The role of interactive techniques in a sociologist’s professional skills development

Modern higher education should focus on the active involvement of lecturers and students and self-learning environment where students make a choice of action and take the initiative. The research deals with professional skills development in higher education students under the implementation of the third-generation learning standards, the current state and general trends in applying interactive techniques at the university. The authors reveal the concept of professional skills, identify the opportunities for their development in modern academic process, and review the various interactive techniques such as group discussions, conferences, roundtable discussions, case studies, business games, master classes, and project method. The study analyzes their role in teaching social sciences, describes workshops, and demonstrates successful experience of introducing interactive techniques to the learning process in order to implement a competency-based approach while training the students majoring in social science.