Student Agency in Managing the Learning Process in the Framework of University Digital Transformation

Globalization and digitalization of society, the transition to a digital economy, objectively imply the renewal of the education system. One of the priority directions of the development of the higher education system is the digital transformation of universities. Within the framework of this research work, one component of the framework model of digital transformation of universities is analyzed – the implementation of an individual educational trajectory in the digital environment of the university. The hypothesis of the study is that the digital environment of the university does not yet correspond to the level of formation of student agency, which is a factor in the successful implementation of the individual educational trajectory. For students with highly developed agency, there is not enough opportunity to actively participate in building their development trajectory, manage their learning, and initiate changes to improve the educational experience. For students with less pronounced agent traits – opportunities to develop archival skills in the modern world. In this regard, the author faced the following research question: how do students of Russian universities-leaders of digital transformation perceive their role in building an individual educational trajectory and how would they like to implement it in the digital environment of the university? The research methodology is based on the results of semi-structured interviews with students of Russian universities. The criteria for selecting informants were as follows: training at one of the leading universities of digital transformation and specialization is in demand in the digital economy. The study involved 15 students of different years of study and areas of study from the following universities-leaders of digital transformation, which were selected by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation: Higher School of Economics, ITMO University, Sechenov Moscow State University, Tomsk State University, Ural Federal University. To describe the results of the study, the following thematic blocks were identified using the open and axial coding method: the agency of students as participants in the educational process, the attitude of students to learning on an individual educational trajectory to the university, the role of students in building an individual educational trajectory at the university, the attitude to the digital environment of the university and the experience of its use, preferences and wishes for the implementation of an individual educational trajectory in the digital environment.