Designing a Higher Education Curriculum Framework Based on Connectivism Approach

Abstract

IntroductionWith advances in technology, especially information and communication technology, universities have become more involved with their environment. Therefore, it is necessary to look at higher education with a challenge-based approach. The ways in which graduates are employed, demographic change trend, government systems and political insights, the brain drain phenomenon, and so on are some of the challenges that the contemporary higher education system has to struggle with. Development has been defined as "a process that results from the interaction of new thoughts, new ideas, and new ideals with old structures and institutions, leading to the modernization of structures and institutions". According to this definition, the driving force behind the development of new knowledge is new ideas thoughts. Therefore, universities play an important role in developing societies. On the other hand, human beings are both the target and the agent of development, meaning that development must lead to the improvement of the quality of human life. But what can enhance human ability to achieve development? It is nothing but education, especially higher education, as it leads to the training of specialized human resources needed to manage the society institutions as well as to achieve development (Shahamat, 2015).Abstract: The purpose of this study was to design a higher education curriculum framework based on Connectivism approach. This is a qualitative research in terms of design, and a descriptive-analytical one in terms of methodology. The statistical population consisted of all digital documents, articles, and books related to Connectivism Theory from 2005 to 2017, out of which 120 valid sources were identified and ranked based on the degree of relevance to the research topic. Code extraction began from the most relevant sources and continued until the theoretical data saturation which was obtained after reviewing 30 articles. To validate the proposed curriculum framework, the viewpoints of 5 experts who were selected through Purposeful Sampling were sued in classic Delphi method. To this end, the experts reviewed and modified the proposed framework and eliminated its flaws and ambiguities in three phases and finally, the desired framework was developed. After reviewing the documents related to the Connectivism approach through a descriptive-analytical method, the curriculum was discovered based on this approach and then it was developed within the Nine Elements of Klein`s Curriculum (1992)

In transition: Supporting competency attainment in Black and Latinx students

“…Connectivism recognizes that knowledge is dynamic and contextspecific and that learning occurs at different neurological, conceptual, and social levels (Jahani Yalmeh et al, 2020). While traditional curriculum and learning frameworks may undervalue the diverse forms of social capital and adaptive strategies embodied in Black and Latinx culture, a Connectivist framework recognizes the importance of this knowledge and allows educators to incorporate it.…”