The problem of formation of professional readiness of students remains relevant for the higher education system. The cognitive component, as one of the components of professional readiness, is characterized by the amount of knowledge (breadth, depth, consistency), the style of thinking, the formation of skills and abilities necessary for a future specialist. The article is devoted to the use of concept maps as an effective method of forming professional knowledge in higher education. The article examines the sequence of introduction of concept maps into the learning process, formulates requirements for the development of concept maps, describes the results of systematic use of concept maps in the formation of the cognitive component of professional readiness of students, the features of using the method in group work, the evaluation system of concept maps developed by students.

The article discusses the formation of professional and legal culture of cadets of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in conjunction with its structural components. Among the structural components of the formation of professional and legal culture of cadets, the following stand out: motivational, cognitive, activity and reflexive.

The research of cognitive and metacognitive components of professional thinking of the students (n = 109) of the “man – man” type of jobs, as compared to value orientations, is presented in the article. Cognitive and metacognitive peculiarities are differently directed and have multiple meaning associations with the system of values. The potential of cognitive component of professional thinking is presented by various predominant qualities, while the potential of metacognitive component is characterized by different levels of development of metacognition.