ИСТИНА

One of the most important tasks that the higher school is facing in the epoch of information technologies is the formation of a new type of specialist both a professional in one’s special field and an informational erudite having the necessary skills to productively work with large information flows. Now, this task is far from completion. Two researchers from different areas of social sciences (journalism and psychology) with different cultural backgrounds (Russia and USA) combined their pedagogical experience and the results of long-term observations and experimental study of the modern university studenthood. The authors studied the students’ abilities to work with texts when performing various educational activities. The subject of our study were the students’ homework assignments, as a form of intermediate control of knowledge assimilation and comprehension, such kinds of students’ intellectual activity as naming, citing and annotating sources of information, and, finally, the students’ review- and research papers. The results showed that most students in both specialties and cultures were underdeveloped in their informational skills. The mistakes in their work with the texts were systematic and similar. Their most difficult task was for them to identify key words/phrases/fragments of the texts, and, therefore, they were lacking full-fledged understanding of the semantic aspect of information. We concluded that special efforts should be aimed at teaching university students to work with texts. Young generations should be specifically trained in developing skills of analyzing and synthesizing information as the basic mechanisms which provide any meaningful cognitive activity.