Students’ professional identity development through a sense-making activity

The authors of the paper have identified key challenges that make the process of students’ professional identity development difficult in modern society. The research is based on the study of needs of society, regulatory framework, as well as the authors’ own teaching experience. The authors found controversies that led to the scientific problem of students’ professional identity development through a sense-making activity. The paper contains an extensive theoretical basis that helps to identify the essence of students’ sense-making activity as a psychological and pedagogical problem. The authors analyze recent researches related to students’ semantic education development. They develop and illustrate the structure of students’ sense-making activity, which includes the following substantial components: identity, cognitive, motivational-semantic and value-regulatory components. The components of the developed structure perform determination and regulation functions of professional activities, development, self-development and self-identity as the basis for students’ professional identity development. The paper contains criteria for sense-making activity structure assessment: passion, professional activities; breadth of interests; professional identity; self-conscious and finding the meanings of professional activity in the system of life goals, plans and programs. The authors formulate pedagogical conditions promoting effective professional identity development of university students through a sense-making activity.