The Research Synthesis of Challenges in Curriculum of Higher Education in the Recent Decades and Potential Solutions

The examination of the issues facing higher education showsthat universities are confrontingserious challenges in the third millennium. The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the challenges of the curriculum higher education in the recent decades and the potential strategies and solutions. This study was conducted within a qualitative framework and through research synthesis. The inclusion criteria for this study was relevance with the purpose of researchandthe publication of the research in the recent decades (2004 to 2015) .To provide the required information, the worksheetform was used and Cohen's kappa coefficient was used in orderto ensure the reliability, and open and axial coding methods from Software Nvivo-8 wasemployed for the data analysis phase. The results showed that the curriculum development in higher education system was faced with 13 major challenges in the recent decades, including: internationalizationof thecurriculum, curriculumbased learning community, evaluation of curricula, neglecting ethnic and multicultural policies, quality of teaching, curriculum validation, globalization, curriculum decentralized, growth types of thinking, learning how to learn and teaching-learning strategies challenges content,interdisciplinary curriculum,and using information technology in the curriculum. The potential solutions and strategies to address these challenges are discussed.