One of the most important directions of development of Almaty College of Construction and Management as a modern educational institution is international cooperation. We are deeply convinced that the implementation of various forms of interaction with foreign partners contributes to improving the quality of educational services provided by the college, ensures the strengthening of image components, acting as a kind of competitive advantage of Almaty College of Construction and Management in the educational market of Almaty.
It is impossible to solve the problem of training modern specialists for the construction industry without using the existing world experience in this field.
With the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the British Council, the British Embassy of the academic year, a partnership has been established between the Almaty College of Construction and Management and Wakefield College of Great Britain within the framework of the Skills for Employment project.
Within the framework of the project, international educational projects are being implemented to restructure and develop curricula and programs, teaching materials, modernize teaching tools, improve the management and administration system of educational institutions of technical and vocational education. One of the goals of the project is to create a learning model compatible with the principles of the Bologna Declaration, since Almaty College of Construction and Management is an experimental creative platform of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the introduction of credit technology of training in educational institutions of technical and vocational education into the educational process.
Cooperation within the framework of the Almaty College of Construction and Management project with Wakefield College allowed to modernize the process of training personnel for the construction industry, taking into account the experience of the UK in the field of vocational education. Since the project provides for the development of standards, standard curricula, the development of uniform qualification requirements for graduates, the improvement of educational and methodological complexes of construction disciplines. A student Kazakh-British design studio has been created, which provides for the joint development of building projects and the exchange of students. Currently, KBS students complete assignments received by email from Wakefield College. Teachers and students are registered on the Wakefield College website and have the opportunity to use the regulatory and reference database and the electronic library.
To coordinate the decisions taken when working on projects, online conferences are held between the participants of the KBS. The projects of the KBS members were awarded diplomas of the Foundation of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Unions of Architects and Designers of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Association of Builders of Kazakhstan, received the Grand Prix at the competition of scientific and technical creativity of students in Almaty. Four students in 2010 completed and successfully defended, in the presence of the director of Wakefield College, Steve Ely, diploma projects in English and received an invitation to study at this college for free. Currently, Kopelovich Milada, studying at Wakefield College since September 1, 2010, is recognized as the best college student and encouraged by a week-long trip to Paris.
During the 2006-2008 academic years, the educational and program documentation, the experience of organizing the educational process on the credit technology of Wakefield College training were deeply studied. This made it possible to adapt and independently develop educational and methodological materials: experimental curricula, qualification requirements for graduates, Syllabuses, actively hangouts, workbooks on educational practice, multimedia electronic textbooks and manuals.
In December 2007, at the invitation of the British Council, the director of the College Aziskhanov Zh.N. and the deputy visited Great Britain. the directors of Storozhenko V.V., who took part in the seminar on cooperation and discussed the possibilities of cooperation with construction colleges in the UK. In February 2008, AKSIM was visited by a delegation from Wakefield College, during which a cooperation agreement was signed. In November 2008, 4 students and a teacher stayed at Wakefield College for a week. During this time, they agreed and signed the developed educational and program documents, discussed joint actions to work in the student Kazakh-British design studio. In March 2009 and April 2011, delegations from Wakefield College paid a return visit to AKSIM. During this period , the deputy. The director of the college, Brian Hill, held a master class for teachers of special disciplines, corrected assignments performed by students of the Kazakh-British Design Studio, held a student scientific and practical conference in three languages, discussed prospects for further cooperation, cultural and sports events were held with the participation of students from the UK, a presentation of students from the UK was held and a round table was held with the participation of teachers and students of AKSIM and a delegation from Wakefield College.
The analysis of the state mandatory education standards of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the UK in the specialty - 1401000 "Construction and operation of buildings and structures" allowed us to develop an experimental curriculum and make appropriate adjustments and additions to the new generation Standard we are developing in this specialty.
Comparing the list of academic disciplines studied in colleges in the UK in the specialty - 1401000 "Construction and operation of buildings and structures", we drew attention to the fact that not only disciplines are studied that give deep professional knowledge in the field of construction, but also disciplines that allow you to gain knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. This knowledge allows graduates to open their own business in the future, thus developing small and medium-sized businesses. For this reason, we have introduced the following academic disciplines into the experimental curriculum: "Entrepreneurship in construction", "Estimate documentation, rationing and pricing of construction works", "Valuation of real estate and land", "Project Management", "Planning, organization and management of resources in construction", "Personnel Management".
During the development of the experimental curriculum, the names of academic disciplines were adjusted, in particular, the following academic disciplines were renamed "Drawing" to "Engineering Graphics", "Applied Computer Science" to "Information technology in professional activity". "Fundamentals of market economy" on "Economics of the industry", "Fundamentals of law" on "Legal support of professional activity".
The developed experimental curriculum, taking into account the experience of cooperation between Wakefield College and social partners, includes academic disciplines offered by both construction companies in the UK and Kazakhstan. These are the following academic disciplines: "Design and estimate work", "Building standards quality control in construction", "Innovative technologies in construction". All the above disciplines are included in the cycle of elective disciplines, which gives students the opportunity to further study the issues that social partners require knowledge of. Moreover, by studying these disciplines, students will always be aware of innovations in the construction environment and will be able to put into practice the latest achievements in science and technology.
The catalog of elective disciplines is compiled in such a way that a student would choose a certain list of academic disciplines corresponding to his chosen field of study. Students are offered three areas of training: production and technological, design, entrepreneurial with the possibility of creating their own business.
The developed experimental curriculum, adapted to the credit technology of education, taking into account the experience of Wakefield College, does not violate the substantive side of the mandatory state standard. The changes, which were dictated by the peculiarities of the implemented credit technology and the experience of organizing the educational process at Wakefield College, were carried out within the requirements of the state-mandatory standard.
Changes have been made to practical training. The standard of the old generation provides that students practice in the following working professions: carpentry, stone, plaster, facing, painting works. We consider it necessary to conduct the following types of practical training:
* practice for obtaining primary professional skills in any profession;
* practice in the specialty profile;
* production practice;
* pre-graduate practice;
* internship;
* final interdisciplinary certification.
All these changes have been made to the Specialty Standard -"Construction and operation of buildings and structures", approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2008.
The Standard developed by us in the specialty - "Construction and operation of buildings and structures" of the new generation contains the competencies required depending on the level of specialist training offered by the UK Standard.
The project provides for improving the professionalism of teachers through training seminars and master classes. The conducted joint methodological seminars and master classes are aimed at spreading the experience of using interactive forms and methods of teaching, including when working in groups, organizing independent work of students, creating methodological materials for independent work of students.
The result of the project was the introduction of the basic principles of the Bologna Declaration within the framework of the developed experimental curricula on credit technology of education: a system of credit units, a modular learning system, a point-based knowledge assessment system, the principle of duplicate verification, the involvement of an external examiner, electronic testing, student mobility has been introduced and will be successfully applied in practice.
Currently, we are working on various variants of curricula proposed by our partners from the UK, according to which we can train specialists at our college in English for one or two years, based on the level of knowledge of the English language, and then they study for one year in the UK. This makes it possible to simultaneously obtain an Almaty College of Construction and Management diploma and a Wakefield College diploma.
Further cooperation will develop in the following areas:
- Development of professional standards based on a competency-based approach;
- Determination of the levels of professional qualifications (types and levels of responsibility);
- Development of curricula in all academic disciplines in accordance with the curricula of the specialties;
- Development of didactic materials and electronic textbooks together with Wakefield College4
5.Organization of training in Almaty College of Construction and Management according to Wakefield College programs in English with the possibility of simultaneously obtaining an Almaty College of Construction and Management diploma and a Wakefield College diploma.
- Exchange of teachers and students;
- Conducting master classes and seminars online;
- Continuation of work within the framework of the student design studio "KBK"