Designing an innovative curriculum model in Iran's higher education system: A qualitative study

The purpose of this study was to design an innovative curriculum model in Iran's higher education system by using Grounded theory. The study population consisted of all experts in the field of educational planning in universities and institutes of higher education affiliated with the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Twenty-four of them were selected by purposive sampling method and then by snowball and theoretical sampling methods. The results indicated that innovative curriculum included dimensions of ambiguity, modernity, socialism, transformationalism, complexity, perfectionism, market orientation, value orientation, need orientation, and axial communication. According to the findings, the causal factors influencing the development of innovative curriculum included instructor characteristics, management, university approach, curriculum structure, decentralization, resources and teaching methods, motivational-supportive factors, higher education structural factors, and learner characteristics. Contextual factors influencing the development of an innovative curriculum included university facilities, rules and regulations, socio-cultural factors, working conditions, and economic factors. Intervention factors that influenced the development of innovative curriculum included technology, policy, and macro-management factors. Suggested strategies for developing innovative curricula included constituencies'  feedback, need assessment studies, feasibility and future research, decentralization in higher education, action research studies, providing funding and conditions, conducting courses and workshops, establishment accreditation centers,  the identification and support of creative and thinker individuals, the formation of formal and informal structures and networks, developing a  university ranking system based on the innovation index, and paying attention on to pivotal learning and knowledge management approach. The findings showed that the most important consequences of implementing an innovative curriculum are achieving the core vision, missions, and goals of higher education, empowering learners, developing entrepreneurship and sustainable employment, enhancing the university's relationship with the labor market and industry, improving community well-being, and achieving a comprehensive sustainable development.