НАУКОВО-ДОСЛІДНА РОБОТА СТУДЕНТІВ ЯК КЛЮЧОВИЙ ЕЛЕМЕНТ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ В США

The article reveals the ways of students’ research activity organization in the United States of America. The main approaches to the definition of this pedagogical phenomenon in the scientific literature (scientific inquiry, the result of which is an intellectual or creative contribution to the development of the discipline; a number of activities and organizational forms aimed at learning, methods, means, and skills of carrying out research by students) are presented. It is stated that the students’ research activity is one of the key elements of higher education, as it contributes to the training of highly qualified specialists who are able to have a creative approach to the solution of non-standard problems. On the basis of scientific literature analysis, it can be stated that there have been conceptual changes in approaches to the organization of research in the US universities in recent decades. It should be mentioned that now more and more attention is paid to the students’ participation in this type of activity. Entrepreneurial strategy has also become a key component of almost all research universities. It has been found out that, nowadays, there are more than 100 student projects in the country that are somehow related to research. An interesting example of organization of students’ research is the ‘Venture Catalyst’ project, which goal is to develop cross-disciplinary cooperation and the world trade. The center creates conditions for cooperation and communication among students, teachers, entrepreneurs, and heads of companies. The research has revealed that that clusters also play an important role in the organization of research. They allow teachers to improve their own competencies and qualifications, and as for students, clusters can provide an opportunity to work in cooperation with mentors and teachers, to gain experience in conducting research; clusters contribute to the development of communication skills and scientific thinking. Having analyzed the approaches to the organization of students’ research, it can be stated that it would be useful to bring this type of activity closer to production and to involve students in real research projects.