Abstract

The move on decentralization of curriculum development in recent decade has become one of the major tasks in developing scientific fields in Iran. By implementing these programs some drawbacks have become evident. The objective of this study was to identify and assess the existing challenges involved in the development of academic disciplines from the faculty members’ views. For this aim, through a descriptive study, a body of 125 faculty members involved in academic disciplines development from state universities of Isfahan, Tehran and Ferdowsi are randomly selected. The study pursued seven research questions using a researcher-made questionnaire. Findings showed that interdisciplinary challenges, structural challenges and management challenges significantly exceeded the moderate level. Moreover, scientific-professional and financial challenges significantly affected the curriculum development of the academic disciplines. Results of MANOVA further showed that there were significant differences between the mean scores of faculty members’ views regarding the structural and management challenges in different universities. In general, results of the study highlighted the challenges which can be considered as important obstacles in the development process of disciplines and society at large. Optimization of this process needs the correctly addressed opinions of the faculty members in this respect.

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