Soft skills have become an essential attribute for a successful career in engineering in recent decades. The role of soft skills in engineering qualifications increases each year. It is observed that this European trend has been adopted by other countries and at present is inherent throughout the world. For an engineer today it is extremely important to focus not only on technical or technological issues while studying but to acquire a wider range of abilities and skills that are aimed at expanding professional and career opportunities. A new course has been introduced into the Master's curriculum in National Research University “Moscow Power Engineering Institute” in 2020/2021 academic year to enhance soft-skills component in engineering training. Organizational Management is an interdisciplinary area of knowledge which is closely related to such fields as psychology, social sciences, management, economics, philosophy and history. As a part of curriculum this course is aimed at supplementing engineering qualifications with a whole range of skills and abilities of a social nature. Introduction of this course into the curriculum of the last year of the Master's program of engineer training permits to supplement technical and technological qualifications with a number of soft skills necessary not only for future professional activities, but also for the performance of a Master's thesis.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the effectiveness of the use of modern electronic visual aids (Trello virtual whiteboard, Core platform, Mind Maps, interactive books) in the engineering training of future specialists. The growth of digitalization and the abundance of information in all areas of life, including education, offer teachers and students to solve most educational problems using digital technologies and visual aids. The quality of the educational information received and processed by students, as well as the insufficient development of the use of relevant electronic visual means at the present stage of the development of the educational system makes our research relevant. The empirical basis of the study was the teaching of one of the disciplines of the Master's program of engineering training of the National Research University "MEI" of the Department of Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology named after G.S. Arefieva. In the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, a pedagogical experiment was conducted as part of teaching the second-year masters of the discipline "Organizational Behavior": part of the groups studied traditionally, the other part — with the use of new educational resources. During the study, visual learning aids (Mind Maps and interactive books), the peculiarities of information perception, including educational ones, were examined in detail, the domestic and foreign experience of using visual aids in teaching humanities disciplines was studied, the effectiveness of using several modern aids and services in engineering education at a technical university was tested. The article describes the features of the experiment, presents its results and analysis, and formulates recommendations for the effective use of modern visual aids for university training.

This article discusses the issue of determining the level of environmental basic knowledge of students as the basis of environmental competence at the stage of higher education. It is obvious that people who already have a certain level of environmental knowledge and skills, with their own environmental thinking, come to get higher education. Thus, it is very important to determine the real level of environmental competence of students at the beginning of their professional training in higher education. The authors of the article conducted an oral survey to analyze the attitude of 1st-year students of a technical university to environmental education by means of a foreign language, then students were offered testing to determine their level of basic environmental knowledge, and completed the study with another oral survey of students to identify readiness to receive environmental knowledge in a foreign language. The conducted experiment showed an average level of background environmental knowledge, but at the same time demonstrated the interest of the subjects in studying environmental fundamentals by means of a foreign language. The need for environmentally competent highly qualified specialists poses one of the main tasks for the higher technical school — the training of engineers with good environmental knowledge. The authors propose to improve environmental competence through the introduction of an integrated educational and methodological complex "Ecology-English" by means of a foreign language.

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The article deals with the pedagogical problem of developing students' independence in learning, taking into account the latest socio-cultural changes in society in relation to education and professional activity. The authors describe the features of modern trends in education and the acquisition of new professional competencies already in the course of work, which make us look at the problem of developing independence in students in a new way. The idea is put forward that it is a developed skill for independent studies that allows you to achieve success in learning and subsequently plays a crucial role in the development of personality, as well as provides a modern person with professional mobility. The student's ability to self-study is presented in the work as an organic unity of certain qualities, the development of which should be given special attention. The most favorable period for the formation and development of these qualities in higher education, according to the authors, is the initial stage of University education. The article analyzes the main obstacles and difficulties in developing students' independence skills at different stages of training. Based on this analysis, the ways and methods of removing obstacles in the period of training in Junior courses are proposed. The authors believe that active teaching methods are the most effective for solving the stated pedagogical problem. They allow you to intensify the educational process, increase the interest and creative activity of the student, which provides him with the role of a leading subject of the educational process. Special emphasis is placed on the role of social and humanitarian disciplines, the beginning of the student's scientific activity, the first experiences of speaking at conferences and publishing scientific papers, the importance of a large amount of contact hours in Junior courses. The empirical basis of the research is the current situation in engineering universities in Russia.