topic 2b steps in curriculum design

Lecturer: Yee Bee ChooIPGKTHO

Topic 2b

Steps in Curriculum Design

TSL 3143

Steps in Curriculum Design

1.•Planning

2. •Implementing

3. •Evaluating

1. Planning

Components of Curriculum Desingn in Planning• Objectives• Content• Learning experiences• Evaluation

1. Planning1. ObjectivesAims: Elementary, Secondary, and TertiaryGoals: School Vision and MissionObjectives: educational objectivesDomains:1. Cognitive – knowledge, comprehension, application,

analysis, synthesis, evaluation2. Affective – receiving, responding, valuing, organisation,

characterization3. Psychomotor – perception, set, guided response,

mechanism, complex overt response, adaptation, origination

1. Planning2. Content• Information to be learned in school, another term for

knowledge ( a compendium of facts, concepts, generalization, principles, theories.

1. Subject-centered view of curriculum: The Fund of human knowledge represents the repository of accumulated discoveries and inventions of man down the centuries, due to man’s exploration of his world

2. Learner-centered view of curriculum: Relates knowledge to the individual’s personal and social world and how he or she defines reality.Gerome Bruner: “Knowledge is a model we construct to give meaning and structure to regularities in experience”

1. Planning2. ContentCriteria used in selection of subject matter for the curriculum:1. self-sufficiency – “less teaching effort and educational

resources, less learner’s effort but more results and effective learning outcomes – most economical manner (Scheffler, 1970)

2. significance – contribute to basic ideas to achieve overall aim of curriculum, develop learning skills

3. validity – meaningful to the learner based on maturity, prior experience, educational and social value

4. utility – usefulness of the content either for the present or the future

5. learnability – within the range of the experience of the learners6. feasibility – can be learned within the tile allowed, resources

available, expertise of the teacher, nature of learner

1. Planning2. ContentPrinciples to follow in organising the learning contents (Palma, 1992)1. BALANCE . Content curriculum should be fairly distributed in depth and

breath of the particular learning are or discipline. This will ensure that the level or area will not be overcrowded or less crowded.

2. ARTICULATION. Each level of subject matter should be smoothly connected to the next, glaring gaps or wasteful overlaps in the subject matter will be avoided.

3. SEQUENCE. This is the logical arrangement of the subject matter. It refers to the deepening and broadening of content as it is taken up in the higher levels.

4. The horizontal connections are needed in subject areas that are similar so that learning will be elated to one another. This is INTEGRATION.

5. Learning requires a continuing application of the new knowledge, skills, attitudes or values so that these will be used in daily living. The constant repetition, review and reinforcement of learning is what is referred to as CONTINUITY.

1. Planning3. Learning Experiences• Instructional strategies and methods will link to curriculum

experiences, the core and heart of the curriculum. • The instructional strategies and methods will put into action

the goals and use of the content in order to produce an outcome.

• Teaching strategies convert the written curriculum to instruction. Among these are time-tested methods, inquiry approaches, constructivist and other emerging strategies that complement new theories in teaching and learning. Educational activities like field trips, conducting experiments, interacting with computer programs and other experiential learning will also form par of the repertoire of teaching.

1. Planning3. Learning Experiences• Whatever methods the teacher utilizes to implement the

curriculum, there will be some guide for the selection and use, Here are some of them:

1. teaching methods are means to achieve the end2. there is no single best teaching method3. teaching methods should stimulate the learner’s desire to

develop the cognitive, affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the individual

4. in the choice of teaching methods, learning styles of the students should be considered

5. every method should lead to the development of the learning outcome in three domains

6. flexibility should be a consideration in the use of teaching methods

1. Planning

4. Evaluation• To be effective, all curricula must have an element of

evaluation. • Curriculum evaluation refer to the formal

determination of the quality, effectiveness or value of the program, process, and product of the curriculum.

• Several methods of evaluation came up. The most widely used is Stufflebeam's CIPP Model.

• The process in CIPP model is continuous and very important to curriculum managers.

1. Planning

4. EvaluationCIPP Model – • Context (environment of curriculum), • Input (ingredients of curriculum), • Process (ways and means of implementing), • Product accomplishment of goals)- process is

continuous.

1. Planning4. Evaluation• Regardless of the methods and materials evaluation will utilise, a suggested plan

of action for the process of curriculum evaluation is introduced. These are the steps:

1. Focus on one particular component of the curriculum. Will it be subject area, the grade level, the course, or the degree program? Specify objectives of evaluation.

2. Collect or gather the information. Information is made up of data needed regarding the object of evaluation.

3. Organise the information. This step will require coding, organizing, storing and retrieving data for interpretation.

4. Analyze information. An appropriate way of analyzing will be utilized.5. Report the information. The report of evaluation should be reported to specific

audiences. It can be done formally in conferences with stakeholders, or informally through round table discussion and conversations.

6. Recycle the information for continuous feedback, modifications and adjustments to be made.

1. Planning

Representative Curriculum Designs1. Subject-centered Design2. Learner-centered Design3. Problem-centered Design

1. Planning

1. Subject-centered design• Most popular and widely used.• Heavily draws on Plato’s academic idea.• Schools have a strong history of academic

rationalism• The materials available for school use reflect

content organisation.

1. Planning

2. Learner-centered design• Found more frequently at the elementary than

the secondary school level.• In elementary schools, teachers tend to stress

the whole child.• In secondary schools, the emphasis is more on

subject-centered designs, largely because of the influence of textbooks, and the colleges and universities at which the discipline is a major organiser for the curriculum.

1. Planning

3. Problem-centered design• Focus on real-life problems of individuals and

society.• Intended to reinforce cultural transitions and

address unmet needs of the community and society.

• It is based on social issues.

2. Implementing

• Entails putting into practice the officially prescribed courses of study, syllabuses and subjects.

• Involves helping the learner acquire knowledge or experience.

• It is also the stage when the curriculum itself, as an educational program, is put into effect.

2. Implementing

• The teacher is the key agent in the curriculum implementation process.

• Implementation requires adjusting personal habits, ways of behaving, program emphases, learning spaces, and existing curricula and schedules.

• To implement a curriculum change, educators must get people to change some of their habits and possibly, views.

2. Implementing

Types of Curriculum Change1. Substitution: one element may be substituted for

another already present. E.g. the substituting of the new textbook for an old one.

2. Alteration: This occurs when a change is introduced into existing material in the hope it will appear minor and thus be readily adopted. E.g. introducing new content such as road safety in the primary school curriculum.

3. Perturbations: These are changes that are disruptive but teachers adjust to them within a short period of time. E.g. the assistant principal changes the timetable to allow for longer teaching time.

2. Implementing

Types of Curriculum Change4. Restructuring: These are changes that lead to

modification of the whole school system. E.g. the introduction of an integrated curriculum requires team teaching, or involving the local community in deciding what is to be taught.

5. Value-orientation changes: These are the shifts in the fundamental value orientations of school personnel. E.g. if the new teachers who join the school place more emphasis on personal growth of students than academic performance, then the value orientation of fundamental philosophies of the school changes.

(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014, p.226)

2. ImplementingResistance to Curriculum Change1. Lack of ownership2. Lack of benefits3. Increased burdens4. Lack of administrative support5. Loneliness6. Insecurity7. Norm incongruence8. Boredom9. Chaos10. Differential knowledge11. Sudden wholesale change12. Unique points of resistance

2. Implementing

Curriculum Implementation Models1. Overcoming resistance to change (ORC)2. Organisational development (OD)3. Concerns-based adoption (CBA)4. System model5. Educational change

2. Implementing

Overview of Curriculum Implementation ModelsModel Author-

OriginatorAssumptions Key players Types of Change

Process Engged1. Overcoming resistance to change (ORC)

Neal Gross •Resistance to change is natural.•Need to overcome resistance at outset of innovation activities.•Must address concerns of staff.

Administrators, directors, teachers, supervisors

Empirical change strategyPlanned change strategy

2. Organisational development (OD)

Richard Schmuck and Matthew Miles

Top-down approach (vertical organisation).Stress on organisational culture.Implementation is an ongoing interactive process.

Administrators, directors, supervisors

Empirical, rational change strategyPlanned change strategy

2. Implementing



Process Engged3. concern-based Adoption (CBA)

F.F. Fuller •Change is personal.•Stress on school culture.

Teachers Empirical change strategyPlanned change strategy

4. Systems Model

Rensis Likert and Chris Argyns

•The organisation is composed of parts, units and departments.•Linkages between people and groups.•Implementations consist of corrective actions.

Administrators, directors, teachers, supervisors

Normative, rational change strategiesPlanned change strategy

2. Implementing



Process Engged5. Educational Change

Michael Fullan

•Successful change involves need, clarity, some complexity, and quality of programs

Administrators, teachers, students, school board, community members, and government

Rational change strategies.

(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014, p.236)

2. Implementing

Key Players

Students

Teachers

Supervisors

Principals Curriculum Directors

Curriculum Consultants

Parents and Community Members

3. Evaluating

Why we should evaluate curriculum?• Students could be dissatisfied with the current

curriculum and methods of teaching.• Students are not achieving the desired goals set

in the curriculum.• There is a change in the student market.• The professional expectations could be changing,

which in turn call for a change in the curriculum.• There could also be changes in the time and staff

resources.

3. Evaluating

• The need to evaluate curriculum arises because it is necessary for both teachers and students to determine the extent to which their current curricular program and its implementation have produced positive and suitable outcomes for students.

• To evaluate curricular effectiveness we must identify and describe the curriculum and its objectives first and then check its contents for accuracy, comprehensiveness, depth, timeliness, depth and quality.

3. Evaluating

• A curriculum can be evaluated by the results that it claims to achieve and the teachings that it inculcates in the students.

• You can look at the following factors while evaluating a curriculum:– Does the curriculum encourage students to use their own

reasoning and thinking to find solutions to real-world problems in a more productive and realistic way?

– Does it give them a practical knowledge about the topic being taught?

– Does it help students to adopt lateral thinking and form their opinions about a particular topic or concept?

– Does the curriculum groom their personality?

3. Evaluating

In order to conduct a thorough curriculum evaluation you must:

• Focus on one particular curriculum program or compare two or three programs at once.

• Use a recognised methodology for evaluation.• Study a large portion of the curriculum that is

being evaluated.

Tutorial 2b

Group work• Read the following chapters from Ornstein and

Hunkins (2014):– Chapter 6 Curriculum Design (pg 151 – 175)– Chapter 8 Curriculum Implementation (pg 221 – 240)– Chapter 9 Curriculum Evaluation (pg 243 – 275)

• Based on your readings, find the answers for the focusing questions in the beginning of the chapter. Present your answers in class.

• Discuss which curriculum design is most common place in Malaysian schools (for Chapter 6 only)?

References

Ornstein, A.C. & Hunkins, F.P. (2014). Curriculum: Foundations, principles and issues. (6th. ed). Essex: Pearson Edu. Ltd.