Abstract

Extended Abstract


1- Introduction
Today's societies are increasingly moving towards knowledge-based societies, the role of universities in social issues, especially regional and local issues, becomes more prominent. Universities have transformed from sub-institutions to main institutions for the growth and development of societies, and their role has been defined as the engine of innovation. Influencing the regional economy through social interaction, improving and developing the quality of the workforce of local communities, transferring technology to industry, and increasing the attractiveness of local areas for entrepreneurs are among the long-term goals of universities in today's societies. In fact, in addition to their primary role (promotion of knowledge and expansion of research), universities have made a wider range of activities a top priority in order to establish closer links with the surrounding community. Therefore, today, all over the world, we are witnessing the expansion of educational research institutions with new paradigm models, which are in fact intertwined with the fate of all people in the global community. The core of this destiny is usually determined by universities, which are the engines of science, research and technology. These have created new expectations for academics as theorists, trendsetters, world builders and accelerators of new sciences and programs. Responding to these expectations and challenges requires specific mechanisms and actions from the management of higher education. The fourth generation university is a new generation of universities that are idea generators and complementors of the three previous generations with an emphasis on education, innovation and research, creating innovative spaces, supporting scientists and entrepreneurs and structure-breaking managers with an emphasis on local, indigenous and regional economic development. By studying the course of development of universities, "fourth generation university" can be introduced as an appropriate name for universities of the future. A university that has the characteristics of previous generations in a better way, but pursues higher and more transcendent goals. In fact, fourth generation universities are ethical and value-based universities and are committed to the development of human dignity. The sensitivity of the matter of education and research and attention to educational processes in universities will lead to the improvement of educational and research quality and ultimately the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the country's educational system.
2-Methodology
This study was applied in terms of purpose, qualitative in terms of data collection, and employed thematic analysis as its research design and methodological approach. In the present study, thematic analysis was used to analyze the data, and among the available tools of this method, the thematic network approach was adopted.
Thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analyzing, and reporting patterns and themes embedded within data that are relevant to the research question. It can be applied at multiple levels of analysis. Thematic networks facilitate the extraction and integration of themes through a systematic procedure across three levels: basic themes (codes and key points identified within the text), organizing themes (themes derived from the integration of basic themes), and global themes (overarching themes that capture the principal concepts and underlying assumptions of the text). These themes are subsequently illustrated in the form of a schematic network to demonstrate the relationships among them (Attride-Stirling, 2001, as cited in Asgari & Jahanfar, 2023).
Participants: The statistical field of this study consisted of faculty members of Shahid Sattari Air University of Science and Technology. A total of 15 people were invited to participate from among the professors of Shahid Sattari University. The principle of theoretical saturation was used to complete the sampling.
Sampling Method: Sampling was done purposefully and criteriously. This means that people were invited to participate who had the important and predetermined criteria of the researcher.
Instrument: A semi-structured interview charter was used to collect the data. The interviews were conducted in person, online and by phone. It was ensured that the names of the interviewees or other personal information would not be included on the transcribed texts and the text obtained from their statements, and the principle of confidentiality and privacy of information would be observed in all stages of the research. The duration of the interviews varied between 20 and 30 minutes.
.
3-Findings
The results of the data coding process yielded nine overarching themes. The codes and themes identified regarding the educational requirements of Shahid Sattari University included: revision of academic curricula, technology-driven education (digital transformation), changes in the university's bureaucratic structure, creation of learning communities (promotion of idea generation), and provision of educational infrastructure. Regarding the university’s research requirements, the identified themes included: enhancement of research quality, self-development in research, research support and dissemination, and strengthening of teamwork spirit.
4- Discussion and Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of identifying the educational and research requirements of the fourth generation university and e-learning; A model for today's university and academics. Despite the shared focus on entrepreneurship and technology and the move towards the fourth generation university to improve the quality of education and research, universities have been successful. The environment around universities has become more dynamic than before, and this has led universities to seek appropriate responses to deal with these dynamics. To succeed and even survive in such an environment, it is necessary for universities to move towards flexibility, dynamism and transformation, and to avoid stagnation. For fourth-generation universities as an open social system, attention to the quality of education and research is very important for survival and durability in these complex and changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the quality of education and research is one of the main concerns of fourth-generation universities in most developed countries in the world. Studies show that universities, as organizations that play a fundamental role in the scientific, cultural growth and development and training of specialized human resources, should improve the quality of their educational and research processes in line with scientific and educational developments and in proportion to national and global needs and scales. In fact, the use of different educational and research technologies for better and faster education should be the top priority of the educational and research officials of Shahid Sattari University, so that as many people as possible can benefit from the required education in the shortest possible time. This is a topic that has received less attention from education officials. Perhaps examining the empirical effects of multimedia education will change their attitude. Therefore, the role of information technologies (virtual and augmented reality) in the learning and education cycle is very important.