THE ROLE OF INDEPENDENT STUDY IN THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS STUDENTS IN GREAT BRITAIN

Abstract

The role of IR students’ independent study during their professional training at higher education institutions in the UK is substantiated. It is found that only about 20% of the training course for IR students takes place in the classroom, the remaining 80% of the studying is independent. Students develop general and professional knowledge by studying literary sources, preparing for classes, organizing notes, and completing individual or group tasks. Effective time management and planning are important for the quality of independent study. The key skills of IR students in carrying out independent study are organizational skills (setting priorities and time management); reading and note-taking skills; and reflective skills.

The main types of IR students’ independent study at leading universities in the UK (London University, Birmingham University, Leicester University, Manchester University and others) are analyzed. Among the most widely spread forms of independent study are: preparing presentations; preparing for exams; course projects; study of scientific literature; completion of analytical writing tasks (argumentative essays on current topics, case study method); research papers; critical reviews; thesis as the largest independent study.

Two main vectors of IR students’ independent study are: independent research within the framework of an officially approved university topic; independent study within self-education. It is found that for independent study, universities offer such resources as open educational courses, online platforms such as MIT's OpenCourseWare, OpenLearn, repositories, etc. IR students’ independent study is often interdisciplinary and involves research in related fields (anthropology, economics, sociology and political science).

The methods of IR students’ independent study, such as flipped classroom, "thought experiments", digital storytelling, creative projects, modeling of crisis situations, are analyzed. Special attention is paid to such type of independent study for IR students as the implementation of an individual research project within the framework of an innovative module, which involves the application of modern theory to real problems using innovative teaching methods.