Mahmoud Mehrmohammadi
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to offer explanations with respect to some of the less evident aspects of this policy intent. The higher education systems, it is argued, are experiencing a challenging period where the felt need in this regard does not match the level of wisdom and the extent of insight required. ...
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The goal of this paper is to offer explanations with respect to some of the less evident aspects of this policy intent. The higher education systems, it is argued, are experiencing a challenging period where the felt need in this regard does not match the level of wisdom and the extent of insight required. The paper proceeds with a review of the literature in the curriculum field which aims at providing better understanding of different genres of curriculum integration concluding that this source although vital for policy makers at the higher education, will need to be further developed in order to match the complexities peculiar to higher education. The author, then, addresses the rationale for curriculum integration at higher education which he regards as manipulation of the current knowledge and technology map to address the emergent needs. This, he contends, requires concentration on a knowledge production system to meet the standard of a new knowledge domain. Without due attention to this prerequisite, the resulting product can not be regarded as a genuine interdisciplinary science and it will rather be looked upon as a mere addition or juxtaposition of two or mote extant knowledge fields. In the final section of the paper, five policy options are discussed.
Hedayat-Ollah Etemadizadeh; Ahmadreza Nasr; Mohamadjavad Liaghatdar
Abstract
Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary education and interdisciplinary curricula are increasingly used in Higher Education field. These terms are used with or interchangeably with similar terms such as multi-disciplinarity, pluridisciplinarity crossdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Although interdisciplinary ...
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Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary education and interdisciplinary curricula are increasingly used in Higher Education field. These terms are used with or interchangeably with similar terms such as multi-disciplinarity, pluridisciplinarity crossdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. Although interdisciplinary approach to curriculum lost its significance in last decades and disciplinary approached was focused for about two decades, but the ideas of interdisciplinary and integrated curricula are not new ones and are rooted in the thoughts of the previous scholars who were famous for their concerns about unity of knowledge, forming coherence, general and all-inclusive knowledge. In this paper while offering theoric and historical views on interdaisciplinarity, interdisciplinary approach to curriculum, academic disciplines, a variety of possible combinations of disciplines across curricula, a sociological criticism about disciplinary curriculum, a biological explanation for interdisciplinary curriculum, models, strategies, advantages, and pitfalls of interdisciplinary curriculum are discussed.
Kourosh Fathi Vajargah; Talat Diba
Abstract
The “Virtual Global University (VGU)” is a new academic concept in literature of higher education. Basically Virtual Global University has been formed and developed to meet needs and challenges of word community in different ways. Having considered as a new scenario or even a substitution ...
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The “Virtual Global University (VGU)” is a new academic concept in literature of higher education. Basically Virtual Global University has been formed and developed to meet needs and challenges of word community in different ways. Having considered as a new scenario or even a substitution of traditional university, it is based on the following components: 1. International approach Virtual Global University is internationally aligned, while simultaneously responsive to the particular context of local and national higher education policy. 2. Technological approach Virtual Global University is technological solution for internationalization of higher education It is online education using ICT and networking and access to world higher education markets is its main goal. 3. Interdisciplinary approach. Through studying the interdisciplinary curricula, Virtual Global University graduates are expected to have the capacity to confront unfamiliar problems and to emerge from their university experience with a set of flexible and transferable skills for different types of employment in world community. In this paper with respect to the above-mentioned approaches, Virtual Global University strategy for Iranian higher education society has been discussed.
Hamid Reza Arasteh
Abstract
Interdisciplinaries in Higher Education Social problems which threaten future life of human beings and capacities of modern technologies in challenging those problems have increased the need to launch interdisciplinary course. During the past 40 years, such courses have been very useful for ...
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Interdisciplinaries in Higher Education Social problems which threaten future life of human beings and capacities of modern technologies in challenging those problems have increased the need to launch interdisciplinary course. During the past 40 years, such courses have been very useful for human societies and researchers have come up with new methods to combine scientific interest with large-scale skills. Therefore, faculty members and students have been attracted to such courses. This paper will study conceptual nature of interdisciplinary courses and explains some relevant experiences as well as their fortes and weaknesses. In conclusion, proposals will be offered for launching interdisciplinary course.
Ali Eftekhari
Abstract
According to the speedy progress of science and technology during the past years, different branches of science are more dispersed. As a result, there are fewer connections between them in the whole structure of science. On the other hand, solving complicated problems in the realms of science and technology ...
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According to the speedy progress of science and technology during the past years, different branches of science are more dispersed. As a result, there are fewer connections between them in the whole structure of science. On the other hand, solving complicated problems in the realms of science and technology needs more comprehensive perspectives. During the past years, considerable attentions have been paid to interdisciplinary studies, and according to the corresponding needs, it has also been extended to interdisciplinary education. However, it is not an easy task to apply the concept of interdisciplinary education. However, it is not an easy task to apply the concept of interdisciplinarity to various disciplines having different systems. This uncommon situation has made it subject of controversial debates. In other words, contrary to common belief that interdisciplinarity is merely based on the process of mixing different disciplines, it is a complicated issue needing special considerations. The first step is to know different aspects of interdisciplinarity and then analyzing the subject under consideration. In the present paper, the basic concepts of interdisciplinary are described by introducing its common terminology. Furthermore, some essential requirements for performing interdisciplinary programs (in higher education level) are discussed based on solid arguments and known facts. To this aim, the most commonly accepted standpoints about interdisciplinary education are used.
Kiyanoush Mohammadi Rouzbehani
Abstract
Different developments including technological growth and increased human problems made interdisciplinary cooperation inevitable. On the other hand, traditional attitude to academic fields and specialization has prevented higher education from creating necessary capacities to confront those development ...
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Different developments including technological growth and increased human problems made interdisciplinary cooperation inevitable. On the other hand, traditional attitude to academic fields and specialization has prevented higher education from creating necessary capacities to confront those development and face new challenges. Therefore, one of the necessities of higher education is to foster interdisciplinary skills in both educational and research fields. This paper reviews concepts of educational courses and interdisciplinary in higher education with emphasis on the need to foster interdisciplinary thinking as prerequisite of all kinds of interdisciplinary activities. Then “issue-based learning’ has been described because this new educational method enjoys many capacities to promote interdisciplinary skills. In conclusion, a special model of issue-based learning called “interdisciplinary problem solving model” has been briefly explained as an applied model for educational courses.
Mohammad Hassan Mirza-Mohammadi; Ali Sohbatlou
Abstract
Curriculum has been a matter of interest to analytical philosophers; Hurst maintains that teaching is by nature an activity which may assume many forms. Analytical philosophers believe that educational and curriculum planning is done in a wrong way and the only logical reason for many educational programs ...
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Curriculum has been a matter of interest to analytical philosophers; Hurst maintains that teaching is by nature an activity which may assume many forms. Analytical philosophers believe that educational and curriculum planning is done in a wrong way and the only logical reason for many educational programs is their cultural orientation. Presumptions about knowledge, forms of knowledge and internal relations among them should be taken into consideration. Analytical philosophers maintain that more attention should be paid to philosophical aspects and people should be encouraged to work more in this regard. This issue has been discussed in educational philosophy of London school of thought and by great philosophers of that school, especially Hurst, by delineating “forms of knowledge” theory. Hurst has classified forms of knowledge and while rejecting unity of knowledge, has paid attention to its very forms. He believes that human knowledge has forms which are logical distinct from one another, He mentions mathematics, Physics, human sciences, history, religious sciences, literature, fine arts, and philosophy as seven forms of knowledge. The present paper aims to review philosophical fundaments of interdisciplinary curricula in higher education of forms of knowledge” as seen by analytical philosophers through documentary analytical methods.
Mohammad Reza Nili Ahmadabadi
Abstract
Despite its quantitative growth, higher education system is unable to solve social problems. The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology has taken many decisions to review curricula, but they have not been useful and we still teach educational courses in the traditional way. Identifying reasons ...
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Despite its quantitative growth, higher education system is unable to solve social problems. The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology has taken many decisions to review curricula, but they have not been useful and we still teach educational courses in the traditional way. Identifying reasons behind failure of plans, trying to reach a common understanding of interdisciplinary subjects, correcting understanding of educational courses and preparing teachers and professors to look at specialized courses in a systematic way while avoiding of concentration on a single specialty, are inevitable solutions for social problems. In this study, theoretical basis of interdisciplinary knowledge has been examined by emphasis on educational sciences and its various aspects as seen by educational experts.
