Assessment of the student’s educational experience as a tool for making management decisions in the university

This article draws attention to students’ educational experience at a Russian regional university. Such experience is based on two aspects: on the one hand, it is a result of abilities integration, and on the other, it is an ability to act in a context of uncertainty. The latter aspect in understanding students’ experience is the most important for the personality formation in today’s complex world. Within the context of the higher education transformation, experience as an ability to act plays a significant role in individual development. That is why this study is aimed at analyzing the educational experience of first-year students and university graduates. Their educational experience is assessed based on their involvement in educational practices in class, in research activities at the university, and in self-educational activities. The results show that the first-year students’ experience and the graduates’ one at the university have functional differences. The first-year students’ academic engagement is higher as compared to the graduate students’. The research experience of both is expressed in a low degree. The self-educational experience at the university is not strategically formed. Comparing the first-year students’ and the graduates’ educational experiences, one can conclude that the structure of the latter is more functional due to the graduates’ limited involvement in educational activities. This means that the educational experience varies during the period of studies mainly in individual competencies, which are not connected with each other. The low level of the students’ involvement in educational practice reflects the weak development of their experience as an ability to act. It is the structure of a student’s motives that can be one of the main factors of his/her involvement in the learning process. Our findings contribute to the design of educational practices at the university and suggest the strong demand for a more responsible approach to designing the educational environment and educational practices at all university levels.