Future Studies of Higher Education
M. Hoseini Moghadam; M. Hamidi
Abstract
With the growing complexity of current and future world issues, the interconnectedness and, interdependence of thematic areas has become one of the shared norms and practices today. This also has led to the development of interdisciplinary studies in scientific and technological institutions and has ...
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With the growing complexity of current and future world issues, the interconnectedness and, interdependence of thematic areas has become one of the shared norms and practices today. This also has led to the development of interdisciplinary studies in scientific and technological institutions and has become one of the universal trends of policy-making in science, technology and, innovation domains. Climate change, environmental pollution, the steady increase in longevity and aging of societies, global poverty, international financial crises, global diseases, terrorism, addiction and injustice are some of the topics whose foresight is beyond the power of individual and requires thinking, dialogue and cooperation in different specialized fields. The main question is: Which future scenarios can lead to the development of interdisciplinary studies in Iran’s medical universities? Documentary studies, expert panels and brainstorming are some of the methods applied in this research. The findings include: first, interdisciplinary knowledge is identified in response to complex social issues rooted in the present and the future; second, the development of interdisciplinarity in medical sciences requires a process of simultaneous top-down and bottom-up development; third, building a preferable future for the development of interdisciplinary knowledge in Iran's medical sciences involves attention to the facts that shape the subject at different levels from objective to subjective, and, therefore, a range of short-term to long-term approaches, plans and actions to build objectivity and related mindsets.
Mohammad Vahidi
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to show that, as in other fields of humanities and social studies, there has been a shift from monologue to dialogue in the course of the history of “science, technology, and society” studies. The paper discusses the topic by reconsideration of key paradigms of science ...
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The goal of this paper is to show that, as in other fields of humanities and social studies, there has been a shift from monologue to dialogue in the course of the history of “science, technology, and society” studies. The paper discusses the topic by reconsideration of key paradigms of science and society studies, such as scientific literacy, public understanding of science and technology etc. During this paradigm evolution, it has been gradually accepted that up-down models of Science Communication, which assume public as suffering from knowledge deficit, do not work even to improve the public support of science. The outcome of related debates in the recent half-century, according to the paper, was that science and society should participate in a proper, immediate, and equivalent dialogue. The paper supports this conclusion by review of studies that documented and analyzed the history of studies and initiatives of “science, technology, and society”