The article is devoted to a topical issue of integration of immigrants into the cultural and linguistic environment of the Federal Republic of Germany through the study of the German language and the efforts of the state, on which the quality and success of integration depends. The author describes the main problems of integration of immigrants into the cultural and linguistic environment of Germany and shows how the quality and success of integration depend on the efforts of the host country. The paper also examines the pedagogical experience of working with heterogeneous groups of students and modern scientific approaches and methods leading to significant achievements in this area.

The issue of digitalization of education is very relevant for modern pedagogy in general and teaching methods in particular. Among other things, researchers note the need to form new didactic tools that are relevant to modern educational reality. This is exactly what digital didactics does, which is at the center of this study, the purpose of which is to analyze approaches to understanding digital didactics and concretize its goals and objectives. Scientific novelty lies in identifying the connection between digital didactics and trends in modern education. The objectives of the study are to substantiate the need to master the basics of digital didactics due to changes in the educational space and society as a whole. The article discusses the principles of digital didactics, as well as approaches to understanding this term. Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that digital didactics is one of the topical areas of pedagogy. The author proposes to use the research results to improve the efficiency of theoretical and methodological training of teachers and students of pedagogical specialties.

According to the article, modern transformation of higher education system in Russia, taking into account the globalization processes that determine the need to change the practice of training professional personnel within the framework of international and interstate cooperation, make the raised issue relevant. Proceeding from the historical analysis, the author presents the ways of enhancing educational cooperation between Russia and the People’s Republic of China as well as covers current problems that this interaction might lead to. The author gives some examples of long-term ties between Russia and China in the field of educational cooperation, confirmed by joint documents and agreements. The author smoothly moves from history to the present, pointing to the creation Association of Asian Universities in the 20s of the XXI century which includes universities of Russia, China, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Tajikistan. The article highlights some problems that hinder effective cooperation between the two countries. For example, education systems, applied methods and conditions for obtaining education often differ greatly. The paper also raises the questions of mutual recognition of qualifications and degrees, correlation of the curricula of partner universities. The author concludes that, despite the existing difficulties, it is important to further intensify the contacts of educational interaction between the two countries.

The article deals with student international academic mobility in the online format due to closed borders between countries. The author emphasizes the important role of the level of language proficiency for academic mobility and learning outcomes in online courses taken. The research also includes a study of the impact of academic online mobility on the study of English (reading and listening skills, in particular) and, ultimately, on the success in academic performance in the course “Foreign Language” being a compulsory discipline for any university major. 

The article is devoted to development of English-speaking communicative competence in teaching adults. The authors cover the key points of the communicative approach. According to the article, the role of the communicative approach in the modern textbooks of the English language remains an important question. The purpose of this study is to identify the most effective way to apply the communicative approach to teaching English language to an adult audience. The authors also highlight the basic principles of the androgogical aspect of teaching English to adults as well as describe the characteristics of adults as learners within the study. As for the practical part of the research, the authors provide comparative analysis of some English textbooks: New English File (3rd edition) in particular.

The article presents analysis of three aspects in which a gym can be used by universities and teachers-coaches: environment (space and infrastructure), communication and interaction (between students and teachers-coaches), the attitude of students and teachers to a new type of university gym. The study involves screening observation and electronic survey. The author shares the research results that show that university gym of a new type plays a complex role in providing new quality of teaching physical culture and sports.

The article presents the system characteristics of “data analysis” as an educational technology, as education content in the form of data sets and as a competence outcome of educational programs. The topic is relevant for the teaching staff and heads of universities that implement project-oriented education, 4:0 Didactics models, professional human development practices in the world of data and numbers. The contextually presented data analysis is related to political, scientific and technological directions of the development of the National Data Management System, the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data as a cross-cutting technology of the national technological initiative, the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development, national projects “Science and Universities”, “Education”.

The study presents structural and functional models of critical thinking as an object of pedagogical research. The authors lay emphasis on the relevance of the critical thinking process from the perspective of synergetic approach. The key components of structural and functional models of critical thinking are highlighted in the paper. The authors come to the conclusion about the integral and synergistic nature of critical thinking

The article discusses the issues of teaching entrepreneurship to future designers and the significance of these skills in the modern market. The author considers universal and professional competences stipulated by the state standard as requirements to the quality of training future bachelors of design. The work summarizes experience of Russian and foreign educators in teaching entrepreneurship. The author emphasizes the importance of the entrepreneurial competencies for a designer. The article summarizes the experience of teaching the discipline “Economics of entrepreneurship”, identifies the main formed competencies directly related to the market of design services, such as: the ability to organize entrepreneurial activities in the field of creative industries, to develop innovative business activities in accordance with the needs of society and taking into account the legal norms of the legislation of the Russian Federation. The organization of the educational process is based on learner-centered, system activity-based, competence-based and entrepreneurial approaches to teaching. An important element of the program is using newly acquired knowledge and skills for working out a business plan as a model of entrepreneurial activity in the field of design. The results of diagnostics of the formation of entrepreneurial competencies by two main evaluation tools (testing and analysis of a business plan) are presented. Finally, the author proves effectiveness of the course.

The paper discusses some of the changes that are currently taking place in the implementation of information technologies into the learning process. A broad and specialized definition of an interactive whiteboard as an on-screen technical training tool for implementing a modern method of work used for “blended learning” is given. The authors describe the main tasks and functions of interactive whiteboards. The practical part of the research was conducted on the forum for teachers English_teachers_upgrade and summarizes the data obtained from an anonymous survey. The main objectives of the study were to identify the most popular type of online whiteboard; to determine the scope of their application; to describe and compare the main functionality. 100 respondents who teach foreign languages at universities, language and comprehensive schools as well as give private classes were interviewed. The interactive whiteboard Miro was identified as an unquestionable leader among this audience.

The article presents the rationale for relevance of the study into factors of successful professional self-determination of an individual in the transitive society. The author gives outline to the role of preadaptation in professionalization of a new type of specialist and construction of a productive individual development trajectory in a situation of increased mobility and uncertainty. The article describes some subjective determinants of successful professional self-determination, the role of future competencies in this process that expand the scope of personal competitiveness. The article provides results of the theoretical analysis into the set of personal characteristics that are especially relevant today and lay the foundation for successful professional self-determination in the VUCA-world. The author analyses the content characteristics of undergraduates’ ideas of about the ways to achieve success and the determinants of professional retraining in conditions of uncertainty. The novelty of the study is to identify and describe the subjective factors of successful professional self-determination in the context of risks of the VUCA-world. The article also analyses empirical material that reflects certain peculiarities of subjective control and focus on achievement in subjects aimed at expansion of professionalization. The paper presents a model of the program of psychological support for Master’s degree students via additional professional training.

The article is devoted to some features of self-attitude and attitude towards death among young people. The relevance of the study is associated with the trans-diagnostic nature of the attitude towards death in the context of human mental health. The study is based on the Terror Management Theory, proposed by Greenberg, Solomon, Pyszczynski. An empirical study was carried out using the following psychodiagnostic techniques: questionnaire “Methodology for researching self-attitude” by S.R. Pantileev, questionnaire “Anxiety Scale” by Spielberger adapted by Yu.L. Khanin, “Death Attitude Profile” (DAP-r) by P.T.P. Wong adapted by T.A. Gavrilova. Young people aged 18-25 (88 people in total) took part in the empirical part of the survey. The analysis was carried out using the methods of descriptive statistics, Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient, Mann–Whitney Test. As a result, the study revealed that the structure of correlations between the peculiarities of self-attitude, attitude towards death and the level of anxiety differs among men and women: among men, there are more connections between the peculiarities of self-attitude and the level of personal anxiety; as for women, there are more connections between characteristics of self-attitude and attitude to death. The findings can be important for providing psychological and psycho-corrective help to people who have certain problems with self-esteem and self-confidence, internal conflicts, existential issues, as well as in prevention of auto-aggressive and suicidal behavior.

The article presents the results of a study of the emotional experience of students of the Academy of Psychology and Pedagogy of Southern Federal University in building up motivation and intention to continue doing physical activity in their free time. The key concept is the control-value theory of achievement emotions. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between physical activity in formal education and independent physical activity in developing motivation for physical culture and sports as an element of students’ human capital. In order to check the validity of the results obtained during the experiment, the following techniques were used: research factor analysis using SPSS Statistics 21, Waller’s motivational test model, statistical method for testing direct and indirect relationships between variables, effect within a hypothetical cause, Pearson’s χ2  test, rms deviation and root-mean-square error of approximation, normalized index corresponding, comparative index of conformity, Tucker–Lewis index, index of concordance and corrected index of concordance to choose from 105 students of 1–3 years of studies. The research findings show that control and students’ evaluation of the value of achievements and emotions experienced during physical activity beyond the academic process have a positive effect on the formation of motivation and eagerness to engage in physical activity in their free time.