Designing a model for improving the quality of the education system in the undergraduate program of Iranian public comprehensive universities

This research was conducted with the aim of "designing a model for improving the quality of the education system in the undergraduate course of comprehensive state universities in Iran". The research method is of an applied type in terms of purpose and its general approach is an exploratory mix (a combination of qualitative and quantitative). The participants in the qualitative part were higher education specialists and experts divided into main fields of study including: engineering sciences, basic sciences, humanities, agriculture and arts, and the statistical population of the quantitative part of the research included vice presidents and education managers of comprehensive state universities in Iran. The research instrument was also a researcher-made interview form and questionnaire, and their validity and reliability have been confirmed.
Based on the findings from the quantitative section, 6 components and 58 subcomponents effective in improving the quality of the education system in the undergraduate course have been identified, which, in order of priority based on the level of impact of the subcomponents, include: 1- Teaching-learning process (18 subcomponents), 2- Management/leadership and support (13 subcomponents), 3- Educational course and curriculum (8 subcomponents), 4- Students (6 subcomponents), 5- Graduation and employability (8 subcomponents), and 6- Faculty (5 subcomponents). Also, the most important subcomponent of each of the aforementioned factors that, from the perspective of the statistical community, has the greatest impact on improving the quality of the undergraduate course is: "Increasing inter-group/faculty and inter-university cooperation at the national and international levels", "Emphasis on behavioral skills and professional ethics of professors alongside professional expertise", "Strengthening the relationship between the university and families", "Defining learning outcomes in curricula", "Requirement and preparation of the field for the use of diverse and up-to-date evaluation methods (with an emphasis on objectivity) and timely feedback of its results to students", and "Using mechanisms to recognize the ability and interest of graduates to continue their studies at higher levels and guide them". Finally, suggestions for policymaking and implementation regarding improving the quality of the undergraduate course in the university system are presented.