Experience of Students’ and Teachers’ Pilot Training in the Field of Environmental Engineering in a Post-Soviet Country
- Publication date
- Publisher
- RTU
Abstract
Kazakhstan is one of the Post-Soviet countries with
remains of the Soviet educational system. Yet, in 2010
Kazakhstan joined the European Higher Education Area (the
Bologna Process) that requires focusing on 10 Action Lines and
taking into account the Process' fundamental principles. A
consortium of universities representing Kazakhstan, Russia and
European Union countries developed within a Tempus
programme project to enhance a transition and compliance with
requirements of the Bologna Process in the field of environmental
engineering. Within the project, the academic staff of Riga
Technical University (Latvia) implemented a pilot training
concept in Kazakhstan higher education institutions. This paper
presents the methodology applied and verified in two Kazakhstan
higher education institutions and discusses the results achieved.
It is concluded that collaboration of academic staff from
countries with a common past has many benefits when an
innovative training concept is implemented. It helps to acquire a
better understanding of the situation and find more effective
solutions in the academic, scientific and industrial spheres. The
methodology applied proved to be efficient to encourage the
students’ critical thinking skills and further develop the
curriculum of environmental engineering in Post-Soviet
countries