Designing and validating a curriculum model for Higher Education System in Iran

The purpose of present study was to design and validate a curriculum model for higher education system in Iran. This study was conducted by using a mixed exploratory design: Instrument Development Model. First, in qualitative part of this study,   a questionnaire consisted of 14 components and 107 sub-components was developed by using Grounded Theory approach and interviews with 25 experts. Then, in the quantitative part, the primary designed questionnaire was distributed among 40 Iranian higher education experts. Based on the received feedback, the questionnaire was revised. Then the final version was distributed country wide among 180 individuals. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and its reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha (α= .943). A Non-probability purposive sampling method was used in the qualitative part of the study whereas random classified sampling method was utilized in the quantitative part. In addition, analysis of Structural Equation Modeling was used for testing mentioned model. To verify the factor structure, the first confirmatory factor analysis was used and the model was confirmed with 14 components and 107 sub-components. Results of second-order confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 14 extracted components are sufficient factor leading to predict the curriculum model for higher education system in Iran. In addition, goodness of the fit indices were as follows: (CMIN/DF = 1.991), (RMSEA = 0.049), (GFI=0.990), (AGFI = 0.990), (CFI = 0.988), (NNFI = 0.964), (TLI) = 0.991, (IFI = 0.931) and (RFI = 0.948. ( The results of statistical tests displayed that the designed model for the higher education curriculum system in Iran is well fitted.