Project activity of students in higher education institution: principles of project selection and criteria for project group formation

The development of economy and society demands that higher education institutions move from the traditional approach to competency-based one to train students. Students should master various complex competences, learn to look for information independently, analyze it and apply it to address various professional tasks. One possible instrument to realize a competency-based approach is the project method. The article describes the technology of practical implementation of a project method in higher education institution. The paper substantiates the requirements to the initiation of students’ project activity and specifies the project stages at the universities. The principles and selection criteria of the project theme are presented. The authors develop the criteria for project group formation and the ways to evaluate whether the potential participants of the groups meet these criteria. In addition, the article proves the requirements to potential mentors of student’s project groups and provides the information basis for determining the eligibility of lecturers.