The Development of the Thinking Culture of the Students in Pre-Higher and Higher Education in a Digital Education Environment: a Psychodiagnostic Assessment

Abstract

The article explores the development of students’ thinking culture within the context of a digital educational environment in professional pre-higher and higher education. The study provides a theoretical interpretation of the concepts of the digital educational environment and students’ thinking culture and clarifies their structural characteristics. The digital educational environment is viewed as a complex educational system that integrates electronic learning resources, distance learning courses, digital technologies, professional communities, individualized learning, blended learning, and active teaching methods. Students’ thinking culture is conceptualized as a multidimensional structure that includes motivational, cognitive, and social domains, each comprising meaningful, operational, and personal-value components. The study presents the results of a psychodiagnostic assessment of the level of development of students’ thinking culture under conditions of digital learning. The findings demonstrate positive changes primarily in the motivational and cognitive domains, including increased achievement motivation, development of creative thinking, personal and intellectual reflection, and improved abilities for self-regulation and self-management. At the same time, communicative competencies, particularly public speaking skills, showed no significant improvement, which indicates certain limitations of learning exclusively within digital educational environments. The results highlight the potential of digital educational environments for fostering intellectual and personal development while emphasizing the importance of improving pedagogical strategies that support the development of students’ communicative and social competencies.