A Unique Specialist

The main trend in higher education today is becoming individualization of training. As a result, there is a need for the formation of an individual educational path (IEP) with the active participation of the student.

Why Individual Educational Path?

In the digital age, employers especially value the ability of employees to adapt to a constantly changing environment, navigate information flows, learn new technologies, and have universal thinking. They expect flexibility from university graduates, the ability to quickly integrate into team projects, and learn independently. Not "universal" but "unique" specialists are increasingly valued. Knowing the needs of the market, MAI focuses on the individualization of student learning. As part of the IEP construction, MAI offers purposeful students the opportunity to develop not only basic engineering skills, but also organizational and managerial competencies, Soft Skills, and mastering foreign languages. This is due to the fact that a modern successful engineer is not only a good specialist, but also an initiative team player and effective manager.

Thanks to the individual educational path, a MAI student, knowing his strengths, sees for himself in which direction he should develop, where he will be able to reach the highest professional heights, become a unique specialist in a specific field or at the intersection of areas. With his curator, he defines a list of additional courses, practices, including in the centers of competence of Moscow Aviation Institute, subjects for in-depth independent study, internships and academic mobility programs at leading universities in Europe and Asia, participates in hackathons, etc. Very soon MAI plans to launch a system for the formation of the IEP on the basis of a digital footprint of students, which will make the process of individualization of education even more effective. 

How It Works

The fifth-year student of the MAI Department 101 "Design and Certification of Aviation Equipment" Dmitry Sukhanov decided from the first year of study that he will develop also in the organizational and managerial direction. He was able to start implementing his plans thanks to the IEP system. Dmitry Dolgov, Director of the School No. 1 Aircraft Engineering, became his curator. He introduced the student to the IEP concept and helped identify and systematize the educational route. As part of the IEP, Dmitry studied at additional courses and programs of Moscow Aviation Institute. So, in the team of JSC “United Shipbuilding Corporation” he participated in the classes of MAI School of Management. This helps him in the formation of managerial and entrepreneurial thinking, the skill of introducing corporate innovative projects, effective teamwork.

Participation in various MAI events helped the student put the acquired knowledge into practice. For example, Dmitry organized a New Year's ball, and in the summer of 2019, the experimental project “Trajectory No. 1”, the purpose of which was to help students realize their ideas relating to improvement of alma mater. Thanks to Dmitry, more than 60 students were involved in the project, an effective dialogue was built between the administration and students. Now Dmitry Sukhanov is part of the IEP working team at his department: he helps students to create their individual educational paths, participates in the placement of students to competence centers, and helps freshmen in the adaptation period. Regarding his individual educational path, Dmitry plans to participate in large-scale educational intensive courses aimed at training personnel for the digital economy.