Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The third annual Soft Skills tournament was held at the Polytechnic University. Students demonstrated soft skills by participating in board games.
At the current stage of transformation of the higher education system, the formation of flexible skills is an important component of training specialists capable of ensuring the achievement of technological leadership of our state, emphasized the Vice-Rector for Educational Activities of SPbPU Lyudmila Pankova.
The organizing committee and jury included university teachers and activists of the SPbPU Students’ Trade Union, as well as representatives of the organizations and companies “Russia – Country of Opportunities”, “TGK-1”, “Gazprom Gazifikatsiya”, “Gazprom Pitanie”, “Lengidroproekt”, “VNIIG im. B. E. Vedeneyev”. Support was provided by well-known board game publishers GaGa.ru and “Lavka Igr”, their game masters helped the participants and the jury understand the rules and taught them how to get out of difficult situations.
Seventeen student teams made it to the first round: six from the Institute of Power Engineering, five from the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, one team each from the Humanitarian Institute, the Civil Engineering Institute and the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport, as well as three teams — IPMET, ISI, IKNK, IMMiT. A student from the St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation participated in the tournament for the first time.
The students spent a whole month preparing for the tournament stages and fighting for victory at the gaming table. In the end, four teams reached the final. The awards were presented by the chairman of the jury, director of the Higher School of Software Engineering Pavel Drobintsev.
In the team standings, the places were distributed as follows:
1st place — team “Ь” (soft sign) (IPMET); 2nd place — team “Burryashchie Brazgi” (team of IPMET, IMMIT, ISI, GUAP); 3rd place — team “Successors of Peter” (IMMIT).
The team “SOVpadenie” (IPMET) fell just short of victory and took 4th place.
In the individual competition the following were awarded:
1st place — Vlada Chernyaeva, IPMET; 2nd place — Alexander Shevchuk, ISI; 3rd place — Daniil Grevtsev, IMMIT.
The members of the jury and the organizing committee highly appreciated the organization of the tournament, noted the involvement and good level of development of the participants’ cross-professional competencies.
The Soft Skills tournament for students is a great tool for developing cross-professional competencies. During the game, the kids practice communication, learning to clearly express thoughts, formulate precise questions and negotiate with each other. They learn to analyze information, develop strategies and make decisions in conditions of limited resources. Team games improve both leadership qualities and the ability to work in partnership with other team members, because victory often depends on the coherence of actions and the distribution of roles. In addition, games create conditions for understanding one’s strengths and personal growth points. This training format is a safe environment for mistakes, live feedback from the environment and, most importantly, motivation to develop through pleasure. Young specialists get practice in a game form and can then transfer it to work, – noted the head of the Analytics and Diagnostic Tools Development Department of the Assessment and Methodology Department of ANO “Russia – Country of Opportunities” Ekaterina Stepashkina.
I was greatly impressed by the ease with which the participants understood the complex rules and their prompt response to changes that arose during the game. The speed of change in the modern world is only growing, and the ability to quickly accept them is one of the most important “soft skills”. I wish the participants to apply this in real life, which throws up many more surprises than any game, – said Evgeniya Tyupanova, Head of the Labor and Wages Department at Gazprom Gazifikatsiya, who took part in the tournament for the first time as a member of the organizing committee and jury.
Anna Lavrova, head of the personnel selection and assessment group at TGK-1, has been a permanent member of the jury since the tournament was founded. She emphasized that young specialists with the qualities that students demonstrate at the Soft Skills tournament will be in demand in any company, and confirmed that TGK-1 is always happy to welcome students from the Polytechnic University.
Leading specialists of the social development department of Gazprom Pitanie Ilya Khudov and Anna Konevskaya, as well as leading specialist of the personnel department of VNIIG im. B. E. Vedeneyev Alla Larchina noted that gaming technologies helped the children to reveal a whole range of soft skills and allowed them to see their potential.
The modern world requires not only professional knowledge, but also the ability to adapt, think critically and work in a team. The Soft Skills tournament is a mirror that reflects the future. Here, students learn to listen, make decisions in conditions of uncertainty and turn challenges into opportunities. I am amazed by their energy and willingness to grow. The participants did not just compete – they acquired skills that will become their superpower in their careers and lives, – says Ekaterina Toloshinova, chief specialist of Lenhydroproject.
All partners of the Polytechnic University Competence Center expressed their desire to participate in the tournament next year.
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