‘Research Work will Start in the First Year of Study'
Vladimir Avtonomov, Dean of the HSE Faculty of Economics, told us about the new standards for the Faculty and its undergraduate curricula.
- Vladimir, why did the Faculty need these new standards and what is the difference between thse and the third-generation state standards?
- The situation is quite interesting, since the HSE Faculty of Economics was one of the key developers of those third-generation state standards. Such standards involve many principles that we consider important, such as a high level of freedom in the choice of disciplines, an increase in the number of variable courses and other things. But despite our satisfaction with the third-generation standards they were a product of consensus. The introduction of our own standards allows us to avoid any compromises and make the standards optimal for our Faculty.
In addition to that, the fact that the HSE received the status of National Research University also played its role: we tried to reflect the new status in our standards and curriculum. For example, according to the new standards, students will start to do research from their first year of study. Some time ago they did research only during their master's course, then we organized research seminars in the fourth year, and now we are shifting it practically to the start of undergraduate education. Of course, a first-year student cannot cope with full-scope scientific work, but they will get some introductory courses describing the techniques of the research work, methods of data accumulation and processing and other basic things. And by the fourth year the students will be able to write normal research works.
- Are there any other differences from the state standards?
- We departed from the third-generation standards in several more areas where the educational bar seemed too low for us. For example, relating to the requirements on the level of English. General standards imply that the level should be sufficient for an everyday conversation. But we implied that our students should master the language on a professional level which would allow them to communicate with colleagues from other countries. Such a requirement seems essential to us.
Requirements were increased for some other competencies, including those related to the growth of student independence. For a research university it is important that its students have a systematic approach to the solution of research tasks, and don't just wait for detailed instructions from their supervisors.
- Which courses make up the core of the curriculum?
- We are not very different in this sense: both in our standards and in the state ones the core of economic education is microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics and statistics. These disciplines are absolutely essential for everyone. And the number of hours for them should be sufficient to let the students master the subjects.
However, our standard has one more special feature. We did not prepare it in the Faculty of Economics only, but together with the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs and ICEF. We decided to build a unified standard, which would be appropriate for all three economic departments of the HSE. As a result, there are some courses in the standard which are not in the curriculum of the Faculty of Economics, but they are included in the curriculums of our colleagues' faculties. Such courses have a special comment - ‘at the discretion of the faculty'.
- What role do these optional courses play in the curriculum?
- They were added even to the block of disciplines which previously were not optional. A certain number of optional courses was established. Our university offers a wide choice: for example, at our Faculty, students in the fourth year can create an individual curriculum. If you are interested in some courses in another specialization, you can include them in your plan, if, of course, your supervisor has no objections. And usually there are no such objections. Even courses from other faculties can be included in the individual plan. So, our new standard involves good opportunities for the choice of courses which are particularly interesting for our students.
- How did you manage to combine blocks of economic and human sciences disciplines in the new standard?
- We decided to implement a new approach and avoid the situation when we had short, two- or three-module courses on sociology, political sciences and other social disciplines in our curriculum , and replace them with a range of non-economic courses. For example, if in the first year, when students must choose two non-economic subjects, a student chooses law as an option, then in the first year he studies the theory of law, in the second - civil law, and then entrepreneurial law. This means that our students will have the opportunity to get more rational skills in a chosen field, be it law, sociology of psychology, and we shall be able to give our students more knowledge in affiliated social sciences.
- The Faculty of Economics is the largest faculty within the university. How will you coordinate the departments' work in this new situation? Are the teachers ready for these changes?
- We have certainly discussed these problems. A special working group was involved in the development of the new basic curriculum, which was then approved by the Faculty's Academic Council. Of course, some colleagues will have to alter their approaches somewhat. But anyway, it is necessary to move forward.
Oleg Seregin, HSE News Service