Abstract

     The aim of the present study was to achieve the requirements of an effective curriculum in higher education from the perspective of a complex and adaptive system with a strategic approach. It was applied in terms of its purpose and qualitative in terms of its implementation method. The research method was descriptive-analytical. To identify the themes, the data exploration method based on Strauss and Corbin (1990), thematic analysis, and to determine the content validity, content analysis was used. The identification of the basic and organizing themes of the first and second levels was addressed by considering the research of education experts and the collection of field and library data and information. Higher education, as the source of transformation and development of science and technology, in an effort to improve its quality and maintain its meaningful survival and sustainable development, is inevitably subject to continuous adaptation and adaptation to existing and emerging conditions, improvement and, if necessary, fundamental transformation. Higher education, as a complex, adaptive system, is inevitably required to provide and guarantee maximum effectiveness in internal, external and institutional dimensions in order to implement its goals and missions. The Mask Yoda software (Maxqda, 2022) has been used to analyze the data in the qualitative section. The results indicate the identification of 3 first-level themes, 10 second-level themes and 15 basic themes. The findings of this study show that the curriculum must adopt a strategic approach to achieve this goal. That is, it must be able to provide a strategic response for maximum adaptation and have a strategic change accordingly in order to achieve strategic success. In this regard, the curriculum as a whole and each of its elements (objectives, content, teaching methods, and evaluation...) must have the flexibility and agility necessary for response, change, and strategic success. On the other hand, the effectiveness of the curriculum in the three dimensions of internal, external, and institutional effectiveness is the criterion for the strategic success of the curriculum in a strategic educational environment such as higher education.

 KeyWords: Higher Education, Curriculum, Effectiveness, Complex Adaptive Systems, Strategic Approach.