Problems of course design management in the formation of professional competencies of IT specialists

The authors analyze the relevance of the object of research, which is dictated by the ever-increasing role of competence-based education both at the stage of training at a higher educational institution and in the learning process throughout the professional path of IT specialists. The article is devoted to the specifics of planning and managing the process of creating course projects by future IT specialists during their studies at a higher educational institution. The emphasis in the article is on the aspect that the process of managing the direction of course design is in many ways similar to the process of creating IT products, which undoubtedly needs to be taken into account when determining the difficulties and features of managing the direction of course design of IT specialists. During the research, the main objective and subjective causes of difficulties during the process of creating a course project for students of IT specialties were identified, and ways of leveling them were determined. As a result of the analysis of project management techniques and practices, the critical chain method is identified as an effective tool for managing the planning and implementation of tasks in project activities. The purpose of the study is to study methods and practices in project activities and adapt their features to the practice of developing future IT specialists course projects as mini IT projects with a minimum set of requirements and participants, which can undoubtedly be considered as a mini model of a real IT project. The article analyzes the factors influencing the unfavorable course of execution and completion of course projects, highlights the main artifacts of course design, determines the length of the project buffer by the critical chain method. Based on the results of the study, practical recommendations are given for the effective planning and management of course design of future IT specialists.