Integrating scientific and professional education through digitalization: fostering dual education implementation in Uzbekistan’s higher education

Аннотация

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, emergingasanimportanttrendincontemporaryeducation.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 forprofessional 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 maintaininglearning development andthehuman 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,inordertoclosethisgapandsolvethecurrentproblemsofseparation 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 ofindustry-educationintegration.Overall, theintegrationofindustryandeducation 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 Samarkand State Institute of Foreign Languages 333 ILMIYVAPROFESSIONALTA’LIMJARAYONIDAMULOQOT,FANVAMADANIYATLAR INTEGRATSIYASI industrialdemand.” ScientificEducation inUzbekistan 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, t