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.
Future Studies of Higher Education
F. Rajabian Gharib; S. Mohammadzadeh; M.S. harif Sharifzadeh
Abstract
In the future, the issue of university social responsibility (USR) will be expanded to a variety of domains of local, national and international communities. Since the social responsibility of higher education in the future transformation process requires a futuristic approach, the current study aims ...
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In the future, the issue of university social responsibility (USR) will be expanded to a variety of domains of local, national and international communities. Since the social responsibility of higher education in the future transformation process requires a futuristic approach, the current study aims to focus on the same in higher agricultural education. Three main steps were taken in the course of this study. First, based on the focus group approach, drivers of university social responsibility in higher agricultural education were identified. Then, using the interactive analysis method as well as MicMac software, five key drivers were selected from among the 14 identified divers. Key factors were defined with expert opinions based on the idea of scenario writing on 21 possible and probable situations in the future of university social responsibility. And then by forming 21x21 matrix and applying expert knowledge in assessing the impact of each situation on the occurrence or non-occurrence of other situation, 2 contrasting scenarios (Phoenix and Peacock) as strong ones and 104 scenarios with low and weak probably occurrences were extracted using ScenarioWizard 4.31 software. The phoenix scenario represents the realization of university social responsibility for sustainable local and regional development whereas the peacock scenario stresses that the university as a separate entity lacks social responsibility. In other words, these scenarios indicate the futuristic vision of the university’s social responsibility.
