Modern society is characterized by globalization, scientification and technicalisation of life, which also attracts in its orbit the sphere of higher education. At the same time, scientists note the urgent need for specialists with higher education who have a holistic training – taking into account the multidimensional space of all forms of social competences. Their preparation requires the improvement of didactic interaction and types of learning. Therefore, this study is actual, and the purpose of the article is to deep the knowledge about the optimization of higher education by introducing new approaches to didactic interaction and the corresponding types of learning. Methods of work are analysis, synthesis, observation, methods of typology, complementarity, logical, historical and comparative. The publication uses the works of didactics and specialists in higher school pedagogy: V.A. Kan-Kalik, T. Janek and L.V. Kondrashova, A.I. Kuzminsky, M.M. Fitsula and others, philosophers M. Buber, M.S. Kagan, O.N. Leontiev, S.L. Rubinstein and J. Huizinga. The new scientific results are received: the essence of didactic interaction and types of learning in higher education was determined; an array of five approaches to didactic interaction in the university is defined, which implements the subject-subject participation of teachers and students in the course of learning – personality-oriented, task, dialogic, simulation-game and competence-creative approaches; their content is revealed and it is established which demonstrations of learning is each of the approaches.