimize the processes of sociocultural adaptation, including well-organized training and teaching, as well as involvement of foreign students in the social activities of the university.

Политический абсентеизм как часть мировоззрения студенческой молодежи города Москвы

The article examines the factors influencing the non-active participation of Moscow students in the political life of society. It is noted that, as a rule, passive and active political absenteeism is distinguished in the worldview of the capital's youth. The results of the study conducted by the authors showed that the majority of respondents are interested in political events in the country and the capital, but only a small part of them purposefully follow the changes and dynamics of political life in Moscow and Russia. The Internet as the main source of information of the capital's students, other popular channels provide many opportunities to gain the necessary knowledge about politics in a digital society, but a large information flow and its lack of consistency, and often frankly "fake", distorted information do not allow students to fully understand various aspects of political life, respondents often demonstrate the superficiality of their political views. The purpose of our work is to study the nature of political absenteeism in the worldview of Moscow students. The consideration of the problem was based on the results of an initiative targeted political and sociological study among students of three Moscow universities conducted through the Internet platform Google Forms. A sociological survey in the form of an online questionnaire was chosen as the most representative method of collecting empirical data. The sample is a target, quota by gender (N=210). To analyze the results obtained, the following general scientific methods were used: description, analysis, synthesis, classification. The analysis of the survey results showed that municipal elections arouse the least interest among respondents, federal elections are the greatest, but at the same time every third respondent is subject to absenteeism. Among the main reasons was the lack of confidence in the institution of elections, as well as the predictability of their results. The upcoming presidential elections of the Russian Federation in 2024 arouse considerable interest among students. The respondents' protest potential was also studied. The majority of respondents prefer conventional forms of protest and have a sharply negative attitude to various manifestations of extremism. The novelty of the study is to identify the features of the manifestation of absenteeism of student youth in a megalopolis. The prospect of further research is to consider the dynamics of the attitude of students to political participation, as well as regional differences in the types and manifestations of absenteeism in the worldview of the younger generation of Russia.

Engineering personnel for the new economy

The article studies the problem of improvement of training of engineering personnel for our economics according to the new model of its development. The country needs a technological sovereignty for its sustainable development. It is essential to make structural transformation in the economy that needs competent human resources, and especially those with technical education. Technological processes are changing significantly, and, consequently, new professions and occupations are emerging. The article indicates the disproportion on the number of higher educational institutions and the number of students between two megapolises (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and all the rest regions of Russia. The analysis of the functioning of the system of higher professional education in the 2018–2019 academic year has shown excessive contingent of students in the universities of Moscow who study for a fee. The authors suggest differentiating the Bachelors and Masters’ admission plans for school and college graduates. In recent years, our country has faced a sharp reorientation of the evaluation of educational outcomes from the concept of knowledge and skills to the concept of competency. However, the accepted within the educational standards competency approach has failed to become a breakthrough in the quality of the students’ training. It has failed to introduce any cardinal changes in the process of training and up bringing itself. The standards do not contain any recommendations on working out mechanisms of formation of graduates’ competencies for higher educational institutions. The authors suggest differentiating the concept of competency by the signs of its manifestation by an employee in his professional activity. The quality of training of the university graduates is alleged to lie in the field of teacher – learner relationships. The article reveals the need for formation of psychological and pedagogical competence of university teachers and training them to apply new pedagogical methods.

The Philosophy of Generation of 1960s as a Social Phenomenon

In its main part, the article is devoted to the Soviet philosophy of generation of the 1960s. It begins with a preface, which regards belonging to a generation as a sign of fate, and ends with an afterword, according to which the past is not judged. Belonging to a generation is the seal of time on individual destinies. The author belongs to the generation of Soviet philosophers who directly followed the sixties and got lost in their shadow. It shows how they are seen from this close distance. They personified the renewal of philosophy in the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. It is shown that it began at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow University in the form of opposition of young researchers to the dogmatically minded professors, that its origins were two outstanding thinkers – Evald Ilyenkov and Alexander Zinoviev, who set the speculative-dialectical and scientific-analytical lines of development of philosophical research with their work. The philosophy of the sixties was humanistically oriented and emerged as a decisive break with the philosophical dogmatism of the 1930s and 1940s; it was the theoretical justification for the process of de-Stalinization that had begun in the country. It was represented by many original theories of thought and action, inspired by the ideas of the sovereignty of the human mind and the individually responsible existence of the individual. The philosophy of the generation of the 1960s remained loyal to the teachings of Marx and the socialist ideal, existed, as it were, in parallel with official orthodoxy, with its internal rejection.

Optics Teaching by Professor N.A. Lyubimov at the Imperial University of Moscow in 1859–1882

Optics Teaching by Professor N.A. Lyubimov at the Imperial University of Moscow in 1859–1882

Peculiarities of Implementing a Practice-Oriented Approach to Engineering Education in the Digital Era

The current trends in engineering education are analyzed. The distinctive features of the conventional “knowledge” paradigm and the practice-oriented approach are described. An urgent need to strengthen the latter at the higher education stage is revealed. The peculiarities of practical training were studied, as an outcome of which a number of advantages of this method have been identified, and community of domestic and foreign trends in widening the role of practical training has been disclosed. The long-term successful experience in training technical specialists at the National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute served as the empirical basis for the research. Special attention is paid to changes in engineering and technology areas that have been caused by global digitalization, which lead to transformation of engineering work and, hence, set forth new objectives for education. The article also substantiates advisability to strengthen practical components in education, which will enable the graduates to successfully apply fundamental knowledge in their professional activity.

Staff Training and Scientific Research Activities on the Basis of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute’s Renewable Energy Sources Educational and Experimental Site

The Institute of Hydropower and Renewable Energy Sources at the National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute is the only one in the Russian Federation that unites departments implementing educational programs in the areas of electric power engineering, electrical engineering, and power machinery design and construction, with placing focus on power and hydraulic engineering facilities. The need of training high-skilled personnel with broad knowledge in the design and operation of hydroelectric, wind and solar power plants has led to the development of a unique laboratory complex. The article gives a retrospective review of the process through which the Joint Laboratory of the Institute of Hydropower and Renewable Energy Sources was established.

Visualization in Mathematical Packages When Teaching with Information Technologies

A method has been obtained for the use of visualization in computer mathematical packages, which is an effective means of overcoming difficult situations that arise for students when mastering such packages and solving computational problems. Depending on the complexity of the problem being solved, either the teacher or the students themselves can create special visual graphic (animation) objects. Such objects allow, initially without going into the intricacies of the functioning of the package and the mathematical apparatus used, to competently describe a complete picture of a difficult situation for students and indicate ways to resolve it. The method is considered through the example of the process of solving systems of equations using the mathematical package Mathcad and the WolframAlpha online resource. Graphical and animated objects are presented that clearly demonstrate the areas of the location of initial approximations, allowing you to numerically obtain all the real roots of systems of trigonometric and nonlinear equations. Similar objects are built to find the critical points of the Himmelblau’s special test function. Visualization materials are confirmed by the presented computational calculations. The proposed method is implemented in the form of plans for lectures and practical classes on mathematical modeling using computer technologies. The method was tested with university students at the National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

Interuniversity practice-oriented games as a means of professional socialization of social workers at the stage of training in higher school

The aim of the article is to identify and analyze the positive experience of using practice-oriented interuniversity games used in the educational process of a number of universities as a means of professional socialization of future specialists in the social sphere. The dynamics of socio-economic and political processes determine the relevance and necessity of intensifying research in the theory and practice of professional socialization, which, on the one hand, largely reflects the essence and regularities of the overall process of human socialization and, on the other hand, is a condition for the development and formation of a particular specialist. The application of theoretical and empirical research methods allowed us to state that the use of practice-oriented game forms in the educational process of a number of universities not only expands the range of modern psychological and pedagogical technologies applied in the course of students’ learning of academic disciplines but is also an effective tool for solving problems of professional socialization of future social sphere specialists already at the stage of training. The results of the study allow us to conclude that game-based practice-oriented technology as a means of professional socialization opens up additional opportunities for a more comprehensive understanding of the specificity of professional activity, its key aspects, comprehension and ways of solving professional problems. Conclusion. The presented article analyzes the experience of development and implementation of inter-university practice-oriented games on the basis of Moscow University of the Russian MIA named after V. Y. Kikotya which gives reason to consider the latter as an effective tool for professional socialization of social workers at the stage of training in higher education.

A New Turn in Russian Ethnography

Abstract The article is based on the text analysis of previously unknown archival documents (letters, petitions) to assess the impact of Pervaa Vserossiiskaya etnographicheskaya vystavka (the first all-Russian ethnographic exhibition) had on different spheres of Russian life – ranging from reinterpreting Slavic identity and rallying Western and Southern Slavs around the empire to growing museum attendance. Demonstrating the diversity of ethnic groups in Russia, in addition to emphasising its imperial power managed to also serve the purpose of structuring and further developing academic knowledge, and presenting its results to the larger public in an easily accessible yet sophisticated way: the Ethnographic Department of the Imperial Society of Devotees of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography at Moscow University was founded in 1868, and the first ethnographic museum (Dashkov Museum) in Moscow used the items for its collection. Russian ethnography exercised this new chance of proclaiming itself as an independent and actively evolving discipline and field of knowledge.

Russian obstetrician, gynecologist and medical historian Wilhelm Mikhailovich Richter

July 27, 2022 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the death of honored professor Wilhelm Mikhailovich Richter (1767-1822), obstetrician, Russian historian of medicine, and a founder of the Midwifery Institute at the Moscow Imperial Orphanage with a maternity hospital at the Moscow University. W. M. Richter introduced the course of study «Diseases of Women and Newborns». He is the creator of the very first clinical school of obstetricians and gynecologists in Russia. In the period of 1790–1819, as a professor of the Department of Midwifery at the Moscow University, he made a significant contribution to the development and improvement of the history of medicine: he is the author of a key fundamental Russian work «The History of Medicine in Russia», published in three volumes in two languages — Russian and German. Wilhelm Mikhailovich Richter acted as president of the Physico-Medical Society. He also was a publisher of the Medical-Physical Journal.

The study of factors affecting student satisfaction with learning using distance learning technologies

In the era of rapid development of educational technologies, informatisation of the learning process has become one of the most popular areas of educational activity thus providing particular importance to study the conditions allowing the construction of an electronic educational space that would successfully integrate into the educational process and ensure its effectiveness. The article describes the results of an empirical study of the relationship between the characteristics of the information and educational environment and student satisfaction with learning activities. The study involved 217 students of Witte Moscow University, studying with the use of distance learning technologies. Mathematical processing of the obtained data showed the presence of a statistically significant relationship between students' satisfaction with educational activities with the position of the pedagogue, the correspondence of teaching to students' expectations, as well as the quality of feedback. The author suggests pedagogic techniques that allow to organise training centred on the interests and capabilities of students, as well as to increase the level of satisfaction with learning in an information and educational environment. The results of the study can be used to improve training organised with the use of distance learning technologies.

Use of peer reviewing indicators for planning the work of the editorial office of a scientific edition (on the example of a biological journal)

The peer review process is an extremely important and time-consuming step in preparing a manuscript for publication. It often takes longer than all other stages of article processing. Due to the complexity of peer reviewing, it becomes necessary to analyze it and determine the key points that you should pay attention to when planning the work of the editorial office. In this study, the authors used data obtained in the process of work with reviewers of the journals “Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 16. Biologiya” and “Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin” in 2017–2021, as well as information on articles received by the editorial office in the same period time. The sample of peer reviewers consisted of 319 specialists from various fields of biology and related disciplines. The results of the analysis showed that the average time spent on the primary review was about 11 days, and the average time during which experts respond to the invitation was about 2 days. Reviews received by the editors over five years, on average, contain a little less than 3 000 characters, the volume of reviews does not correlate with the timing of the reviews and their quality. In recent years, the editorial office has managed to reduce the proportion of formal uninformative reviews to 6 %. Both women and men, employees of both universities and research institutes, scientists with candidate and doctoral degrees are equally involved in the work on articles. The important role of reviewers in improving the article and at the same time insufficient encouragement of this important work are emphasized. The results obtained can be useful to the editors of scientific journals when they plan the stages of reviewing articles.

Peter’s Reforms as National: the Publicistic Aspect of S.V. Solovyov’s “Public Readings on Peter the Great”

Sergey M. Solovyov (1820–1879) – is one of the most well-known and authoritative Russian historians, the author of the monumental work “History of Russia” in 29 volumes, and the creator of the “common scheme of Russian history” (M. Grushevsky). At the same time, his political views and publicistic activity are still not in the focus of the researchers’ attention. The present article attempts to draw special attention to one of the most well-known and repeatedly reprinted work of the historian – his “Public Readings on Peter the Great”. Twelve public lectures were delivered by Solovyov in February – March of 1972 in Moscow Noble Assembly hall in the context of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the first all-Russia emperor. Leaving aside the well-studied historiographic value of that work, the author of the article analyzes its text (together with the draft and Solovyov’s commencement address at the grand meeting in Moscow University May 30, 1872) fro the point of view of the currently important political problems in the 1860-ies and the beginning of the 1870-ies years, and above all, the aspects of nationalism. Solovyov appears to be at once an opponent of both Slavophils and Katkov’s nationalism, interpreting “narodnost’” (national character) as historical, dynamic category, while conceiving Russian nation as part of European nations. And at the same tine Solovyov emphasizes the connection of contemporaneity with the formation of personal independence, initiative, as well as compatibility and ability for pubic unity.

Prevention of the emotional burnout syndrome in university teachers

BACKGROUND: Professional burnout in university teachers is an urgent problem. Thus, researchers attempted to determine the dependence of teachers health on the peculiarities of their professional activities. Professional burnout of teachers is observed in all countries worldwide. The development of measures to prevent professional burnout is an important task that requires further study.
 AIM: This study aimed to scientifically justify measures for the prevention of emotional burnout syndrome in university teachers.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 2,711 teachers from humanitarian and technical universities in Moscow were surveyed using analytical and socio-hygienic methods. Moreover, extracts from medical, informational, and statistical documents of teachers were analyzed.
 RESULTS: On average, one university teacher was found to have 45 symptoms characterizing emotional burnout. Two-thirds of the teachers were women, and female morbidity was higher. The high intensity of professional activities, long-lasting forced position, and dissatisfaction with job and remuneration were defined as the most pronounced reasons of psychological burnout.
 CONCLUSIONS: Medical and organizational measures are necessary to improve the health and emotional state of teachers.