ILMIY VA PROFESSIONAL TA’LIM JARAYONIDA MULOQOT, FAN VA MADANIYATLAR
INTEGRATSIYASI
333
Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages
INTEGRATING SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION THROUGH
DIGITALIZATION: FOSTERING DUAL EDUCATION IMPLEMENTATION IN
UZBEKISTAN’S HIGHER EDUCATION
Jimbo H. Claver
Samarkand International University – SIUT Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Abstract.
With the rapid development of technology and the increasing demand for
innovative talents in society, traditional teaching models have proven inadequate in fully
addressing the needs of cultivating high-quality scientific research professionals. Therefore,
education models are constantly evolving. The integration of scientific and professional
education, which combines scientific research with teaching and learning, not only enhances the
quality of education, but also promotes the development of scientific research and technology,
emerging as an important trend in contemporary education. This paper explores the importance of
integrating scientific and professional education with digital competency and analyses strategies
to enhance the quality of teaching in scientific research and education. Ultimately, these efforts
seek to improve students' scientific knowledge, digital literacy and foster their innovation
capabilities for professional education and development as a whole.
Keywords:
Scientific education, professional education, digitalization, integration and
innovation.
Introductions
The digital transformation of higher education in Uzbekistan needs a systemic approach
with multiple components. The digital competency framework established in [1,2,3] provides the
theoretical foundation for understanding and applying emerging technologies in educational
institutions. As mentioned in [2,6,8] “
The digital transformation of higher education necessitates
a systemic approach integrating four fundamental components: a) systematic and contextualized
professional development; b) gradual and sustainable technological implementation; c) ethical
framework for digital integration; and d) adaptive institutional policies.
” Similarly, the
framework proposed in [2, 3,10] articulates four interrelated dimensions: the technical-
instrumental competencies, pedagogical-digital capabilities, transformational management skills,
and ethical-social competencies. The current Uzbek higher education system has yet to
apprehend some competencies to support innovation and development of current educational
system. Furthermore, the authors in [2,6,8] added that: “
The effectiveness in technological
integration depends on institutional capacity to balance innovation and sustainability while
maintaining learning development and the human factor as central axes.”
During the Soviet era, there were some separations between scientific education and
industry; therefore, education process led to higher education mainly at academic teaching and
learning. Today, in order to close this gap and solve the current problems of separation of industry
and education, and the disconnection between science and education faced by Uzbekistan’s
higher education system, innovative approaches need to be developed. This paper analyses the
general path choice of science education, digital competency integration, the deep integration
mode driven by innovation, and its positive impact on improving education quality and
competitiveness and proposes strategies to promote the integration of industry and education
with the integration of science and education, hoping to provide some references for building a
strong educational country. Regarding the integration of scientific and professional education, the
following argument has been highlighted in [9,11,12] “
The mismatch between educational
resources and industrial development has also become a bottleneck affecting the in-depth
development of industry-education integration. Overall, the integration of industry and education
has made positive progress under the vigorous promotion of national policies, but it is still
necessary to face the challenges at the implementation level, actively explore innovative
cooperation mechanisms, and realize the effective docking of educational resources and
ILMIY VA PROFESSIONAL TA’LIM JARAYONIDA MULOQOT, FAN VA MADANIYATLAR
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industrial demand.
”
Scientific Education in Uzbekistan
One of the main demands of modern society today is scientific education, where students
should be equipped with fundamental scientific and digital knowledge. Uzbekistan needs
scientific education that understands the natural world around us, uses scientific processes to
make personal decisions, as well as deals with the scientific and technological aspects of today's
education. Eventually, the new generation of Uzbek scholars needs individuals who contribute to
societal productivity; they should cultivate curiosity, excitement, and positive attitudes toward
science. Consequently, rather than focusing only on imparting scientific knowledge, a science
program should encourage students to participate in science by highlighting the methods used
to create science, structuring scientific concepts, and cultivating a scientific mindset through
inquiry [2, 8]. Accountability is, therefore, established by evaluating the program's quality in
accordance with its overall planned conceptual framework, taking into account its scope and
well- chosen objectives, its implementation practices in accordance with planned activities, and
the degree to which the objectives have been attained [2, 6, 8]. Since every program should
support a society's intellectual and social development, it is also critical for the program to
consider the satisfaction of different stakeholders, education policymakers, experts, and any
other agency dealing with the program outcomes [9,10,11]. Therefore, assessing a research
program is a dynamic process where any data regarding its quality will give ongoing input to
both its conceptual framework and its implementation procedures [7,8,10].
Foundations of Professional Education
Professional education represents a structured method of specialized training within a
professional school, enabling participants to gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills
[1,2,4,9]. While the primary focus is on the content that students are expected to master, this
form of education fosters the development of essential competencies required for effective
practice and professional conduct [4,7,9]. The key objectives of professional education include
the integration of foundational knowledge and values pertinent to a specific discipline;
comprehension of the core concepts, principles, and techniques utilized in practice; achieving a
level of proficiency necessary for responsible entry into the profession; and embracing the
obligation for ongoing professional development [10,12,14]. The ultimate aim is to cultivate
accountable professionals and to support their continuous development by promoting an
understanding of the importance of advancing professional knowledge and enhancing practice
standards. This process emphasizes the application of learning in real-world scenarios and seeks
to prevent the obsolescence of professions and practitioners [13, 14].
Digital Competencies in Uzbek Education
The information and communication technologies have strongly impacted the new global
education, changing how people communicate, work, study, and do business [2,11]. They can
improve education quality and accessibility, but they may also pose numerous challenges in
terms of digital assessment [12]. Digital education, known as the set of knowledge (knowing),
skills (know-how), and attitudes (knowing to be) that are required for the proper acquisition and
development of digital competence, is an indispensable requirement to integrate technology into
the teaching and learning processes for education.
The digital competency in Uzbekistan will become essential for future country’s economic
and social prosperity [3] and, consequently, its early development in education should be
regarded as a necessity [14]. The digital competency in Uzbek educational system is referred to
a set of abilities that are needed in the digital environment [5]. In this respect, it is viewed as a set
of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that is required for the safe, critical, and responsible use of
digital technology in the personal-individual and educational professional environments [3,7,9].
Challenges of Industry-Education Integration in Uzbekistan,
As an important strategy to promote the deep integration of scientific education and
professional education, national policies are key. The authorities should strengthen the
cooperation between industry, universities and research institutes to promote the deep docking
ILMIY VA PROFESSIONAL TA’LIM JARAYONIDA MULOQOT, FAN VA MADANIYATLAR
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between higher education and industry, aiming to cultivate high-skilled talents in line with the
market demand [13]. The Uzbek higher education and enterprises may establish multiple
cooperations, such as industry-academia-research cooperation and jointly manage schools and
enterprises type models [2,4]. These cooperations may involve various levels, such as curriculum,
mutual construction, mutual assignment of teachers, and sharing of internship and training
opportunities. However, the integration of industry and education may also face some challenges
in the process of implementation. These challenges identical to those mentioned in [12,13]:
“
Problems such as imprecise matching of needs and insufficient innovation in the content, the
mode of cooperation are often found in the co-operation between colleges and enterprises. In
addition, the depth and breadth of the integration of industry and education in some regions are
insufficient, and there is the problem of unbalanced geographical development. How to balance
the interests of enterprises with the fairness of education, ensure the independence and
scientificity of education content, and how to ensure the rights and interests of students in
practice have become urgent issues.”
Conclusion
This piece of work examines the digital transformation in Uzbek higher education by
analyzing the convergence scientific and professional education. The study is grounded in a
systematic analysis of institutional experiences and contemporary theoretical frameworks,
highlighting the impact of scientific, educational and technological integration along with digital
competencies in Uzbek educational processes with theoretical and practical contributions from
several fields.
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