LESSON 1.

CONCEPTS, NATURE AND PURPOSES OF CURRICULUM

Introduction

The concept of curriculum is as dynamic as the changes that occur in society.

In the Philippines, recommendations of several educational initiatives like the

Philippine Commission to Survey Philippine Education (PCSPE), Survey of the
Outcomes of Elementary Education ( SOUTELE), and the Philippine Commission for
Educational Reforms(PCER) focused on curricular renewal or reforms. The recently
formulated National Competency-Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) became the
anchor of reforms in education from the basic to higher education. These are the
fundamental questions that will be addressed in this lesson.

What is curriculum?

What is its purpose?

What is its nature?

Curriculum from Different Points of View

There are many definitions of curriculum. Because of this, the concept of

curriculum is sometimes characterized as fragmentary, elusive and confusing. The
definitions are influenced by modes of thoughts, pedagogies, political as well as
cultural experiences

1. Traditional Points of View of Curriculum

In the early years of 20th century, the traditional concepts held of the curriculum
is that it is a body of subjects or subject matter prepared by the teachers for the
students to learn. It was synonymous to the course of study and syllabus

Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as permanent studies where the rule of

grammar, reading, rhetoric and logic and mathematics for basic education are
emphasized.

Basic Education should emphasize the 3 Rs and college education should be

grounded on liberal education. On the other hand, Arthur Bestor as an essentialist,
believe that the mission of the school should be intellectual training, hence curriculum
should focus on the fundamental intellectual disciplines of grammar, literature and
writing. It should also include mathematics, science, history and foreign language.
2. Progressive Points of View of Curriculum

On the other hand, to a progressivist, a listing of school, subjects, syllabi, course

of study, and list of courses or specific discipline do not make a curriculum. These can
only be called curriculum if the written materials are actualized by the learner. Broadly
speaking, curriculum is defined as the total learning experiences of the individual.

This definition is anchored on John Deweys definition of experience and

education. He believed that reflective thinking is a means that unifies curricular
elements. Thought is not derived from action but tested by application.

Caswell and Campbell viewed curriculum as all experiences children have under
the guidance of teachers. This definition is shared by Smith, Stanley and Shores when
they defined curriculum as a sequence of potential experiences set up in the schools
for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting

Marsh and Willis on the other hand view curriculum as all the experiences in the
classroom which are planned and enacted by the teacher, and also learned by the
students.

Points of View on Curriculum Development

From the various definitions and concepts presented, it is clear that curriculum is
a dynamic process. Development connotes changes which are systematic. A change for
the better means any alteration, modification or improvement of existing condition. To
produce positive changes, development should be purposeful, planned and progressive.
This is how curriculum evolves.

Ralph Tyler Model: Four Basic Principles.

1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?

2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?

3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?

4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained or not?

In summary, Tylers Model shows that in curriculum development, the following

consideration should be made:

Purposes of the school

Educational experiences related to the purposes
 Organization of the experiences, and
Evaluation of the experiences
On the other hand, Hilda Taba improved on Tylers Rationale by making a linear
model. She believed that teachers who teach or implement the curriculum should
participate in developing it. Her advocacy was commonly called the grassroots
approach. She presented seven major steps to her model where teachers could have a
major input.

These steps are as follows:

Diagnosis of learners needs and expectations of the larger society

Formulation of learning objectives
Selection of learning content
Organization of Learning content
Selection of learning experiences
Organization of learning activities
Determination of what to evaluate and the means of doing it.

Seven Types of Curriculum

Allan Glatthorn (2000) describes seven types of curriculum operating in the

schools.

(1) Recommended curriculum

(2) Written curriculum
(3) Taught curriculum
(4) Supported curriculum
(5) Assessed curriculum
(6) Learned curriculum
(7) Hidden curriculum

1. Recommended curriculum

Most of the school curricula are recommended. The curriculum may come from a
national agency like the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), Department of Science and Technology (DOST) or any professional
organization who has stake in education. For example the Philippine Association for
Teacher Education (PAFTE) or the Biology Teacher Association (BIOTA) may
recommend a curriculum to be implemented in the elementary or secondary education.

2. Written Curriculum

This includes documents, course of study or syllabi handed down to the schools,
districts, division, departments or colleges for implementations. Most of the written
curricula are made by curriculum experts with participation of teachers. These were
pilot-testes or tried out in sample schools or population. Example of this is the basic
Education Curriculum (BEC). Another example is the written lesson plan of each
classroom teacher made up of objectives ad planned activities of the teacher.

3. Taught curriculum

The different planned activities which are put into action in the classroom
compose of the taught curriculum. These are varied activities that are implemented in
order to arrive at the objectives or purposes of the written curriculum. These are used
by the learners with the guidance of teachers. Taught curriculum varies according to the
learning styles of students and the teaching styles of teachers.

4. Supported Curriculum

In order to have a successful teaching, other than the teacher, there must be
materials which should support or help in the implementation of a written curriculum.
These refer to the support curriculum that includes material resources such as
textbooks, computers, audio-visual materials, laboratory equipment, playgrounds, zoos
and other facilities. Support curriculum should enable each learner to achieve real and
lifelong learning.

5. Assessed Curriculum

This refers to a tested or evaluated curriculum. At the duration and end of the
teaching episodes, series of evaluations are being done by the teachers to determine
the extent of teaching or to tell if the students are progressing. This refers to the
assessed curriculum. Assessment tools like pencil-and-paper tests; authentic
instruments like portfolio are being utilized.

6. Learned curriculum

This refers to the learning outcomes achieved by the students. Learning

outcomes are indicated by the results of the tests, and changes in behavior which can
either be cognitive, affective or psychomotor

7. Hidden curriculum

This is the unintended curriculum which is not deliberately planned but may
modify behavior or influence learning outcomes. These are lots of hidden curricula that
transpire in the schools. Peer influence, school environment, physical condition,
teacher-learner interaction, mood of the teachers and may other factors make-up the
hidden curriculum.
LESSON II. MAJOR FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

Let us now look into the major foundations of a curriculum. Debates continue on
what curriculum is and its basic foundations. The commonly accepted foundations
include philosophical, historical, psychological and social. Let us examine briefly how
each knowledge area provides the foundation to curriculum.

A. Philosophical Foundation of Curriculum

Philosophy provides educators, teachers and curriculum makers with framework

for planning, implementing and evaluating curriculum in schools. It helps in answering
what schools are for, what subjects are important, how students should learn and what
materials and methods should be used. In decision making, philosophy provides the
starting point and will because for the succeeding decision making.

The philosophy of a curriculum planner, implementor or evaluator reflects his or

her experiences, common beliefs, social and economic background and education. For
example, John Dewey (1916) looks at education as a way of life a laboratory in which
philosophy becomes concrete and is tested.

On the other hand, Ralph Tylers framework shows that philosophy is one of the
five criteria in selecting educational purposes. This is shown in Figure 1.

Suggestions from

Subject

Studies of Studies of
Contemporary
Learners
Life

School
Purposes

Use of Use of Psychology of

Philosophy Learning
A. Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

1. Educational Philosophy- Perennialism

Aim of Education- To educate the rational person; to cultivate the intellect.

Role of Education-Teachers help students think with reason.

Based on the Socratic methods of oral exposition or recitation.

Explicit or deliberate teaching of traditional values.

Focus in the Curriculum-Classical subjects, literary analysis and curriculum is

constant.

Curriculum Trends- Use of great books and return to liberal arts.

2. Educational Philosophy-Essentialism

Aim of Education- To promote the intellectual growth of the individual and

educate a competent person.

Role of Education- The teacher is the sole authority in his or her subject area or
field of specialization.

Focus in the Curriculum- Essential skills of the 3 Rs and essential subjects of

English, Science, History, Math and Foreign Language

Curriculum Trends- Excellence in education, back to basics and cultural life

3. Educational Philosophy- Reconstructionism

Aim of Education- To improve and reconstruct society Education for change

Role of Education- Teachers act as agents of change and reform in various

educational projects including research.

Focus in the Curriculum- Focus on present and future trends and issues of
national and international interests.

Curriculum Trends- Equality of educational opportunities in education,

access to global education.

You can see that an educational philosophy lays the strong foundation of
curriculum. A curriculum planner or specialist, a curriculum implementor or the
 teacher, school administrator curriculum evaluator whether school-based or
externally-based anchors his/her decision making process on a sound philosophy.

B. Historical Foundation of Curriculum

What is it now the historical foundations of curriculum? Curriculum is not an old

field. Majority of scholars would place its beginning in 1918 with the publication of
Franklin Bobbits book.

The Curriculum Philippine Education came about from various foreign influences.
This can be traced back to our glorious history. Of all foreign educational systems,
the American educational system has the greatest influence on our educational
system. Here we present several curriculum theorists and how they view curriculum
from a historical perspective. They are presented chronologically from the time of
Bobbit in 1676-1956 to Ralph W. Tyler in 1902-1994.

1. Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956)

Bobbit presented curriculum as a science that emphasizes on students need.

Curriculum prepares students for adult life. To Bobbit, objectives with corresponding
activities should be grouped and sequenced. This can only be done if instructional
activities and tasks are clarified.

2. Warrant Charters (1875-1952)

Like Bobbit, to Charters curriculum is a science. It gives emphasis on students

needs. The listing of objectives and matching these with corresponding activities
ensures that the content or subject matter is related to objectives. The subject matter
and the activities are planned by the teacher.

3. William Kilpatrick (1871-1965)

Curricula are purposeful activities which are child-centered. The purpose of the
curriculum is child development and growth. The project method was introduced by
Kilpatrick where teacher and student plan the activities. The curriculum develops social
relationships and small group instruction.

4. Harold Rugg (1886-1960)

To Rugg, curriculum should develop the whole child. It is child-centered. With the
statement of objectives and related learning activities, curriculum should produce
outcomes. Harold Rugg emphasized social studies and the teacher plans curriculum in
advance.

5. Hollis Caswell (1901-1989)

Sees curriculum as organized around social functions of themes, organized

knowledge and learners interests. Caswell believes that the curriculum is a set of
experiences. Subject matter is developed around social functions and learners
interests.

6. Ralph Tyler (1902-1994)

As one of the hallmarks of curriculum, Tyler believes that the curriculum is a

science. Ralph Tyler (1902-1994) - As one of the hallmarks of curriculum, Tyler believes
that the curriculum is a science and an extension of schools philosophy. It is based on
students needs and interest. To Tyler, curriculum is always related to instruction.
Subject matter is organized in terms of knowledge, skills and values. The process
emphasizes in terms of knowledge, skills and values. The process emphasizes problem
solving. The curriculum aims to educate generalists and not specialists.

The historical development shows the different changes in the purposes,

principles and content of the curriculum. The different changes are influenced by the
educational philosophy, psychology and pedagogical theories. This implies that
curriculum is ever changing putting in knowledge and content from many fields of
disciplines.

C. Psychological Foundations of Education

Psychology provides a basis for the teaching and learning process. It unifies
elements of the learning process and some of the questions can be addressed through
psychological foundations of education. How should curriculum be organized to
enhance learning? What is the optimum level of students participation in learning the
various contents of the curriculum?

We shall consider three groups of learning theories: behaviorism or association

theories; cognitive information processing theories and humanistic theories (Ornstein &
Hunkins, 2004). Let us review some theories in learning related to these clusters of
learning theories.

1. Behaviorist Psychology

Behaviorism dominated the 20 th century psychology. It includes among others

connectionism of Edward Thorndlike, which influenced both Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba
who are considered to be one of the well-known curricularist. Ivan Pavlovs classical
conditioning and B. F. Skinners operant conditioning were all behaviorists in character.
Albert Banduras modeling and observation theory is also related to behavior. Among
the behaviorists, Robert Gagnes hierarchical learning or sets of behavior and five
learning outcomes became classic examples. These learning outcomes include: (1)
intellectual skills or knowing how to categorize and use symbols, forming concepts and
problem solving; (2) information or knowing what knowledge about facts, dates and
names; (3) cognitive strategies or learning skills; (4) motor skills; and (5) attitudes,
feelings and emotions learned through experiences (Gagne, 1987). The listed learning
outcomes overlap with domains in the taxonomy of educational objectives which are
cognitive, affective and psychomotor.

To the behaviorists, learning should be organized in order that students can

experience success in the process of mastering the subject matter. The method is
introduced in a step by step manner with proper sequencing of task which is viewed by
other educational psychologist as simplistic and mechanical.

2. Cognitive Psychology

How do learners store information? How do they retrieve data and generate
conclusions? These are some of the basic questions asked by cognitive psychologists.

These psychologists focus their attention on how individuals process information

and how they monitor and manage thinking. Among the advocates of cognitive
psychology are Jean Piaget for his Cognitive Development Stages, Lev Vygotsky for his
Social Constructivism, Howard Gardner for his Multiple Intelligences, Felder and
Silverman for their Learning Styles, Daniel Goleman for Emotional Intelligences and
many more.

To the cognitive theorists, learning constitutes a logical method for organizing

and interpreting learning. Learning is rooted in the tradition of subject matter and is
similar to the cognitive development theory. Teachers use a lot of problem ad thinking
skills in teaching and learning. These are exemplified by practices like reflective
thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking, discovery learning and many other.

3. Humanistic Psychology

Humanists psychologist are concerned with how learners can develop their
human potential. Traditional psychologists do not recognize humanistic psychology as
school of psychology as the third force learning theory after behaviorism and cognitive
development. It is built on Gestalt psychology where learning can be explained in terms
of the wholeness of the problem and where the environment is changing and the learner
is continuously reorganizing his or her perceptions. Aside from the theory of Gestalt,
Abraham Maslows theory of human needs for self-actualizing persons and Carl Rogers
non-directive lives, also fall under humanistic psychology. Among the humanistic
psychologists, curriculum is concerned with the process not the products; personal
needs not subject matter; psychological meaning and environmental situations.

In summary, psychology has a great influence in the curriculum Learners are not
machines and the mind is not a computer. Humans are biological beings affected by
their biology and their cultures. The psychological foundations will help curriculum
makers in nurturing a more advanced, more comprehensive and complete human
learning.

4. Social Foundations of Education

Schools exist within the social context. Societal culture affects and shapes
schools and their curricula. The ways school buildings are structures, the way
classrooms and students are organized reflect the cultural views and values of the
society. In considering the social foundations of curriculum, we must recognize that
schools are only one of the many institutions that educate society. The home, the family,
community likewise educate the people in the society. But schools are formal institutions
that address more complex ad interrelated societies and the world.

Society as ever dynamic is a source of very fast changes which are different to
cope with and to adjust to. Thus schools are made to help to understand these
changes. However, some observations point out to the fact that schools are
conservative institutions that lag behind when they are supposed to be agents of
change. Thus in order for schools to be relevant, school curricula should address
diversity, explosion of knowledge, school reforms and education for all.

The relationship of curriculum and the society is mutual and encompassing.

Hence, to be relevant, the curricula should reflect and preserve the culture of society
and its aspirations. At the same time society should also imbibe the changes brought
about by the formal institutions called schools.

Lesson III. Elements/Components of the Curriculum

The major components or elements are:

(1) aims, goals, and objectives;

(2) subject matter/contents;
(3) learning experiences and
(4) evaluation approaches.

When translated into questions, each component can be addressed by the following:
1. What is to be done?
2. What subject matter is to be included?
3. What instructional strategies, resources and activities will be employed?
4. What methods and instruments will be used to assess the results of the curriculum?

Component 1- Curriculum Aims, Goals and Objectives

A formal curriculum is embedded in a formal institution called schools. Schools

are established institutions which are either run by the government or by the private
sector.

The Philippine Educational System is divided in three educational levels: primary,

secondary and tertiary levels. Based on the Philippine Constitution of 1987, all schools
shall aim to:

inculcate patriotism and nationalism

foster love of humanity
promote respect for human rights
appreciate the role of national heroes in the historical development of the country
teach the rights and duties of citizenship
strengthen ethical and spiritual values
develop moral character and personal discipline
encourage critical and creative thinking
broaden scientific and technological knowledge and promote vocational
efficiency

Aims of Elementary Education (Education Act of 1982)

In the elementary level, schools through their curricula should aim to:

provide knowledge and develop skills, attitudes, values essential to personal

development and necessary for living and contributing to a developing and
changing society;

provide learning experiences which increase the childs awareness of and

responsiveness to the changes in the society;

promote and intensify knowledge, identification with and love for the nation and
the people to which he belongs; and

promote work experience which develop orientation to the world of work and
prepare the learner to engage in honest and gainful work

Aims of Secondary Education

 In high school or secondary level, educational curricula aim to:

continue to promote the objectives of elementary education; and

discover and enhance the different aptitudes and interest of students in order to
equip them with skills for productive endeavor and or to prepare them for tertiary
schooling

Aims of Tertiary Education

Tertiary education refers to college and university formal education based on the
curricula of the different courses. The different courses should aim to:

provide general education programs which will promote national identify, cultural
consciousness, moral integrity and spiritual vigor;

train the nations manpower in the skills required for national development;

develop the professions that will provide leadership for the nation; and

advance knowledge through research and apply new knowledge for improving
the quality of human life and respond effectively to changing society

The schools vision is a clear concept of what the institution would like to become
in the future. It provides the focal point or unifying element according to which the
school staff, faculty, students perform individually or collectively. It is guiding post
around which all educational efforts including curricula should be directed. The
schools vision can be very ambitious but that is a characteristic of a vision.

Example of a schools vision:

1. A model performing high school where students are equipped with

knowledge, skills and strength of characters to realize their potential to the
fullest.

2. Commits to the Exemplary Christian Education for Life and responsive to

the needs of the total person and the world.

The schools mission statement, spells out how may it intends to carry out its
Vision. The mission targets to produce the kind of persons the students will become
after having been educated over a certain period of time.

Examples of schools mission:

1. To produce globally competitive lifelong learners.

 2. Commits to the total development of individuals for life adjustments and to the
upliftment of the economically deprived but deserving students through quality
instruction, updated facilities and curricula responsive to the needs of the times.

The schools vision and mission are further translated into goals which are broad
statements or intents to be accomplished. Data for the sources of school goals may
include the learners, the society and the fund of knowledge.

Example of school goals:

1. Build a strong foundation of skills and concepts

2. Efficient and effective administration responsive of the needs of the universities

and community

Educational Objectives

In a curriculum, these goals are made simple and specific for the attainment of
each learner. These are called educational objectives. Benjamin Bloom and Robert
Mager defined educational objectives in two ways:

1. explicit formulations of the ways in which students are expected to be changed by

the educative process, and

2. intent communicated by statement describing a proposed change in learners.

In other words, objectives direct the change in behavior which is the ultimate aim
of learning. They provide the bases for the selection of learning content and learning
experiences. They also set the criteria against which learning outcomes will be
evaluated.

Three Big Domains of Objectives

Benjamin Bloom classified three big domains of objectives. These are cognitive,
affective and psychomotor domains. Each domain is composed of specific skills,
attitudes and values which are presented in hierarchy or levels. Although these are
some modifications in the concepts of behavioral objectives, the original ideas are
presented in this section.

A. Cognitive Domain (Bloom etal 1965) domain of through process

1. Knowledge- recall, remembering of prior learned materials in terms of facts,

concepts, theories and principles. It is the lowest cognitive level

 2. Comprehension-ability to grasp the meaning of material. It indicates the
lowest form of understanding.

3. Application-the ability to break down material in new and concrete situation

4. Analysis-ability to break down material into component parts so that its

organizational structure may be understood

5. Synthesis-ability to put parts together to form a new whole

6. Evaluation-ability to pass judgment on something based on given criteria

B. Affective Domain- (Krathwohl, 1964)- domain of valuing, attitude and appreciation

1.Receiving-students willingness to pay attention to particular event, stimuli or

classroom activities

2.Responding- active participation on the part of the students

3.Valuing- concerned with the worth or value a student attaches to a particular

phenomena, object or behavior

4.Organization- concerned with bringing together different values and building

a value system

5.Characterization by value or value complex-developing a lifestyle from a

value system

C. Psychomotor Domain (Simpson, 1972)-domain of the use of psychomotor

attributes.

1. Perception-use of sense organs to guide motor activities

2. Set- refers to the readiness to take a particular type of action

3. Guided response-concerned with the early stages in learning complex

skills. Irritation and trial and error are some of the ways of doing

4. Mechanism-response has become habitual. Performance skills are with

ease and confidence

5. Complex overt responses- skillful performance and with complex

movement patterns.

6. Adaptation-skill well developed that the ability to modify is very easy

 7. Origination- refers to creating new movements, patterns to fit situation.
Creativity is evident.

Component 2- Curriculum Content or Subject Matter

All curricula have content, regardless of their design or models. Content is more
than simply information to be learned in school. To some curriculum specialists, content
or subject matter is another term for knowledge. It is a compendium of facts, concepts
generalization, principles and theories. The fund of human knowledge represents the
repository of accumulated discoveries and inventions of man down the centuries, due to
mans exploration of his world. This is the subject-centered view of the curriculum. On
the other had those who view knowledge as learner-centered, relates knowledge to the
individuals personal and social world and how he or she defines reality. According to
Gerome Bruner, knowledge is a model we construct to give meaning and structure to
regularities in experience.

Subject Areas in Basic or General Education

The following are the broad subject areas in basic or general education. Each
subject area has its own body of subject matter or learning content. These are just
examples.

1. Communication Arts- include skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing as

well as the effective use of language in daily living.

2. Mathematics- includes numeric and computational skills, geometry and

measurement, algebra, logic and reasoning.

3. Science- includes all branches of the natural sciences, exploration and discovery
dealing with natural phenomena and the use of scientific method of investigation.

4. Social Studies- include basic elements of Geography, History, Sociology,

Anthropology, Economics, Civics, Political Science and Psychology.

5. Music- includes basic music theory, practice in listening, singing, playing musical
instruments and music preparation.

6. Vocational Education- includes psychomotor and manipulative skills in basic

crafts and trades, design, work ethic and appreciation of manual productive work.
Selection of Subject Matter Content or Knowledge for the Curriculum

What subject matter be taught in the different clusters in order to achieve the
objectives? What criteria should be used in selecting the content? Content selection is a
very crucial stage in curriculum development.

Here are some criteria which can be utilized in the selection of subject matter
content or knowledge for the curriculum:

1. Self-sufficiency- According to Scheffler (1970) the prime guiding principle for

content selection is helping the learners to attain maximum self-sufficiency in
learning but in the most economical manner. Economy means less teaching effort
and educational resources, less learners effort but more results and effective
learning outcomes.

2. Significance- the content or subject matter contributes to basic ideas, concepts,

principles, and generalization to achieve the overall aim of the curriculum. It
develops learning abilities, skills, processes and attitude. It develops the cognitive,
affective and psychomotor skills of the learners. It can also be significant if the
cultural aspects will be considered.

3. Validity- The authenticity of the subject matter selected. Subject matter should be
checked or verified at regular intervals, to determine if the content that was
originally valid continues to be.

4. Interest- the key criterion for a learner centered curr. A learner will value the
content if it is meaningful to him of her. Students interest should be considered
and adjusted taking into consideration maturity, prior experiences, educational and
social value of their interest among other

5. Utility-Usefulness of the content or subject matter may be relative to the learner

who is going to use it. Usefulness maybe either is for the present or the future.
Questions like Will I use it in my future job? Will it add meaning to my life or
develop my human potential? Or Will the subject matter be useful in solving my
current problems?

6. Learnability- Subject matter in the curriculum should be within the range of the
experiences of the learners. This is clearly suggested by the psychological
foundations of a curriculum. There are ways of presenting subject matter or
content which can easily be learned. Optimal placement and appropriate
organization and sequencing of contents are the two ways by which these can be
done.
 7. Feasibility- Can the subject matter or content be learned within the time allowed,
resources available, expertise of the teacher, and the nature of the learners?
Content selection should be considered within these contexts of the existing reality
in schools, in society and government.

There are other considerations that may be used in the selection of the learning
content. It would be a great help if curriculum makers can use them. As a guide, a
subject matter or content can be selected for use if these are:

1. frequently and commonly used in daily life;

2. suited to the maturity levels and abilities of students;

3. valuable in meeting the needs and the competencies of a future

career;

4. related with other subject areas; and

5. important in the transfer of learning.

Organizing Learning Content

In organizing or putting together the different learning contents Palma, 1992

suggested the following principles: balance, articulation, sequence, integration and
continuity.

.1. Curriculum contents should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth of the
particular learning area or discipline. This will ensure that the level or area will not be
overcrowded or less crowded. This refers to BALANCE.

2. When each level of subject matter is smoothly connected to the next, glaring gaps
and wasteful overlaps in the subject matter will be avoided. Teamwork among the
teachers will enhance ARTICULATION of contents in the curriculum.

3. SEQUENCE 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 related to one another. This is INTEGRATION. This will help the
learner get a holistic or unified view of reality and outlook in life.

5. Learning requires a continuing application of the new knowledge, skills, and

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.

Component 3 - Curriculum Experiences

This section will not discuss in detail the different instructional strategies that
provide the experiences. Instead it will link instructional strategies and methods to
curriculum experiences, the core or the heart of the curriculum. The instructional
strategies and methods will put into action the goals and use contents in order to
produce an outcome.

Teaching strategies convert the written curriculum to instruction. Both the teacher
and the learner take actions to facilitate learning. The actions are based on planed
objectives, the subject matter to be taken and the support materials to be used. These
will include a multitude of teaching methods and educational activities which will
enhance learning. Among these are the time-tested methods, inquiry approaches,
constructivist and other emerging strategies that complement new theories in teaching
and learning. Educational activities like field, viewing, conducting experiments,
interacting with computer programs, field trips and other experimental learning will also
form part of the repertoire of teaching.

Guide for the Selection and Use of Methods

Whatever methods the teacher utilizes to implement the curriculum; there will be
some guides for the selection and use. Here are some of them:

1. Teaching methods are means to achieve the end. They are used to translate the
objective into action.

2. There is no single best teaching method. Its effectiveness will depend on the
learning objectives, the learners and skill of the teacher.

3. Teaching methods should stimulate the learners desire to develop the cognitive,
affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the individual.

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

5. Every method should lead to the development of the learning outcomes in the
three domains: cognitive, affective and psychomotor.

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

Components 4 - Curriculum Evaluation

According to Worthen and Sanders, (1987) all curricula to be effective must have
the element of evaluation. Curriculum evaluation here may refer to the formal
determination of the quality, effectiveness or value of the program, process, and product
of the curriculum. Tuckman (1985) defines evaluation as meeting the goals and
matching them with the intended outcomes. From the definitions, several models of
evaluation came up. The most widely used is Stufflebeams CIPP (Content, Input,
Product, and Process) Model. In CIPP, the process is continuous and is very important
to curriculum managers like principals, supervisors, department head, deans and even
teachers.

The context refers to the environment of the curriculum. The real situation where
the curriculum refers to situation where the curriculum is operating is its context. Simply
put context evaluation refers to situation analysis. Input refers to the ingredients of the
curriculum which include the goals, instructional strategies, the learners, the teachers,
the contents and all the materials needed. The process refers to the ways and means of
how the curriculum has been implemented. This component of the CIPP looks into the
entire operation of the curriculum. The product indicates if the curriculum accomplishes
its goals. It will determine to what extent the curriculum objectives have been achieved.

The CIPP model can be taken as a whole, or each component taken separately.
It is a long and continuous process.

Within the evaluation process, smaller and more specific activities are needed to
determine the effectiveness of the curriculum. These activities include assessment and
measurement of learning outcomes, the ultimate product of a curriculum. Different
methods can be utilized like diagnostic, placement, formative or summative evaluation
or the norm-referenced or criterion-referred measurement. With the variety of evaluation
methods are the different materials which can be effectively utilized. You will study these
in more detail in the modules that come later.

Process of Curriculum Evaluation

Regardless of the methods and materials evaluation will utilize, 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 the subject area,
the grade level, or the degree program? Specify the objectives of evaluation.

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

regarding the object of evaluation.
 3. Organize 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 result of evaluation should be reported to specific

audiences. Reporting can be done formally in conferences with stakeholders, or
informally through roundtable discussion and conversation.

6. Recycle the information for continuous feedback, modification and adjustment to

be made.

In summary, the components of a curriculum are distinct but are interrelated to

each other in a curricular design as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Lesson IV. Curriculum Approaches

There are five curriculum approaches that will be represented in this lesson.
Curriculum practitioners and implements may use one or more approaches in planning,
implementing and evaluating the curriculum. Even textbooks write or instructional
material producers have different curricular approaches. Let us study and understand
each example:

a) Behavioral Approach- anchored on the behaviorist principles, behavioral

approach to curriculum is usually based on a blueprint. In the blueprint, goals

Content/
Subject
 Evaluation
Methods/
Strategies

and objectives are specified, contents and activities are also arranged to
match with the learning objectives. The learning outcomes are evaluated in
terms of goals and objectives set at the beginning. Behavioral approach
which was started with the idea of Frederick Taylor is aimed to achieve
efficiently. In the factory for example, the worker will be paid according to his
output produced with in a specific period of time. In education, behavioral
approach begins with educational plans that start with the setting of goals or
objectives. These are considered as important ingredients in curriculum
implementation as evaluating the learning outcomes as a change of behavior
indicates the measure of the accomplishments.

b) Managerial Approach- the managerial approach became a dominant

curriculum approach in the 1950s and 1960s. The principal is the curriculum
leader and at the same time instructional leader who is supposed to be the
general manager. The general manager sets the policies and a priority
establishes the direction of change and motivation and planning and
organizing curriculum and instruction. School administrations are less
concerned about the content than about organization and implementation.
They are less concerned about subject matter, methods and materials than
improving curriculum. Curriculum managers look resources and restructure
the schools.

Roles of the Curriculum Supervisors

Some of the roles of the Curriculum Supervisors (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2004)
are the following:

1. Help develop the schools education goals.

Plan curriculum with students, parents, teachers and other stakeholders

Design programs of study by grade levels
Plan or schedule classes or school calendar
Prepare curriculum guides or teacher guides by grade level or subject
area
Help in the evaluation and selection of textbooks
Observe teachers
Assist teachers in the implementation of the curriculum
Encourage curriculum innovation and change

2. Develop standards for curriculum and instructional evaluation

1. Systems Approach- The system approach to curriculum was influenced by

systems theory. In the systems approach to curriculum, the parts of the total
 school district or school are examined in terms of how they relate to each
other. The organizational chart of the school represents a systems approach.
It shows the line-staff relationships of personnel and how decisions are made.
To George Beauchamp, the systems theories of education see the following
to be of equal importance are (1) administration (2) counseling (3) curriculum
(4) instruction (5) evaluation.

2. Humanistic Approach- This approach is rooted in the progressive philosophy

and child-centered movement. The humanistic approach considers the formal
or planned curriculum and the informal or hidden curriculum. It considers the
whole child and believes that in curriculum the total development of the
individual is the prime consideration. The learner is at the center of the
curriculum.

Teaching as a Process in Curriculum

What do you know about teaching? What knowledge is needed to understand

this process? This section clarifies the process of teaching as it relates to the
experiences in the curriculum, an important ingredient.

Good teaching is difficult to agree on what good teaching is, effective teaching
can be demonstrated. Effective teaching is one that will bring about the intended
learning outcomes.

Because of the changing paradigms of teaching, several definitions have evolved

based on the theories of teaching and learning that have come about. Some view
teaching as an organization of meaningful learning. It is creating a situation or selecting
life-like situations to enhance learning. To the traditionalists, teaching is a process of
imparting knowledge and skills required to master a subject matter. It is a process of
dispensing knowledge to an empty vessel which is the mind of the learner. Teaching is
showing, telling, giving, instruction, making someone understand in order to learn. In
this instance, the person who teachers, control learning. This person is a teacher, a
dispenser of knowledge, an ultimate authority, and a director of learning.

On the other hand, as progressive and humanist education advance, the

meaning of teaching broadened to fit the psychological meaning of term. Teaching is
now perceived as stimulating, directing, guiding the learner and evaluating the learning
outcomes of teaching. The teachers role in teaching becomes complex but has given
the learner the responsibility to learn. Teaching then is a process that enables the
learner to learn on his/her own.

The teacher now becomes a decision maker in the teaching process. Let us look
at the teaching process as a series of actions from PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING and
EVALUATING. It looks similar to curriculum development. Definitely, it is because the
process of teaching replicates the process of curriculum development. The
implementation phase of curriculum development is the actual teaching and
experiencing of curriculum. The teaching process is shown in Figure 3 below.

PLANNI IMPLEMENTI EVALUATING

In teaching, the planning phase includes decision about (a) the needs of the
learners, (b) the achievable goals and objectives to meet the needs, (c) the selection of
the content to be taught, (d) the motivation to carry out the goals, (e) the strategies most
fit to carry out the goals and (f) the evaluation process to measure learning outcomes.

Teaching plans maybe short term like the daily plan or long term plan like the unit
plan or a yearly plan. In a plan, considerations should include the learner, availability of
materials, time requirements of particular activities, the strategies needed to achieve the
objectives and teacher. The planning phase recognizes the intent that will be the
learners who will learn; hence the next phase will engages more the learner.

The implementation phase requires the teacher to implement what has been
planned. Based on the objectives, implementation means to put into action the different
activities in order to achieve through the subject matter. Here, two important players are
involved: the teacher and the learner. Their interaction is important in the
accomplishment of the plan. Most often the planning phase directs what will be done in
the activity but such can also be flexible. The use of the different teaching styles and
strategies should be included in the implementation phase.

In the evaluation phase, a match of the objectives with the learning outcomes will
be made. The kind of information should be determined so that the type of evaluation
phase will answer the questions if the plans and implementation has been successfully
achieved.

In all the three phases of teaching, a continuous process of feedback and

reflection is made. To give a feedback is to give information as to whether the three
phases were appropriately done and gave good results. In short, feedback is the
reflection on the feedback. Is there a need to adjust something in planning,
implementation and evaluation? Reflection is a process embedded in teaching where
the teacher inquires into his or her actions and provides deep and critical thinking.

On the basis of the diagram, basic assumptions can be made. These

assumptions are:

1. That teaching is goal-oriented with the change of behavior as the ultimate end;

2. That teachers are the ones who shape actively their own actions;

3. That teaching is rational and reflective process; and

4. That teachers by their actions can influence learners to change their own
thinking or desired behavior, thus teaching is a way of changing behavior
through the intervention of the teacher of changing behavior through the
intervention of the teacher.

Guides in the Process of Good Teaching

To further clarify, what teaching is all about there are some indicators which you
can use to guide in the process of good teaching.

1. Good teaching is one that is well planned and where activities are
interrelated to each other.

2. Good teaching is one that provides learning experiences or situations that will
ensure understanding, application and critical thinking.

3. Good teaching is based on the theories of learning

4. Good teaching is one where the learner is stimulated to think and reason.

5. Good teaching utilizes prior learning and its application to a new situation.

6. Good learning is governed by democratic principles

7. Good teaching embeds a sound evaluation process

Learning as a Process in Curriculum

To teach is to make someone to learn. This statement means that the end
product of teaching is learning. What is learning? What are the ways of learning? When
do we say that we have to learn?
 Let us now look closer at the concept of learning as it relates to the concept of
curriculum.

Learning is usually defined as a change in an individuals behavior caused by

experiences or self-activity. It implies that learning can only happen through the
individual activity or his/her own doing. Most learning is intentional, like when a learner
acquires knowledge in the classroom or when one observes a demonstration activity.
Intentional learning occurs when activities are purposefully arranged for the students to
participate and experience. On the other hand, learning sometimes is unintentional like
when a child touches a lighted candle and feels it is hot. All individuals are engaged in
learning every waking moment, however learning occurs more when the various stimuli
are properly arranged for purposes of learning.

Principal Types of Learning Theories

Broadly speaking, there are two principal types of learning theories to explain
how individuals learn according to educational psychologists. These are behavioral
learning theories and cognitive learning theories.

1. Behavioral learning theories emphasize observable behavior such as new

skills, knowledge, or attitudes which can be demonstrated. These forms of behavior are
observable and measurable. According to this group of theories, if the individual has
changed behavior, he has learned.

Among the early behavioral learning theories were those of Ivan Pavlovs
Classical Conditioning Theory, Edward Thorndikes Laws of Learning and B.F. Skinners
Operant Conditioning. The outgrowth of the behavioral learning theory is Albert
Banduras modeling or observational learning. These and many more were the
discussed lengthily in your previous courses.

2. Cognitive learning theories are concerned with human learning in which

unobservable mental processes are used to learn and remember new information or
acquire skills. Related to these theories is the concept of meaningful learning through
cognitive models. Jerome Bruner (1966) described three models of teaching which are
anchored on the cognitive learning theory.

Reception learning of David Ausubel poses a contrast to the discovery learning of

Bruner. To Ausubel, though learners are inherently curious, they may not be able to
know what is important or relevant and they need external motivation in order to learn.
However, both theories believe that learners should be actively involved in their own
learning. Both also emphasize that prior learning is important in order to learn new
things and because knowledge continuously changes once it is in the learners mind.

Events of learning of Robert Gagne proposed that an act of learning involves a

series of eight internal events:

1. Motivation phase-the learner must be motivated to learn be expectation that

learning will be rewarding

2. Apprehending phase- the learner attends or pays attention if learning has to

take place.

3. Acquisition phase-while the learner is paying attention, the stage is set and
the information presented. Learner transforms information into meaningful
form. The mental images formed information with old information. This is
where advance organizers are useful.

4. Retention phase- The newly acquired information must be transferred from

short-term to long-term memory. This may take place by means of practice,
elaboration or rehearsal.

5. Recall phase- recall previous learned information. To learn to gain access to

that which has been learned is a critical phase in learning.

6. Generalization phase-students must receive feedback on their performance.

This will serve rein forcer for successful performance.

Some general statements which describe learning based on the theories may include
the following:

Learning does not take place in an empty vessel. Each learner is assumed to have prior
learning and maybe to connect these to present learning.

Learning is a social process where interactions with other learners and the teacher are
needed.

Learning is a result of individual experiences and self-activity.

Learning is both observable and measurable

Learning is both observable and measurable

Learning will be enhanced when the learner is stimulated, directed, guided and
feedback is immediately given

Each learner has his/her own learning styles.

Teaching and Learning Go Together

How does teaching and learning connect to each other? One process cannot succeed
without the success or support of the other. A teacher cannot claim she/he has
taught if the learners have not learned substainly. The teaching styles of the
teachers should jibe with the learners learning styles. Unless the two are fir,
teachers and learners will be existing in two different worlds.

Teaching as a process cannot be taken independently in its entirely. With so many

ingredients needed, the most important is still the learner. The learner being in the
center of the teaching will influence to a great extent teaching. It is therefore
important that the knowledge of the learner and his learning styles be considered.
With the advancement of information about the uniqueness of each learner, the
multiple intelligence theory and many more, teaching has to consider more factors in
order to be effective.

On the other hand, the concepts of learning have become so vast that the simple
stimulus-response theory alone cannot explain it. Thus as learners become complex
individuals capable of learning on their own, the repertoire of teaching should also
increase. The different teaching styles with the support of simple to sophisticated
teaching materials are now necessary to affect good learning.

In many cases, it has been observed that teaching is the cause and learning the effect.
Learning outcomes can indicate teaching performance. The quality of teaching is
related to the quality of learning. If the students fail to learn, the greater factor is the
failure in teaching. We always attribute the kind of learning to the kind of teaching. It
has become a fallacy that some learners are non-teachable. If our theories of
learning and development are strong, then all individuals are teachable, therefore
they are capable of learning. The question now is raised. How can you a teacher,
make someone, the learner, learn something?

As the direct relationship of teaching and learning become clear, success of both brings
out something like learning in teaching and teaching for learning. This means that
while the teacher, teachers, he or she also learns in the process. On the other hand,
as a students learning themselves how to learn.

Some Ways of Doing Teaching and Learning

The different methods of teaching can be clustered according to the number of students
being taught. Teaching methods or strategies can be clustered according to the
number of students in a class. Large group is composed of thirty or more groups of
two to thirty members or individualized teaching. For large group teaching, methods
like lecture, expository, panel discussion, seminar, forum, demonstrations or a
 combination of lecture demonstration are appropriate. On the other hand, for a small
group, teaching methods like role playing, buzz session, workshop, process
approach, discovery learning, cooperative learning in various forms, laboratory
methods are few of the examples. For individualized teaching, modular instructions,
e-teaching, programmed instructions are some of the examples.

Another grouping of teaching methods will be traditional time-tested methods which

include among others the following: inductive method, deductive method, type study
method, project method, laboratory method, question and answer method or
Socratic Method and lecture method. Those that belong to the other group are the
improved teaching practices which include among others integrative technique,
discovery approach, process approach, conceptual approach, mastery learning,
programmed instructions, e-learning, stimulation, case-based teaching, conceptual
teaching, and cooperative learning and many more.

If there are various ways of teaching, there must be various ways of learning, too. Since
the arrays of teaching should fit the ways of learning or learning styles, let us look
into ways of how human beings learn. Each of the different ways is based on
learning theories. Here are some ways of learning:

Ways of Learning

Learning by trial and error. This type of its related to the stimulus-response theory of
learning. Reaction, action and reaction where the beginning reaction is due to
stimulus. When the result is correct or satisfying then the response will be repeated.
When the reaction is wrong or negative then it will not repeated. Learning will take
place in both instances. This type of learning is oftentimes risky and time consuming
because the next step will only follow depending on the result. Making several errors
would be very expensive in time, effort and money. However, trial and error is the
easiest way of doing things without necessarily anticipating definite objectives.

Learning by conditioning. The classical conditioning theory of Pavlov serves as the

basic of this learning. Training is the simple term to describe learning here, thus
even animals can be trained to do something but such action does not refer to
learning. Aside from Pavlovs classical conditioning, Skinners operant conditioning
plays a great role in this kind of learning. Learning here is a product of what the
individual does which will result to either pleasant or unpleasant behavior. Drill and
practice are some learning activities based on conditioning.

Learning by sight. From a simple trial and error learning to learning by conditioning,
educational psychologists believe that human beings learn also by insights. In this
type of learning a higher level of intelligence is being utilized. Insight is looking into
oneself with deeper thinking. A sudden flash of idea or solution to a problem
 sometimes called aha learning is an example of insightful learning. Learning by
insight requires higher thinking skills of the learner. Through insights the learner will
also be capable of deep reflection.

Learning by observation and imitation through modeling. This process of learning

assumes that one learns from someone. It is through observation and limitation from a
model that a person will be able to do a similar thing. Anchored on the social learning of
Albert Bandura, learning by observation and limitation requires a model; hence it is
referred to as no-trial learning. This process of learning involves four phases, where
the learner copies, practice or rehearse what has been observed, reproduction phase,
where the learner matches their behavior to the model and motivational phase where
learners will imitate the behavior for getting a chance to be reinforced by becoming like
the one from whom the behavior was copied.

Teaching and Learning in the Curriculum

One of the crucial issues today in education is not what the students should but rather
how the student should learn how to learn. The deluge of information in our midst
and the different ways of retrieving them has become a challenge to both teaching
and learning. The curriculum seems to be overloaded; too many subjects to cover,
too many topics to teach. Sometimes, the curriculum is fragmented or is simply
boxed. Unfortunely, the learners life is not compartmentalized. Subject matter
overlaps and integrates naturally and holistically. How then should teaching
approach this challenge? How should students learn? How can a curriculum be
designed to enhance the process of teaching? What kind of learning will be achieved
from such kind of teaching?

Teaching and learning give life and meaning to the curriculum each complement and
supplement each other. The value placed in teaching will reap the same value in
learning, thus a good curriculum can be judged by the kind of teaching and the
quality of learning derived from it.

CURRICULUM DESIGN MODELS

FOCUS

Generally speaking, a curriculum can be organized either horizontally or vertically.

Horizontal organization means, that the direction of the curriculum elements is
sideways. For example, the subject social studies move horizontally along history
geography, civics and culture. Taking contents in mathematics and relating these to
science is also an example of horizontal curriculum design. O the other hand, using
a vertical arrangement or sequence of curricular elements follows a vertical design.
For example in social studies content, putting the family ahead of the topic
 community is vertical articulation or in science the bigger on living things comes
ahead of topics on plans and animals.

Curriculum design may also follow the following structures:

Subject-centered design model- This model focuses on the content of the

curriculum. The subject centered design corresponds mostly to the textbook,
written for the specific subject. Henry Morrison and William Harris are the few
curricularists who were firm believers of this design. In this instance, schools
divide the school hours to different subjects such as reading, grammar, literature,
mathematics, science, history and geography. In the Philippines, our curriculum
in any level is also divided in different subjects or courses. Most of the schools
using this kind of structure aim for excellence in the subject matter content.
Examples of subject-centered curriculum are included below.

Subject design-What subjects are you teaching? What subjects are you taking?
These are two sample questions to which the teacher and the learner can easily
give an answer. It is so because they are familiar with the subject design
curriculum.

Subject design curriculum is the oldest and so far the most familiar design for teachers,
parents and other laymen. According to the advocates, subject design has an
advantage because it is easy to deliver. Complementary books are written and
support instructional materials are commercially available. Teachers are familiar with
the format, because they were also educated using the design. In the Philippine
educational system, the number of subjects in the elementary education is fewer
than in the secondary level. In college, the number of subjects also differs according
to the degree programs being pursued.

However, the drawback of this design is that sometimes, learning is so

compartmentalized. It stresses so much the content that it forgets about students
natural tendencies, interests and experiences. The tendency of the teacher is to
pour in so much content to the learner so that students become simply the empty
vessel that receive the information or content.

Discipline design This curriculum model is related to the subject design. However,
while subject design centers only the cluster of content, discipline design focuses on
academic disciplines. Discipline refers to specific knowledge learned through a
method which the scholars use to study a specific content of their fields. Students in
history should learn the subject matter like historians students in biology should
learn how biologist learn, and so with students in mathematics should learn how
mathematicians learn. In the same manner, teachers should teach how the scholars
in the discipline will convey the particular knowledge.
Correlation design This comes from a core, correlated curriculum design that links
separate subjects designs in order to reduce fragmentation. Subjects are related to
one another but each subject maintains its identity. For example, English literature
and social studies correlate well in the elementary level. In the two subjects, while
history is being studied. Different literary pieces during the historical period are being
studied. The same is true when science becomes the core, mathematics is related to
it, as they are taken in chemistry, physics and biology. Another example is literature
as the core and art, music, history, geography will be related to it. To use correlated
design, teachers should come together and plan their lesson cooperatively.

Broad field design/interdisciplinary Broad field or interdiscisplinary design is a

variation of the subject-centered design. This design was made to prevent the
compartmentalization of subjects and integrated the contents that are related to
each other. Thus subjects such as geography, economics, political science,
anthropology, sociology and history are fused into one subject called social studies.
Language arts will include grammar, literature, linguistics, spelling and composition.

Sometimes called holistic curriculum, broad field design draws around themes and
integration.

2. Learner-Centered Design- among the progressive education psychologists, the

learner is the center of the educative process. This emphasis is very strong in the
elementary level, however more concern has been placed on the secondary and
even the tertiary level. Although, in high school, the subject or content has become
the focus and in the college level, the discipline is the center, both levels still
recognize the importance of the learner in the curriculum.

Here are some examples of the learner-centered designs:

Child-centered design- this design is often attributed to the influence of John Dewey,
Rouseau, Pestallozi and Froebel. The curriculum design is anchored on the needs
and interests of the child. The learner is not considered as a passive individual but
as one who engages with his/her environment. One learns by doing. Learners
actively create; construct meanings and understanding as viewed by the
constructivists. In the child-centered design, learners interact with the teachers and
the environment, thus there is a collaborative effort on both sides to plan lessons,
select content and do activities together. Learning is a product of the childs
interaction with the environment.

Experience-centered design- this design is similar to the child-centered design.

Although, the child remains to be the focus, experience-centered design believes
that the interest and needs of learners cannot be pre-planned. Instead,
experiences of the learners become the starting point of the curriculum, thus the
 school environment is left open and free. Learners are made to choose from
various activities that the teacher provides. The learners are empowered to
shape their own learning from the different opportunities given by the teacher. In
a school where experience-centered curriculum is provided, different learning
centers are found, time is flexible and children are free to make options. Activities
revolve around different emphasis such as touching, feeling, imagining,
constructing, relating and others. The emerges of multiple intelligence theory
blends well with experience design curriculum.

Humanistic design- the key lead personalities in this curriculum design were
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslows theory of self-actualization explains
that a person who achieves this level is accepting of self, others and nature; is
simple, spontaneous and natural; is open to different experiences; possesses
empathy and sympathy towards the less fortunate, among many others. The
person can achieve this state of self-actualization later in life but has to start the
process while still in school. Carl Rogers, on the other hand, believed that a
person can enhance self-directed learning by improving self understanding and
basic attitudes to guide behavior.

In humanistic curriculum design, the development of self is the ultimate objective

of learning. It stresses the whole person and the integration of thinking, feeling
and doing. It considers the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains to be
interconnected and must be addressed in the curriculum. It stresses the
development of positive self-concept and interpersonal skills.

Problem-Centered Design- generally, problem-centered design draws on social

problems, needs, interest and abilities of the learners. Various problems are
given emphases. There are those that center on life situations, contemporary life
problems, areas of living and many others. In this curriculum, content and
abilities of the students. Two examples are given for the problem-centered design
curriculum.

Life-situation design- what makes the design unique is that the contents are
organized in ways that allow a student to clearly view problem areas clearly. It
uses the past and the present experiences of learners as a means to analyze the
basic areas of living. As a starting point, the pressing immediately problems of
the society and the students existing concerns are utilized. Based on Herbert
Spencers curriculum writing, his emphases were activities that sustain life,
enhance life; aid in rearing children, maintain the individuals social and political
relations ad enhance leisure, tasks and feelings. The connection of subject
matter to real situations increases the relevance of the curriculum.
 Core Design- Another example of problem-centered design is core design. It
centers on general education and the problems are based on common human
activities. The central focus of the core design includes needs, problems, and
concerns of the learners. Popularized by Faunce and Bossing in1959, they
presented ways on how to proceed following a core design of a curriculum as
follows:

1.The problem is selected by either the teacher or students.

2. A group consensus is made to identify the important problems and interest of the
class.

3. Problems are selected on the basis of developed criteria for selection.

4.The problem is clearly stated and defined.

5.Areas of study are decided, including dividing the class by individual or group
interests.

6.Needed information is listed and discussed.

7. Resources for obtaining information are listed and discussed.

8.Information is obtained and organized.

9.Information is analyzed and interpreted.

10.Tentative conclusions are stated and tested.

11. A report is presented to the class on an individual or group basis.

12.Conclusions are evaluated.

13. New avenues of exploration toward further problem solving are examined.

These are some examples of curriculum designs. There are many more which are
emerging and those that have evolved in the past. The example given may be
limited, however for our purposes; they can very well represent curriculum designs.

MODULE II

Lesson 2. Dimensions and Principles of Curriculum Design (Purita P. Bilbao,

Ed.D)

Focus
 Let us always focus on the four elements of a curriculum as bases in identifying what
to be considered inn designing a curriculum. Many curricularists suggest viewing a
design from the following dimensions: scope, sequence, continuity, integration,
articulation and balance.

Dimensions of Curriculum Design

Scope-Tyler in Ornstein (2004) defines as all the content, topics, learning,

experiences, and organizing threads comprising the educational plan. Scope does not
only refer to the cognitive content, but also to the affective and psychomotor content. It
is depth, as well as, breadth of these contents. The terms broad, limited, simple, general
are few of the words that can describe the scope. With the limitless knowledge that
abounds, scope provides boundaries in curriculum as it applies to the different
educational levels. It is here where the decision making skill of the teacher is needed.
Curriculum is time-bound, hence the appropriate scope should be provided such that
the curriculum coverage should not be too much nor too minimal. Other considerations
in the determination of the scope should include time, diversity and maturity of the
learners, complexity of content, ad level of education. Simply said, scope refers to the
coverage of the curriculum.

The scope of the curriculum can be divided into chunks called units, sub-units,
chapters or sub-chapters as the case may be. Each chunk is guided by the general
curriculum objectives or goals. The division of the content may use the deductive
principle from the whole to the parts which will have a cascading arrangement or the
inductive principle from the examples to the generalization. Inductive arrangement of a
scope begins with simple concepts to general content. Topical arrangement or content
outline of the curriculum may follow some design as thematic linear or logical.

Sequence- to provide continuous and cumulative learning, a vertical relationship among

the elements of the curriculum provides the sequence. Contents and experiences
are arranged in hierarchical manner, where the basic can either be logic of the
subject matter or on the developmental patterns of growth of the cognitive, affective
and psychomotor domains. Some schools formulate their curricular objectives,
content, and experiences by grade levels and consider the stages of thinking.

Smith, Stanley and Shore (1957) introduced four principles for sequence. These are the
following:
 Simple to complex learning- content and experiences are organized from
simple to complex, from concrete to abstract, from easy to difficult. This principle
is in consonance with developmental theories of learning and cognitive.

Prerequisite learning -it means that there are fundamental things to be learned
ahead. Like addition before multiplication in mathematics or letters before words,
words before phrases and phrases before sentences.

Whole to part learning- this principle as a relation to gestalt. The forest before
the trees. The overview before the specific content or topics. The meaning can
very well be understood if everything will be taken as a whole.

Chronological learning- the order of events is made as a basis of sequencing

the content and the experiences. This principle is closely allied to history, political
science or world events. Time is the factor to be considered. The sequence can
be arranged from the most recent to the distant past or vice versa.

On the other hand, Posne and Rudnitsky (1994) presented five major principles
for organizing content in units, which can also be applied to a curriculum. In each major
type are subtypes which explain in detail the principles. These major principles are:

1. World-related sequence- what relationship exist people, objects or events of the

world? How can contents and experiences be arranged so that they will be
consistent with the world?

Space- Spatial relations will be the basis for the sequence. Closest to farthest,
bottom to top or east to west. Teach the parts of the plants from the roots to the
stem to the leaves, flowers and fruits. Teach about the places from the plains to
the mountains.

Time-this is similar to the chronological principle of Smith, et al. the contents is

based from the earliest to the more recent. Teach the Philippine Presidents from
the first to the current. Teach discoveries from the earliest to the most recent.

Physical attributes- this principle refers to the physical characteristics of the

phenomena such as age, shape, size, brightness, and others. For example,
topics for the three regions, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao should be ahead of
the Pnay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol for the Visayas. Likewise, topics when dealing
with planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars before Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Pluto should be taken up. This sequence considers the attribute distance from
the sun.

2. Concept-related sequence- this arrangement reflects the organizational of the

conceptual world, how ideas are related together in a logical manner.
 Class relations- class concept refers to the group or set of things that share
common practices. Teaching the characteristics of class ahead of the
characteristics of the members of the class. For example, teach mammals before
teaching specific animals or compare sound and light before discussing about
wave motion.

Propositional relations- A proposition is a statement that asserts something.

Sequence is arranged so that evidence is presented ahead before preposition.
Example will be to teach the topics on the principles of equal protection under
law before studying Supreme Court decisions.

3. Inquiry-related sequence-this is based on the scientific method of inquiry. Based on

the process of generating, discovering and verifying knowledge, content and
experiences are sequenced logically and methodically.

4. Learning-related sequence- this is based on the psychology of learning and how

people learn.

a. Empirical Prerequisites-sequence is primarily based on empirical studies where

the prerequisite is required before learning, the next level. An example is teach
skill in discriminating initial consonants, before teaching world attack or in
softball, teaches catching and throwing the ball before batting.

b. Familiarity-prior learning is important in sequence. What is familiar should be

taken up first before the unfamiliar. In teaching currencies, teach the peso before
the dollar. Another example is identifying the animals in the community then
those in Manila Zoo.

c. Difficulty- easy content is taken ahead than the difficult one. Or teach rhymes
before blank words.

d. Interest-contents and experiences that stimulate interest are those are novel.
These can arouse curiosity and interest of learners. Use these contents and
experiences to whet their appetite for learning. An example is identify the
different volcanoes in the Philippines before teaching about volcanism.

1. Continuity-vertical repetition and recurring appearances of the content

provide continuity in the curriculum. This process enables the learner to
strengthen the permanency of learning and development of skills. Gerome
Bruner calls this spiral curriculum where the content is organized
according to the interrelationship between the structures of the basic ideas
of a major discipline. For learners to develop the ideas, these have to be
developed and redeveloped in a spiral fashion in increasing depth and
 breadth as the learners advance. Example is the concept of living things in
science which continuously recurs in the elementary curriculum but with
different complexity from level to level.

2. Integration- everything is integrated and interconnected. Life is a series of

emerging theme. Organization is drawn from the world themes from real life
concerns. Subject matter content or disciplined content are erased and
isolation is eliminated.

3. Articulation-this can be done either vertically or horizontally. In vertical

articulation, contents are arranged from level to level or grade to grade so
that the content in a lower level is connected to the next level. Horizontal
articulation happens when the association is among or between elements
that happen at the same time like social studies in grade six is related to
science in grade six.

4. Balance-equitable assignment of content, time, experiences and other

elements to establish balance is needed in curriculum design. Too much or
too little of these elements maybe disastrous to the curriculum. Keeping the
curriculum in balance requires continuous fine tuning and review for its
effectiveness and relevance.

Guidelines in Curriculum Design

After looking into various designs in curriculum, perhaps it would help future
curriculum makers like you to take into consideration some pointers. Here are some
pointers:

1. Curriculum design committee should involve teachers, parents, administrators and

even students.

2. Schools vision, mission, goals and objectives should be reviewed and used as bases
for curriculum design.

3. The needs and the interests of the learners, in particular, and the society, in general,
should be considered.

4. Alternative curriculum design should consider advantages and disadvantages in

terms of costs, scheduling, class size, facilities and personnel required.

5. The curriculum design should take into account cognitive, affective, psychomotor
skills, concepts and outcomes.
 MODULE II
Crafting the Curriculum

Lesson 3

Approaches to Curriculum Design

Tomasa C. Iringan, Ph.D.

The Six (6) Features of a Curriculum

1. Who teaches? -The Teacher

Quality Education requires quality teacher. Good teachers bring a shining light into the
learning environment. They are ideal companions of the learners. With the advances in
communication technology, good teachers are needed to sort out information from the data that
surround the learners. Good teachers are needed to sort out the knowledge from the
information but even more important, excellent teachers are needed to sort the wisdom from the
knowledge. Institutions are as good as its teachers. Hence, the right individuals who are
expected to be recruited-are those with excellent ad relevant preparation. The teachers should
be given support with their continuing development in order to keep abreast with changing
demands of a learning society.

2. Who do the teachers teach?-The Learners

The learners are at the center stage in the educative process. They are the most
important factors in the learning environment. There is no teaching without them.
Hence, teachers should understand and accept the learners diverse background. Each
one of them is a unique individual. They come from different sectors of society of
different cultural background, socio-economic profile, orientation and varied
experiences. Considering the domain of diversity of learners will allow the individual
learner to develop his multiple intelligences at his own pace. Hence, their needs should
be addressed and be met thats why teachers are to provide learning opportunities and
varied experiences.

3. What do teachers teach?-Knowledge, Skills Values

 To help learners cope with rapid changes to understand and to succeed in the
new work in the workplace, we must design a curriculum oriented to tomorrow. It
should be remembered that what students learn will be obsolete in ten years, and half of
what they need to know to succeed in work and in life has not yet been fully developed
and will have to be learned as they go along in the future. Calculators and typewriters
are made obsolete by computers and the next generation will see these being replaced.
And so, the value of the educational process lies not just in what they learn, but how
they learn, and how good they will be in continuing to learn after they leave school.

The learning episode influences the teaching-learning process. The teacher is

expected to prepare his/her syllabus or s course of study as his vehicle for instruction.
The learning goals, instructional procedures and content must be clearly explained to
students. There must be a balance should be made meaningful and relevant.

4. How do teachers teach?- Strategies and Methods

Researchers show that there is no best strategy that could work in a million of
different student background and characteristics. However, for teachers to teach
effectively, they must use appropriate methodologies, approaches and strategies,
capped with compassionate and winsome nature. Teachers should select teaching
methods, learning activities and instructional materials or resources appropriate to
learners and aligned to objectives of the lesson. Situations should be created to
encourage learners to use higher order thinking skills. Good teachers utilize information
derived from assessment to improve teaching and learning and adopt a culture of
excellence.

5. How much of the teaching was learned?-Performance

When teachers teach, they formulate objectives to be accomplished by the

learners. A curriculum should be clear at the beginning with what knowledge, skills and
values should be developed by the learners. These are the guiding posts of the
teachers. These are stated in behavioral terms which will guide the actions of the one
who teach. At the need of the teaching act, it is necessary to find out if the objectives set
were accomplished. In curriculum, we call this the learning outcomes. These learning
outcomes indicate the performance of both the teachers and the learners as a result of
teaching. Performance is a feature of a curriculum that should be given emphasis. The
curriculum is deemed to be successful if the performance of the learners is higher that
the targets set. However, if the performance of the learners is low then it follows that the
curriculum has failed. A good curriculum is one that results in high or excellent
performance.

6. With whom we teach?-Community Partners

 Teaching is a collaborative undertaking. While teachers are the focal point in the
learning process, they must draw upon the resources of their environment and of their
partners to be effective. Teachers must establish relationship with parents, NGOs and
their stakeholders. Partnership is a means and not an end to be pursued in itself. An
absence of partnership often means poor definitions of education ends. However, as
society changes, teachers will have a new beginning, an opportunity to recast their role
in their communities, to change their attitude to their communities and societies about
them.

Approaches to Curriculum Design

In the previous lessons, three major curriculum designs were discussed. These
are the learner-centered curriculum design model, the subject-centered curriculum
design model and the problem-centered curriculum design model. Each of these models
has several specific examples. You may go back to Module 2, lesson 1 to review these
examples. These designs are implemented through the different approaches that are
accepted by the teachers and curriculum practitioners. How the design is utilized
becomes the approach to the curriculum. The curricular approaches that follow are
examples based on the curriculum design previously mentioned.

The common approaches to curriculum design include child or learner-centered,

subject-centered, problem-centered and human relation-centered approaches.

A. Child or Learner-Centered Approach This approach to curriculum design is

based on the underlying philosophy that the child is the center of the educational
process. It means that the curriculum is constructed based on the needs, interest,
purposes and abilities of the learners. The curriculum is also built upon the learners
knowledge, skills, learning and potentials.

From its design how should a child-centered or learner-centered or learner-

centered curriculum is approached? Let us consider these:

1. A new respect for the child is fundamental.

2. A new freedom of action is provided.
3. The whole activity is divided into units of work.
4. The recognition of the need for using and exploring many media for self-discovery
and self-direction is embraced.

An Example of Child Centered Approach

School X is anchored on the theory of multiple intelligences in all its curricular

and co-curricular activities. Every classroom is made up of activity centers where the
children are given time and opportunity to hone their skills and capacities. The activities
for every learner are differentiated according to students abilities, interests and needs.
Each child is considered important and each capacity is respected. Learners are not
compared with one another. Learners own performances are compared against targets
which they themselves set. The school does not believe in failure, but in success. The
teachers role is only to guide the learner to what he or she would like to accomplish.
The learner sets the goal that can be done within the framework of time although the
minimum requirements of the Department of Education are still honored. At the end of
the year each childs performance is compared to his own set of goals. All throughout
the year, the learner is the center of the education.

B. Subject-centered approach

Anchored on the curriculum design which prescribes different and separate

subjects into one broad field, this approach considers the following:

1. The emphasis on bits and pieces of information which are detached from life.

2. The continuing pursuit of learning outside the school is not emphasized. Learning
should only take place inside the classroom.

3. The subject matter serves as a means of identifying problems in living.

4. The primary focus is the subject matter.

An Example of the Subject-Centered Approach

In another setting, School Y aims to produce the best graduates in town. Each
learner must excel in all academic fields in order to be on the top of the rank in every
competition. Everyone must master the subject matter content. The higher the level of
cognitive intelligence, the better for the learner. Each student must not be second to
anyone. When preparing for a test, these schools conducts cram reviews and practice a
lot. The school gives emphasis to intellectual development. Success means mastery of
the subject content.

C. Problem-centered approach

This approach is based on a curriculum design which assumes that in the

process of living, children experience problems. Thus, problem solving enables the
learners to become increasingly able to achieve complete or total development as
individuals.

This approach is characterized by the following views and beliefs:

1. The learners are capable of directing and guiding themselves in resolving

problems, thus they become independent learners.
 2. The learners are prepared to assume their civic responsibilities through direct
participation in different activities.

An example of the Problem Centered-Approach

School Z believes that a learner should be trained to solve real life problems that come
about because of the needs, interests and abilities of the learners. Problems persistent with life
and society that affect daily living are also considered. Most of the school activities revolve
around solutions to problems like poverty, drug problems, and deterioration of positive values,
environmental concern and many more. Since the school is using the problem-centered
approach, case study as method of teaching is popularly utilized. Practical work as a solution to
the problem is also used, thus development of business skills, social skills, construction skills to
solve specific problems.

MODULE III
Implementing the Curriculum

Lesson 1
The Roles of Stakeholders in Curriculum Implementation
Purita P. Bilbao, Ed.D.

Focus

Stakeholders are individuals or institutions that are interested in the school

curriculum. Their interests vary in degree and complexity. They get involved in many
different ways in the implementation, because the curriculum affects them directly or
indirectly. This lesson identifies the different stakeholders who put into action and give
life to the curriculum. These stakeholders shape the school curriculum implementation.

1. Learners at the Center of the Curriculum

For a particular curriculum design mentioned earlier, the learner is placed at the
center. The learners are the very reason a curriculum is developed. They are the one,
who are directly influenced by it. Learners in all levels make or unmake the curriculum
by their active and direct involvement. How each individual earner contributes to the
realization of a planed curriculum would depend on the interaction and internalization of
the different learning experiences provided. After all, in curriculum implementation, the
concluding question will always be: Has the learner learned?
 To further explain the important role of learners in the curriculum, sample
learners were asked about the role of students as stakeholders in the curriculum. Here
are some of the answers:

I consider the learner as the center of the educational process. Everything in the
curriculum should revolve around his/her interests, needs, abilities, and
capacities. The nature of the learner must be made the science of learning. The
experiences of the learners must be the starting point in accomplishing the goals
of education, to let them grow in knowledge skills, abilities and attitude. Josefa

Venus gave her own view about the matter.

In the selection of the subject matter, the needs of the individual learner should
receive proper emphasis. To do this, the course of study must be organized
around the changing nature and development needs within the cultural context of
the learners. Organizing curriculum to meet individual differences is compatible
with democratic principles. Curriculum makers are implementers need to know
what differences there are in the cultural background, mental systems, and
approaches to problem solving of the learners. All of these considerations will
enable the learner to achieve the richness of experiences in a particular
curriculum.

Lastly, here is another voice of a student

Learners or students are the very reason why schools exist. It is the schools
responsibility to further develop the learners knowledge, skills, talents and
attitude to face the different affiliations in life. It is through a responsive
curriculum that those things can be achieved. A curriculum is effective if it
enables all learners to relate the different school experiences to their lives.
Monique

From the voices of the three students given above, it can be gleaned that the
learners are the primary stakeholders in the curriculum. The universal as well as the
individual characteristics of the students should be considered. Age, gender, physical,
mental, emotional development, cultural background, interests, aspirations and personal
goals are some of the factors that should be considered in the implementation of any
curriculum. Very clearly, the students make the curriculum alive. The different activities
can only be made meaningful by the learners themselves, with the guidance of the
teacher. The success of the curriculum can only be measures by the extent of learning
that the learners have achieved. Therefore, a fit between the planned or written
curriculum and the characteristics of the learner will guarantee success in education.

2. Teachers as Curriculum Developers and Implementers

 In the teaching and learning process, the other side of the coin is the teacher.
Most curricula start to gain life from the time it is conceived and written. Planning and
writing the curriculum are the primary roles of the teacher. A teacher is a curriculum
maker. He/she writes a curriculum daily through a lesson plan, a unit plan or a yearly
plan. The teacher prepares activities for the students can learn. The teacher designs,
enriches, and modifies the curriculum to suit the learners characteristics. As a
curriculum developer, teachers are parts of textbooks committees, faculty selection
boards, school evaluation committee or textbook writers themselves. Teachers are
empowered to develop their own school curricula taking into consideration their own
expertise, the context of the school and the abilities of the learners. By so doing,
teachers become architecture of school curriculum.

On the other hand, a developed curriculum remains inactive, if it is not

implemented. At this point, teachers role shift from a developer to an implementer, from
a designer or technician to a decision maker. Which of the plans should be put into
action and how should it be done are decisions which the teachers should make.
Curriculum implementation is now giving life to the written material. To do this, there is
the need of another actor, the learners. No curriculum will succeed doing. Doing here
implies guiding, facilitating and directing activities which will be done by the students.
The choice of the activities, the methods to be utilized, the materials to be used are
some of the considerations that the teachers should have in curricular implementation.
The teachers role as an implementer is very crucial. Oftentimes, unsuccessful
implementation of the curriculum becomes the root of educational failure, thus some
would say that the root of the educational problem is the teacher. Although this
statement can be argued, it points out to the inability of the teacher to implement well a
curriculum.

Here are some views of the students about the teacher as a curriculum maker
and implementer:

Teachers are the most crucial persons in the implementations of curriculum. As

an adult in the teaching-learning process, he/she holds the key in
operationalizing what activities have been planned. With the full support of the
principal, supervisors and other school administrators, the teachers who are
empowered will be able to select, organize, carry out and evaluate learning
experiences what has been written to action is the key to effective curriculum
implementation. Fel

Maraiana likewise contributes to the conversation by giving her idea.

Teachers shape the school curriculum by sharing the experiences that they
have and the resources they are capable of giving or imparting to the learners.
 But as the old saying goes What can you give if you have nothing to give?
Applies to this demand of teaches in curriculum implementation. Marianna

Although educational theorist and practitioners are giving value to the idea of
independent learning how to learn, the role of the teacher in curriculum implementation
has never diminished. No technology can ever replace a teacher. Thus, the complexity
of teaching requires tremendous maturity, decision making in the implementation of any
curricular plan as in the choice of materials, methods or strategy of teaching and modes
of evaluation.

3. Curriculum Managers and Administrators

In a school organization, there is always a curriculum manager or school

administrator. In fact, for school principals, one of their functions is being a curriculum
manager. They supervise curriculum implementation, select and recruit new teachers,
admit students, procure equipment and materials needed for effective learning. They
also plan for the improvement of school facilities and physical plants.

Why are school administrators and curriculum managers important to curriculum

implementations?

The school administrators play an important role in shaping the school curriculum
because they are the people who are responsible in the formulation of the schools
vision, philosophy, mission and objectives. They provide necessary leadership in
evaluating teaching personnel and school program. Keeping records of curriculum and
reporting learning outcomes are also the managers responsibilities. Ceres

Christine has this to say:

The school administrators have the responsibility of running the entire school
effectively. They have to oversee the smooth transition of the child from one grade level
to another and they should see to it that the curriculum is implemented vertically or
horizontally with very minimal overlaps. Instead there should be continuity, relevance,
balance, so that overall curriculum will produce a well-rounded person.

Indeed the role of the administrators can never be ignored. The principle of
command responsibility and institutional leadership rests on the shoulders of school
administrators. The final decision making in terms of the schools purpose rests on the
shoulders of school administrators. In the academic institution, school administrators
have a great stake or concern about what kind of curriculum their schools offer and how
these are implemented.

4. Parents as Supporters to the Curriculum

 My child and my money go to this school reads a car sticker. What is the
implication of this statement to the school curriculum? It simply means that the parents
are the best supporters of the school, especially because they are the ones paying for
their childs education. Just like any customer, any parent would like to get the best
learning or schooling experiences. This has an application to what kind of curriculum is
being offered in the school.

Parents voices are very loud and clear. In our country, it is a general fact that
even in college the parents are responsible for their childs education. The power of
parents to influence curricula to include instructional materials and school activities is
great, such that the success of curricula would somehow depend on their support.

How do parents shape the curriculum ad why are they considered as

stakeholders? Here are some observations:

Effective parental involvement in school affairs may be linked to parent

educational program which is central to high quality educational experiences of
the children. It is a well-known fact that where you find an involved parent, you
find better communication between home and school. In this particular case there
will be fewer disciplinary problems, greater student motivation and more
responsibility for learning. All of these will result to greater academic achievement
of pupils whose parents are very much involved than the students whose parents
are less involved in the school.

The parents involvement extends from the confine of the school of the homes.
The parents become part of the environment of learning at home. Parents follow
up the lesson of their children especially in basic education. Parents provide
curriculum materials that are not provided in schools. They provide permission
for their children to participate in various activities outside the school campus.

In most schools the Parents Association is organized. This organization is

provided by the law. In most cases Parent Associations have strengthened the
school curriculum.

5. Community Members as Curriculum Resources

The success in the implementation of the curriculum requires resources.

However, most often teachers complain that resources are very scarce. There are no
books, materials nor facilities available. These are the usual complaints of teachers. The
community members and materials in the existing local community can very well
substitute for what are needed to implement the curriculum. Respected community
members may be included in school boards as in some schools. Some can become
resource speakers. They can be interviewed. In many communities there are living
masters who can provide local and indigenous knowledge in the school curriculum. The
whole community can serve as a curriculum resource thus, cad, member has a great
stake in the curriculum implementation.

6. Other Stakeholders in Curriculum Implementation

On the other hand, since all schools in the country, arc under the regulation of the
national government as provided for in the Phil. Constitution, then the government has a
great stake in curriculum implementation. The government is represented by the
Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education curricula and the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED) for the tertiary and graduate education curricula. These two
government agencies have mandatory and regulatory powers over the implementation
or any curricula. The third 'government agency that has high stake in the schools'
curricula is the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), It is because the graduates or the
different tertiary degrees must be certified as professionals. The Professional Regulation
Commission, through the Professional Regulatory Board, conduct examinations for some
degree programs like the Licensure Examination for Teachers, Accountants, Dentists,
Engineers, and Nurses among others while the Supreme Court has a professional bar
examination to certify lawyers and the Philippine Medical Association through its Medical Board
of Examiners conducts medical board exams for the licensure examination for doctors.

Perhaps before we discuss this section many of us believe that after a curriculum
has been written it can be implemented by anyone. Now, we realize that there are many
stakeholders in curriculum implementation. Each one has a role to play. Each one is on
watch on how the curriculum implemented. Some have a direct involvement, while
others have indirect influence.

Module III . Lesson 2 - The Roles 01 Technology In Delivering the Curriculum

Instructional media may also be referred to as media technology or learning

technology, or simply technology, Technology plays a crucial role in delivering instruction
to learners,

Technology offers various tools of learning and these range from non-projected
and projected media from which the teacher can choose, depending on what he sees fit
with the intended instructional setting, For example, will a chalkboard presentation be
sufficient in illustrating a mathematical procedure; will a video clip be needed, for
motivating learners?

In the process, what ensues is objective-matching where the teacher decides on what
media or technology to use to help achieve the set learning objectives.
 Non-projected media Projected media

Real objects Overhead transparencies

Models Opaque projection

Field trips Slides

Kits Filmstrips

Printed materials (books, worksheets) Films

Visuals (drawings, photographs, Video, VCO, OVO

graphs, charts, posters) Computer I multimedia

Visual boards (chalkboard, whiteboard, presentations

flannel board. etc.)

Audio materials

Factor for Technology Selection

In deciding on which technology to use from a wide range of media available, the
factors on which to base selection are:

1. Practicality - Is the equipment (hardware) or already prepared lesson material

(software) available? If not, what would be the cost in acquiring the equipment or
producing the lesson in audio or visual form?

2. Appropriateness in relation to the learners - Is the medium suitable to the

learners' ability to comprehend? Will the medium be a source of plain amusement or
entertainment, but not learning?

3. Activity Suitability - Will the chosen media fit the set instructional event, resulting in
either information, motivation, or psychomotor display?

4. Objective-matching - Overall, does the medium help in achieving the learning

objective(s)?

The Role of Teaching in Curriculum Delivery

 It can easily be observed that technological innovation in the multifarious fields of
commerce, science and education, is fast developing such that it different to foresee the
technological revolution in the millennium, inclusive of educational changes. For certain,
however, technological changes in education will make its impact on the delivery of more
effective, efficient and humanizing teaching-and-learning.

But presently, we can identify three current trends that could carry on to the
nature of education in the future. he first trend is the paradigm shift from teacher-
centered to student-centered approach to learning. The second is the broadening
realization that education is not simply a delivery of facts and information, but an
educative process of cultivating the cognitive, affective, psychomotor, and much more
the contemplative intelligence of the learners of a new age. But the third and possibly
the more explosive trend is the increase in the use of new information and
communication technology or ICT.

Already at the turn of the past century, ICT in its various forms and
manifestations has made its increasing influence on education, and it is expected that
the trend will speed up even more rapidly. Propelling this brisk development is the
spread of the use of the computer, and the availability of desktop micro-computers
affordable not only to cottage industries, businesses, and homes but also to schools.

For now, the primary roles of educational technology in delivering the school
curriculum's instructional program have been identified:

Upgrading the quality of teaching-and-learning in schools

Increasing the capability of the teacher to effectively inculcate learning, and for
students to gain mastery of lessons and courses

Broadening the delivery. of education outside schools through non-traditional

approaches to formal and informal learning, such as Open Universities and
lifelong learning to adult learners .

Revolutionizing the use of technology to boost educational paradigm shifts that

give importance to student-centered and holistic learning.

1. Lettering style or font consistency and harmony

2. Number of lettering style-no more than 2 in a static display (chart, bulletin

board)

3. Use of capitals --short titles or headlines should be no more than 6 words

4. Lettering colors- easy to see and read. Use of contrast is good for emphasis
 5. Lettering size-good visibility even for students at the back of the classroom.

6. Spacing between letters-equal and even spacing.

7. Spacing between lines-not too close as the blur at a distance.

8.Number of lines-No more than 8 lines of text in each transparency/slide.

9. Appeal-unusual/catchy, two dimensional, interactive (use of overlays or

movable flaps.)

10. Use of directional-devices (arrows, bold letters, bullets, contrasting color and
size, special placement of an item.

The overall look - patterns of alignment, shape, balance, style, color scheme und
color appeal. That educators are now more keenly aware of their responsibility to deliver
the highest quality of education to learners, while also recognizing the need to use and
integrate technology in the curriculum and the teaching-learning process of classroom
instruction is a very good development. There is no doubt, however, that the concept of
educational technology is a very complex one, made more sophisticated with the advent
of what is called hypermedia or multimedia packages that include: text, audio, graphic
image (still picture), animation and video clip.

Today, hypermedia finds an application in what is known as Information and

Communication Technology or ICT that includes tutorial software packages, web pages,
simulation games, project management packages, and others. To cite an example, the
hypermedia package in Economics which can be accessed through the Internet site
WinEcon. One hundred (100) hours of tutorial material including self-assessment
questions and examinations, an economic database, an economic glossary, references
to leading economic texts and lecture-suited features.

Everyday, technology including Information and Communication Technology,

advances by leaps and bounds, but as it advances we can be certain that educational
technology will continue to play an important role in education.

Pilot Testing or Field Try-Out

Whenever a curriculum is written as in books, course manuals, modules or the

whole curricular program, there is a need to have a try-out or field testing. This process
will gather empirical data to support whether the material or the curriculum is useful,
relevant, reliable and valid.

Most of the field testing or try out follow some form of research designs. Usually it
follows an experimental method, however an initial process can be done without any
comparison group. In this case only or group of students will be used as try out for the
curriculum.

For example, a group of curriculum specialists was commissioned to prepare

instructional materials on mangroves, The materials are educational modules for the
elementary children in the public schools who live along the coastal areas, The
curricular materials were written to better understand and advocate the preservation of
the mangroves in the country.

Using the principles or curriculum writing and hacked up by the content

specialization of the writers and the consultants, the modules were written, The printed
modules were reviewed by the consultants and peers, however, there was a need to
tryout or pilot test the activities and the field practices by the users who are the students
themselves.

The first try-out involved a small group of grade five students. They did the
various activities according to the procedure in the module and under the guidance of
the module writers. The students were ask regarding the clarify of instruction, the
sufficiency of time to accomplish the activity and their understanding of the lessons
learned from the activity. Two days we spent for the first try-out. The result of the first
try-out guided the curriculum specialists to further continue writing the other parts of the
curriculum materials. These complete sets of lessons were ready for the next try-out.

The second try-out was done by students, using a complete set of written
materials from the advanced readings to the field work. Each group again worked on the
materials with the guide of the module writers, Longer time was spent for the second
try-out because the students had to work on the whole lesson not merely on the
practical. The module writers had to determine the level of understanding of the words,
instructions, technical tem1S and the concepts being developed, Likewise, the time
needed to complete the task was also determined and the level of difficulty established.
The try out provided information for the final revision of the materials, The revised
module from the second try out was finally used by the whole class, The final try-out
validated the result of the first and the second try-outs thus after the third try-out the
materials were ready for printing and distribution.

The try-out or pilot testing assures the teachers and the schools that indeed the
curriculum material are ready for use.

You will notice that in the example only one group of students was utilized. This is
what we call a one group no control groups design. On the other hand, a try-out can he
done with two groups one group being the experimental group and the other, the control
group, The group using the module is labeled as the experimental and the other using
any other kind of teaching methods except the modules becomes the control group. At
the end of the try-out, the result of their performance will be compared. This design can
be used in the third try-out of the example given above.

Do you remember the Basic Education Curriculum or the BEC? The Department
of Education Implemented the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC), the original name of
the curriculum to the whole nationwide system in 2002. That year was labeled as the
pilot year of implementation. During the year, all basic education schools simultaneously
implemented the new curriculum. After one year of implementation of the BEC, several
changes were made. The Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) was renamed Revitalized
Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC) and in each subject area some modifications,
revisions, and enhancement from the original form were made.

Curriculum Monitoring

Modification and revision are inherent characteristics or a curriculum. The pilot

lest or try-out is a developmental process that gives the signal as to whether the
particular curriculum can already be implemented with confidence.

However, as the curriculum is being implemented, there is a n end to

continuously monitor the process.

Monitoring asks the question. How are we doing? Is the curriculum

accomplishing is intended purposes? Monitoring is also important to determine if the
curriculum is still relevant and effective. Monitoring is a periodic assessment and adjust-
ment during the try out period. It is like formative evaluation, It determines how the
curriculum is working, such that the monitoring report becomes the basis of a decision
on what aspects have to be retained, improved or modified, Monitoring also provides
diction that would even end or terminate the program. Usually, monitoring is done by the
module writers, curriculum experts or outside agencies. It is a very' important aspect of
curriculum development.

Curriculum Evaluation

Curriculum evaluation as part of total educational evaluation refers to a

systematic process of judging the value, effectiveness and adequacy of a curriculum: its
process, product and setting which will lead to informed decision. Evaluation should be
useful and systematic. The information gathered should be important for the
improvement of and for final judgment of the curriculum being evaluated.

Two Ways of Curriculum Evaluation

In practice. two ways of curriculum evaluation will be presented here. These are
School-Based Evaluation (SBE) and Accreditation.
A. School-Based Evaluation is an approach to curriculum evaluation which places the
content, design, operation, and maintenance of evaluation procedure in the hands of the
school personnel. The school personnel participate on the planning and conduct of
school evaluation activities. It is a participative evaluation where the control and
management of the process rest on the school personnel themselves.

The localized nature of the SBE ensures evaluation which is relevant, meaningful
and useful at the school level. It is important for evaluation process that all who are
affected and those who will implement the decision should play a great role.

A range of evaluation activities may take place within the school. It can be
undertaken by a single teacher, small group of teachers or even the entire school For
example, two teachers may wish to examine a science unit they are both teaching. They
will undertake an evaluation ill order to improve their individual teaching activities. On
the other hand, the whole school may undertake curriculum evaluation of the
mathematics program across all levels in order to re-evaluate school policy and initiate
re-development of the mathematics curriculum.

Some of the advantages of the School-Based Evaluation include the following:

1. Accountability is shared by all, hence bias and conflict are minimized,

2. School personnel develop evaluation skills.

3. The real concerns of the school and community are addressed by the evaluation,

4.Broad participation or school personnel provide opportunities for building school

cohesiveness.

5. Provides reliable and valid information on curriculum, resources, and general

school functioning.

With these advantages the school administrators may opt for a regular evaluation
of its school curriculum. This practice will make all stakeholders alert and will be on their
toes the whole year round.

B. Accreditation

This is a voluntary process of submitting a curricular program to an external

accrediting body for review in any level of education: basic, tertiary or graduate school
to assure standard. Accreditation studies the statement of the educational intentions of
the school and affirms a standard of excellence.

Among the many purpose of accreditation are to foster excellence and improve
programs. The curricular accreditation will assure the academic community, other
agencies and the general public that the curriculum meets standards comparable to
other excellent institutions offering similar programs.

Usually there are ten areas for program accreditation one of which is curriculum
and instruction. Quality instruction is a concern of curriculum. School administrators play
important leadership role in maintaining quality of the program of studies, classroom
management, instructional processes, graduation requirements, academic
performances of the students and the administrative measures for effective instruction.

Areas for Accreditation under Curriculum and Instruction

1. Curriculum and Program of Studies

Program of studies includes the clusters of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values

and experiences that will provide the students at any level with the necessary compe-
tencies for effective learning. A list of subjects or courses to be taken are arranged in a
logical order composed the program of studies. For basic education, program of studies
includes the subject areas in English, Mathematics, Science, Filipino and Makabayan.
The first three clusters aim for the development of internationalism while the last two
clusters develop Filipinism or nationalism. Any program of studies should meet the
Department of Education requirements for basic education. On the other hand, the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) mandates the program of studies for tertiary
and advanced education, The courses or degree programs are composed of general
education subjects, professional education subjects and major subjects. The degree
programs are also enriched by subjects which arc called electives, All schools are
mandated by the specific government agencies to comply with the minimum
requirements of the curricular programs through the issuance of memoranda.

2. Classroom Management

For effective instruction the use of appropriate classroom management is

suggested. The teacher who implements the curriculum sees to it that management of
teaching and learning in the classroom follows procedure and guidelines to enhance
and create an environment conducive to learning. An environment conducive to learning
considers the physical factors such as classroom physical arrangements, ventilation,
lighting, cleanliness, while the human factors include the teachers attitude students
responses, teacher-students relationships, student-student relationships and
interactions. A good classroom management provides opportunities to develop
independent lifelong learners who uphold and observe democratic practices. The
teachers role is to act as manager of learners and learning.

3. Instructional Processes or Methodologies

 How to translate action into the written and planned curriculum is a concern of
instruction. How should a lesson be taught? What teaching methodologies should be
used for a particular type of learners? Is there a fit or match between the lesson
objectives and the methods of teaching? Has teaching or methods of delivery
accomplished the objectives set? The decision of choosing and using the method of
teaching is a crucial factor in curriculum and instruction. There are varied teaching
methodologies that are compatible with the different learning styles of the students.
These emerging strategies of teaching follow principles and theories that enhance
learning outcomes. As teachers, there is a need to know not only the steps or strategies
of teaching but to understand the pedagogical content knowledge of each strategy. Why
such method is being utilized should be known by the teacher who uses it.

Curriculum accreditors see to it that different methodologies are utilized in the

classrooms by the teachers for effective teaching-learning process. Further, teachers
are also guided supported and managed by their school officials.

4. Graduation Requirements

Graduation means successful accomplishment of the curricular program of

studies- A student has to accomplish its academic program as prescribed in the
program of studies mentioned earlier. These requirements are clearly understood upon
enrolment n college by the students and by the parents for students in the elementary or
high schools. The grade requirements of each subjects should be known. Aside from
the academic subjects required, some curricula provide activities that arc necessary and
should be accomplished as a graduation requirement. A good example is a research
project, a field work, a seminar or other related co-curricular activities which are
prescribed in the curriculum. There are also examinations that are given to fully
complete the program of studies. Some call these comprehensive examinations, or exit
examinations. Because students also transfer schools within the country, schools have
policies to address this.

Mobility or transfer of students will lose the benefit of the earned credits in
another school because there are policies of accrediting subjects, uniform course
description, credit transfer or subject substitution that are provided. There are schools or
institutions however that have additional requirements other than those prescribed by
the Department of Education or Commission on Higher Education. All of these
graduation requirements are written in the school's bulletin of infom1ation.

5. Administrative Support for Effective Instruction

A curriculum can be best implemented if there is support of the school

administration. In fact a school principal for example has a distinct responsibility of a
curricular manager or manager of learning. The required physical facilities like good
classrooms, libraries, playground, laboratory, study areas are the primary
responsibilities of the school administrators. Procurement of books and equipment
should be made possible to facilitate instruction. The school class schedules should
result to efficient and effective teaching and learning. This would even include
schedules for exams and short vacations or school break.

Policies should be provided for punctuality of teachers and students in school

attendance and submission of reports. Quality instruction should be sustained by
requiring needed instructional materials, high quality of examination questions and other
support for effective instruction. A school administration which can provide high and
quality support to instruction assures effective curricular outcomes.

6. Evaluation of Academic Performance of Students

In curriculum, it is necessary that learning outcomes be evaluated. After all the

best measure of a curriculum is the learning outcome of the students.

The evaluation of students' performance should make use of valid and reliable
tools which arc periodically reviewed and revised. Students should be informed and be
clarified about the grading system as well as the standards used. Schedules for
examinations, periodical tests, midterms, finals should be given in advance and the
results communicated to them as soon as possible. Students should receive information
about their school performance promptly and regularly. Likewise recognition like
scholarships, certificates and merits should be given.

Success of the school curriculum is shown in the results of the evaluation of the
students' performance.

In summary this lesson tells us that a curriculum undergoes a long and dynamic
process from its plan, to writing, to pilot testing, monitoring and evaluating. The last
three processes were discussed in this lesson which confirms that indeed a good
curriculum is one that delivers good results in the learning outcomes of the learners.
These outcomes are measured against the objectives set in the curriculum plan.

Purpose of Curriculum Assessment

Curriculum assessment is the process of collecting information for use in

evaluation. It is an important part of the systems approach to curriculum development.
Any information, data collected or obtained through various processes will be analyzed
for important decision making processes.

Purposes of Curriculum Assessment:

1. Highlight curriculum expectations

 2. Gather information about what students know and can do
3. Motivate students to learn better
4. Motivate and encourage teachers to meet the identified needs of students
5. Provide evidence to tell how well the students have learned
6. Obtain feedback that helps teachers, students and parents make good decisions
to guide instruction.

Parameters of Assessments

Parameters of assessments in this lesson will include the intended curriculum,

the implemented curriculum and the achieved curriculum.

1. Intended Curriculum

Intended curriculum refers to a set of objectives set at the beginning of any curricular
plan. It establishes the goal, the specific purposes and the immediate objectives to be
accomplished. The intended curriculum answers what the curriculum maker wants to do. There
are certain indicators to measure intended curriculum. Among the indicators arc stated
questions which can he answered. Examples of the questions lire the following:

1. Are the objectives achievable within the learners' developmental levels?

2. Can the objectives be accomplished within the time frame?
3. Are the resources adequate to accomplish the objectives?
4. Are the objectives specific and clear?
5. Are there ways of measuring the outcomes of the objectives?
6. Are the objectives observable?
7. Are the objectives doable?
8. Are the objectives relevant?
9. Overall, are the objectives SMART?

2. Implemented Curriculum

Implemented Curriculum refers to the various learning activities or experiences

of the students in order to achieve the intended curricular outcomes. Many times in our
curriculum, lots of activities are done but these do not accomplish the stated objectives.
Sometimes, there are extra activities done but are not specified in the objectives.

To assess the implemented curriculum the following questions can be addressed:

1. Are the learning activities congruent with the stated objectives?

2. Are the materials and methods appropriate for the objectives set?
3. Does the teacher have the skill to implement the activities or use the
strategy?
4. Does the teacher utilize the various ways of doing to complement the learning
styles of the students?
 5. Are there activities provided for the learners to do to accomplish the same
objectives?
6. Are there activities provided to address individual differences?
7. Do the activities provide maximum learning experiences?
8. Do the activities motivate the learners to do more and harness their
potentials?
9. Do the activities utilize multiple sensory abilities of the learners?
10. Do the activities address multiple intelligences of the learners?

3. Achieved Curriculum

It refers to the curriculum outcomes based on the first two types of curriculum,
the intended and the implemented. The achieved curriculum is now considered the
product. It can be the learning outcomes, or a material product itself, like a book,
module or instructional material. Any achieved curriculum must fit with the objectives
and the activities that were conducted. Achieved curriculum indicates the performance
vis a vis the objectives and the various activities. Achieved curriculum is usually
described by test scores or other performance indicators measured by evaluation tools.

To measure achieved curriculum the following questions should be addressed:

Do the learning outcomes achieved by the learners approximate the level of

performance set at the beginning of the curriculum?
Are the learning outcomes achieved higher or lower than the objectives set?
Do the achieved learning outcomes reflect the knowledge, skills, attitudes and
skills intended to be developed?
How many percent of the learners in the same class perform higher than the
level set at the beginning?
Do the curricular outcomes reflect the goals and the aspirations of the community
where the curriculum was implemented.
Each type of curriculum can be assessed independently and in comparison with
the other three components.

The figure below summarizes the relations among the three kind of curriculum.

Intende Implement
d ed

Curriculu
m

Achieve
d
Each type of curriculum should be linked to one another. Any gap along the line will
make the connection weak and wilt lead to obstacles in the accomplishment of the
overall purpose of the curriculum.

The Basic Education Curriculum (BEC) and the Three Types of Curriculum:
Intended, Implemented and Achieved

Question 1 - What does the BEC aim to accomplish? (Intended Curriculum)

From the DepEd BEC primer, the following are the goals of the basic
education curriculum.

1. To raise the quality of Filipino learners and graduates who will become
lifelong learners
2. To decongest the curriculum in order that ,the teachers and learners will
be able to contextualize it.
3. To use innovative, interdisciplinary and integrative modes of instructional
delivery whenever possible and appropriate.
4. To make values development integral to all learning areas in high school.
5. To increase time for tasks in order to gain mastery of competencies of the
basic tool subjects.
The curriculum objectives are expressed in terms of competencies:
knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which the learners will develop or acquire. These
objectives or competencies determine the content which focuses on learning how to
learn.

Question 2- How was the BEC implemented to accomplish the goals? (Implemented
Curriculum)

To accomplish the goals, the following activities or actions were done or are
being implemented in the different basic education schools of the country.

The BEC decongested the overcrowded the old curriculum into five learning
areas, namely, English, Mathematics, Science, Filipino and Makabayan. The first three
subject areas will develop internationalists while the lust two learning areas will develop
Filipinism.

The teachers in basic education were trained to use innovative,

interdisciplinary, thematic, and integrative modes of instructional delivery. Teachers of
different disciplines plan and teach together in tandem or teams in all subject areas as
possible.

Teaching-learning processes are interactive, to enhance learning. There is

open communication between teachers and learners and among learns themselves.
Instructional materials and multimedia are fully utilized to support interactions thus
teaching will learning become more interesting. Teachers consider the learner as an
active partner rather than a passive receiver of knowledge.

English, Science, Mathematics and Filipino are the basic tool subjects, while
Makabayan develops healthy personal and national self-identity.

Makabayan entails the use of integrated units of learning areas composed of

several subjects in the elementary and in the secondary levels.

For the elementary level, Makabayan is composed of:

Araling Panlipunan or Social Studies (Sibika at Kultura for Grades 1 and 2 and
Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (HeKaSi) for Grades 4, 5, and 6).
Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) for Grades 5 and 6
Musika, Sining at Edukasyong Pangkatawan (MSEP) for Grades 4 to 6 while for
grades 1.3,MSEP is integrated in Sibika and Kultura.
Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) is integrated in all learning areas.
For the High School the components or Makabayan learning area are as follows:

Araling Panlipunan (AP) or Social Studies is composed of Philippine History and

Government, 1st year, Asian Studies, 2nd year World History, 3rd year and
Economics for 4th year.
Technology and Home Economics

Physical Education, Health, Music and Arts (PEHMA)

Edukasyon sa Pagpahalaga (EP) or Values Education.

The school year 2002-2003 was declared as the pilot year in the public schools.
Private basic education schools were encouraged to join in the implementation of the
BEC in the later years.

Question 3- What has the BEC achieved? (Achieved Curriculum)

From its pilot implementation, several monitoring and evaluation processes were
made, The National Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC). The Bureau of
Elementary Education (BEE) and the Bureau of Secondary Education (USE) were
tasked to do the evaluation of the BEC. A continuous monitoring was done by the school
principals and supervisors in the schools, district and divisions. This is referred to as a
school-based monitoring, to allow curriculum managers to make immediate adjustments
and provide feedback to the national offices.

Although, no final report has been perused, among the initial' achievements of
the BEC as expressed by teachers, parents and students informally arc the following:

a. Increased interest and motivation of students to go to school

b. Increased level of performance in the tool subject areas
c. Change in teachers paradigm from a dispenser of knowledge to facilitators
of learning
d. Increased instructional materials support for teaching and learning
e. Increase in the in-service training of teachers
f. More opportunities of learners to learn on their own
g. Use of varied teaching strategies to complement the learning styles of the
students .
h. More involvement of other stakeholders in the education of the children

Criteria for Curriculum Assessment Defined

Criteria are set standards to be followed in assessment. Specifically, as they

apply to curriculum, criteria are set of standards upon which the different elements of
the curriculum are being tested. The criteria will determine the different levels of
competencies or proficiency of acceptable task performance.

Criteria for Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives are statements of curricular expectations. They are sets of
learning outcomes specifically designed for students. Objectives indicate clearly what
the students will learn. They tell us what students will learn after instruction has taken
place. The items must reflect the tasks, skills, content behavior and thought processes
that make up curricular domains and must also match the students' needs. Goals and
instructional objectives are formulated and specified for the following purposes:

To have focus on curriculum and instruction which give direction to where

students need to go.
To meet the requirements specified in the policies and standards of curriculum
and instruction.
To provide the students the best possible education and describe the students
level of performance.
To monitor the progress of students based on the goals.
 To motivate students to learn and the teachers to be able to feel a sense or
competence when goals are attained
For goals and objectives to be formulated criteria on certain elements should be
included according to Howell and Nolet in 2000,

Content - From the objectives, what content should students learn?

Behavior - What will students do to indicate that they have learned?
Criterion - What level of performance should the students have to master the
behavior?
Condition - Under what circumstances should the students work in order to
master that behavior?

Writing erective goals and objectives should also use the following general
criteria.

1. Are the objectives syntactically correct? - Syntactic correctness

One of the first ways people think of to tell if an object is good is to look at
it to see if it has all its parts. Just like instructional objectives, teachers need to
include logically the elements: content, behavior, criteria and conditions.

2. Do the objectives comply with the legal requirements of the course of

subjects? - Compliance with legal requirements.

There should be a direct relationship between the annual goals and the
students present levels of educational performance.

The annual goals should describe what the learners can reasonably be expected
to accomplish within a given period and given appropriate instructional resources.

Short term instructional objectives should be stated so clearly so that it is obvious

how we would measure to see if the objectives are met.

The objectives should describe a sequence of intermediate steps between a

child's present level of educational performance and the annual goals that are
established.

3. Do the objectives pass the stranger test? - The Stranger Test"

Goals and instructional objectives must be measurable so that their status can be
monitored. This does not mean that they need to be derived from, or linked to published
tests. However, basic measurement principles such as reliability do apply. Probably the
simplest way to judge if a goal or objective can be reliably measured is to apply the
stranger test (Kaplan 1995).

If the goals and instructional objectives pass the stranger test, someone not
involved in developing the statements- a stranger-could still use them to write
appropriate instructional plans and evaluate student progress. Obviously, a stranger
could not reliably do so unless the goals and objectives were written in a sufficiently
observable and specific form. The secret to stating something in observable form is
using behaviors. Knowing the answer is hard to measure (because knowing is not
directly observable) but writing the answer is easy to measure because writing is a
behavior.

Both knowledge and behavior are addressed.

The stranger test and the need to specify instructional objective in terms that are
measurable raise an issue that has proven to be disconcerting to many educators. It is
the confusion of knowledge and behavior. This confusion seems to arise because,
although it is knowledge that we are most often trying to transmit, we need to see
behaviors to know if we have succeeded.

The statement of behavior must be in an objective to provide a measurable

indicator of learning. But it is the learning, not the behavior, that is of primary importance
to most teachers. Therefore, when they compose an objective that calls for the student
to" write the correct spelling of science vocabulary" they are not teaching the student to
write, they are trying to increase knowledge of spelling. Although it is true that the
student must do something (like "write") for us to know if the knowledge has increased,
it is a mistake to focus only on the behavior. In fact, it would be a mistake to produce an
objective that requires writing for a student who can't write, unless your goal is to
produce writing.

4. Do they pass the "so what" test? - The So-What" Test

The so-what test speaks of validity. Because the purpose of education is to

prepare people to be socially competent, the so-what test asks whether the goals and
instructional objectives arc important. This is a more difficult test than the stranger test
because it involves value judgments about the curriculum and speculation about the
child's long term needs.

Good objectives specify outcome, that will benefit students by teaching them
things that are socially significant (Ensamigner & Dangel, 1992) and not simply make
life easier for parents and teachers (although these are not always mutually exclusive)
To pass the so-what test, an objective should act to develop, rather than to suppress,
behavior. In cases where behaviors need to be suppressed (because they are
dangerous), goals or objectives should include alternate positive behaviors) Kaplan,
2000; Martin & Pear, 1996; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991).

5. Are the objectives aligned? Individualization

Appropriate goals and instructional objectives are derived from assessment data. They
must be aligned with the students present level of educational performance and
students goals.

6. Do they make common sense? Common Sense

Instructional objective don't have to lit into one sentence, and trying to make
them do so can be very confusing. Objectives tell what the student will learn. not
descriptions of what the teacher will do or what process the student will follow to learn. A
series of guidelines in the form of questionnaire is found in table I the checklist for Goals
and Objectives below:

Another set of criteria which can be used for judging the objectives and goals.
You may check your objectives against the seven questions. If the answer to all the
questions is YES, then the objective meets the criteria,

Table 2, Checklist for Goals and Objectives

Status Questions
YES
NO
1. Do the goals and/or objectives represent an important learning out-
come that is a priority for this student?
2. Is there a goal written for each area of need stated in the present
level of performance?
3. Are the goals realistic in the sense that they can be accomplished in
one year?
4. Are the goals and objectives easily measured?
5. Are there multiple objectives representing intermediate steps to each
goal?
6. Are the goals and instructional objectives appropriately calibrated
(sliced neither too broadly nor too narrowly)?
7. Are the goals and instructional objectives useful for planning and
evaluating instructional programs?

Criteria for Assessment of Instruction

 Another element of curriculum which needs criteria for assessment is instruction.
Instruction refers to the implementation of the objectives. It is concerned with the
methodologies of the strategies of teaching.

Two Approaches to Instruction

The following section describes instruction and the criteria which will be used for
its assessment. But before doing that, let us be familiar first with two approaches to
instruction. These are:

Supplantive Approach. This is referred to as direct instruction (Adams &

Englemann, 1996) In here, the teacher attempts to promote learning by providing
explicit directions and explanations regarding how to do a tank. The teacher assume
primary responsibility for linking new information with the students prior knowledge and
ultimately whatever the students learn. With this approach, information is presented in
an ordered sequence in which component subskills are taught directly or a foundation
for later tasks. This approach to instruction is highly teacher directed.

Generative Approach. This is referred to as constructivist or developmental. In here

the teacher functions as a facilitator who takes a less central role in a learning process
that is student directed (Ensminger & Dangel 1992). The teacher provides opportunities
for the student to make own linkages to prior knowledge and to devise her own
strategies for work. Generative instruction is "constructivist" because much of its
emphasis is on helping students to construct their own educational goals and
experiences as well as the knowledge that results.

With this approach, information is presented on a schedule determined by students'

interests and goals. With generative instruction, sub-skills may not be taught explicitly.

With the generative approach to instruction, learning is assumed to be socially

constructed out of the interaction between the student's innate tendencies and
predisposition (following the student's own timeline) and the social context in which the
student lives (Stone. 1996). But advocates of the generative approach sometimes take
a restrictive view of social context.

Often, they do not seem to view teachers and classrooms as part of the social context.
Therefore, they see intentional instruction by teachers (or parents for that matter) as
"unnatural" and "meaningless" However, as Stone (1996) puts it, "Developmentalism...
fails to recognize the extent to which valued social, emotional and cognitive attributes
may be induced and sustained (not merely facilitated) by the purposeful actions of
teachers and parents.

Table 3. Guidelines for selecting an instructional approach

 Select the Generative Select the Supplantive
Approach When: Approach When:
The Student Has considerate prior Has little prior
knowledge knowledge of the task.
Has adaptive motivational Has non-adaptive
patterns motivational patterns
Experiences consistent Experiences repeated
successes on the task failure on the task.

The Task Is simple for the student Is complex

Is well defined Is ill defined
Can be completed using a Has missing
general problem-solving information
strategy Requires the use of a
Is to understand, but not task specific strategy.
necessarily apply, what is Is privotal to the
learned. learning of subsequent
tasks

What are Curriculum Criteria?

Curriculum criteria are guidelines on standard for curriculum decision making.

The objectives of a curriculum or teaching plan are the most important curriculum
criteria, since they should be used in selecting learning experiences and in evaluating
learning achievement. The criteria are stated in the form of questions as follows:

1. Have teacher and students engaged in student-teacher planning in student-

teacher planning in defining the goals and in determining how they will be
implemented?
2. Do some of the planned goals relate to the society or the community in which the
curriculum will he implemented or the teaching will he done?
3. Do some of the planned goals relate to the individual learner and his or her
needs, purposes, interest und abilities?
4. Are the planned goals used as criteria in selecting and developing learning
materials for instruction?
 5. Are the planned goals used as criteria ill evaluating learning achievement and in
the further planning of learning sub goals and activities?
6. Have the goals of the curriculum or teaching plan been clearly stated; and are
they used by teachers and students in choosing content, materials and activities
for learning?

According to Hass and Parkay (1993), individual differences, flexibility and

systematic planning are criteria that depend in part on knowledge of the different
approaches to learning. The criterion questions are as follows:

Does the curriculum or teaching plan include alternative approaches and

alternative activities for learning?

Have the different learning theories been considered in planning

alternative learning approaches and activities?

Has the significance of rewarded responses, transfer, generalization,

advance organizers, self-concept, meaningfulness of the whole, personal
meaning, imitation, identification and socialization been considered in the
planning?

What are the Characteristics of a Good Curriculum?

A good curriculum must possess specific characteristics in the pursuit of the aims
of education the schools are to pursue. A good curriculum includes the following:

1. Tile curriculum is continuously evolving

The present educational system that we, Filipinos now enjoy did not happen
overnight. It is the product of a long and tedious process of evaluation and change. It
evolved from one period to another to the present.

Thus for a curriculum to be effective, it must have continuous monitoring and

evaluation. The curriculum must adapt its educational activities and services to meet the
needs of a modern dynamic community.

Simply a good curriculum is a progressive curriculum.

2. The curriculum is based on the needs of the people.

It is imperative in developing a curricular program to begin with those that

concern the people themselves, A good curriculum reflects the needs of the individual
and the, society as a whole, The curriculum is in proper shape in order to meet the
challenges of times and make education more responsive to the clientele it serves.
3. The curriculum is democratically conceived.

A good curriculum is developed through the efforts of a group of individuals from

different sectors in the society who are knowledgeable about the interests, needs and
resources of the learner and the society as a whole. The curriculum is a product of
many minds and energies.

4. A good curriculum is a product of long and tedious process

It takes a long period of time in the planning, management, evaluation and

development of a good curriculum. The curriculum is the result of a long-term effort.

5. The curriculum is a complex of details.

A good curriculum provides the proper instructional equipment and meeting

places that are often most conducive to learning, It includes the student-teacher
relationship, guidance and counseling program, health services, school and community
projects, library and laboratories, and other school-related work experiences,

6. The curriculum provides for tile logical sequence of subject matter,

It is an accepted fact that learning is developmental. Thus, classes and activities

should be planned so as to achieve an orderly development or subject matter and step-
by-step progress of the learner. There is a smooth transition and containing
achievement of learners from one subject matter, classroom, grade or school to another.
A good curriculum provides continuity of experience.

7. The curriculum complements and cooperates with other programs of the

community.

The curriculum is responsive to the needs of the community. The school

offers its assistance in the improvement and realization of ongoing programs of the
community. There is cooperative effort between the school and the community towards
greater productivity.

8. The curriculum has educational quality

Quality education comes through the situation of the individuals intellectual and
creative capacities for social welfare and development. The curriculum helps the learner
to support system is secured to augment existing sources for its efficient and effective
implementation.

9. The curriculum has administrative flexibility.

 A good curriculum must be ready to incorporate changes whenever necessary.
The curriculum is open to revision and development to meet the demands of
globalization and the digital age.

What are Marks of a Good Curriculum?

Here are some marks of a good curriculum which may be used as criteria for
evaluation purposes given by J. Galen Saylor.

1. A good curriculum is systematically planned find evaluated.

A definite organization is responsible for coordinating planning and

evaluation.
Steps in planning and evaluation are logically defined and taken.
Ways or workings utilize the contributions of all concerned.
2. A good curriculum reflects adequately the aims of the school
The faculty has defined comprehensive educational aims.
The scope of the curriculum includes areas related to all stated aims.
Each curriculum opportunity is planned with reference to one or more
aims.
In planning curriculum opportunities from year to year and in each area,
teachers consider the total scope of Slims.
3. A good curriculum maintains balance among all aims of the school.

The curriculum gives attention to each aim commensurate with its

importance.
The total plan of curriculum opportunities in basic areas, school activities,
and special interests reflects careful planning with respect to all aims.
Guidance of each individual helps provide him within program which is
well-balanced in terms of his needs and capacities.
The school organization, schedule and facilities help in giving appropriate
attention to each aim.
Classroom activities and schedules are arranged so as to provide
balanced program of varied learning activities.
4. A good curriculum promotes continuity of experience.

Provisions are made for the smooth transition and continuing achievement
of pupils from one classroom, grade or school to another.
Curriculum plan in areas which extend over several years are developed
vertically.
 Classroom practices give attention to the maturity and learning problems
of each pupil.
Cooperative planning and teaching provide for exchange of information
about pupil's learning experiences.
5. A good curriculum arranges learning opportunities flexibly for adaptation to
particular situations and individuals.

Cooperative teaching and planning utilize many opportunities as they arise

to share teaming resources and special talents.
Time allotments and schedules are modified as need justifies.
In accordance with their maturity, pupils participate in the planning of
learning experiences.
The selection of learning experiences reflects careful attention to the
demands of the learning situation.
6. A good curriculum utilizes the most effective learning experiences and resources
available

Learning experiences are developed so that pupils see purpose, meaning

and significance in each activity.
Needed available resources are utilized at the time they are relevant and
helpful.
Use of the right learning resource for each pupil is encouraged.
Teachers discriminate wisely between activities which pupils carry on
independently and these in which teacher pupil interaction is desirable.
Curriculum guides encourage teachers to make their own plans for
specific learning situations.
7. A good curriculum makes maximum provision for the development of each
learner.

The program provides a wide range of opportunities for individuals of

varying abilities, needs and interests.
Extensive arrangement are made for the educational diagnosis of
individual learners.
Self-directed, independent study is encouraged wherever possible and
advisable.
Self-motivation and self-evaluation are stimulated and emphasized
throughout the learning opportunities of the school.
The curriculum promotes individual development ,rather than conformity to
some hypothetical standard.
 The school attempts to follow up its former students both as a service to
them and for evaluative data.

What is Evaluation?

Evaluation is the process of determining the value of something or the. extent

to which goals are being achieved. It is a process of making a decision or reading a
conclusion. It involves decision making about student performance based' on
information obtained from an assessment process, Assessment is the process of
collecting information by reviewing the products of student work, interviewing,
observing, or testing.

Evaluation is the process of using information that is collected through

assessment. The ultimate purpose of any evaluation process that takes place in schools
is to improve student learning, (Howell and Nolet, 2000).

Evaluation entails a reasoning process that is based on influence, Inference is

the process of arriving at a logical conclusion from a body of evidence, Inference usually
refers to the process of developing a conclusion on the basis of some phenomenon that
is not experienced or observed directly by the person drawing the inference.

Evaluation is a thoughtful process. We use it to help us understand things.

Evaluation has been defined in a variety of ways, all of which have at their core the idea
of comparison. When we evaluate, we make comparisons between things, note the
differences, summarize our findings and draw conclusion about results.

Evaluation is the judgment we make about the assessments of student learning

based on established criteria. It involves a process of integrating assessment
information from various sources and using this information to make inferences and
judgments about how well students have achieved curriculum expectations. Evaluation
involves placing a value on and determining the worth of student assessment.
Evaluation are usually made so that progress can be communicated to students and
parents.

Evaluation provides information

directly to the learner for guidance

directly to the teacher for orientation of the next instruction activities

directly to external agencies for their assessment of schools

functioning in the light of national purpose.
What is Curriculum Evaluation?

Curriculum evaluation is the process of obtaining information for judging the

worth of an educational program, product, procedure, educational objectives or the
potential utility of alternative approaches designed to attain specified objectives (Glass
and Worthem , 1997)

Curriculum evaluation focuses on determining whether the curriculum as

recorded in the master plan has been carried out in the classroom. In evaluating a
curriculum, the following key questions are usually asked:

Are the objectives being addressed?

Are the contents presented in the recommended sequence?
Are students being involved in the suggested instructional experiences?
Are students reacting to the contents?

Assessing the Curriculum

Tools to Assess Curriculum

Finding out what students know and can do requires multiple sources of information and
differing types of assessment. The key is the match the learning and the assessment
tool. The selection of a strategy is determined both by what is to be assessed and the
reasons or purposes for the assessment. The phase of the learning process at which
the teacher and the students arc working affects the selection of the assessment
strategy and the tools used as one tool maybe unsuitable for different purposes..

What are Assessment Strategies?

Assessment strategies are the structures through which student knowledge and skill are
assessed These are:

pencil and paper strategy

examples: essay, quiz/test/exam, select response
performance based strategy
examples: performance task, exhibition &. demonstration
observational
example observations (noted)
personal communication
examples: conference and interview
oral
examples: question and answers, classroom presentation
reflective
 examples: self-assessment, response journal
combination of strategies
examples: portfolios

PAPER-AND-PENCIL STRATEGY

The Essay

A. Definition

The essay:

is a writing sample used to assess student understanding and or how well

students can analyze and synthesize information;
is a pencil-and-paper assessment where a student constructs a response
to a question, topic, or brief statement;
provides the student with opportunity to communicate his/her reasoning in
a written response
B. Purpose

The essay is used to:

assess the student's ability to communicate ideas in writing; measure
understanding and mastery of complex information.

C. Characteristics

The essay:

measures a student's ability (e.g., in making comparisons, applying

principles to new situations, organizing information, drawing inferences,
being persuasive, integrating knowledge and applications, summarizing
information);
assesses knowledge reasoning, organi1.ation and communication skills;
directly measures the performance specified by the expectations;
includes a scoring plan which specifies attributes for a quality answer (e.g.
conciseness, factual knowledge, connection between argument and
supporting facts) and indicates the value associated with each of the
attributes;
affords the student a chance to construct his/her own answers,
demonstrating creativity and/or originality.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher

Uses professional judgment to develop the problem, question, or

statement and the scoring of the final product.
 E. Consideration

The essay:

is issued to assess separately the student's ability to communicate ideas,

write proficiently and comprehend context;
is less time-consuming to construct compared to objective item testing. hill
can require considerable time to evaluate;
is not all effective means of assessing a students entire domall1 of
content 'knowledge. or assessing more than one or two reasoning skills at
an) one time.

The Select Response

A. Definition

The select response:

is a pencil-and-paper assessment in which the student is to identify

the one correct answer;
is a commonly used procedure for gathering formal evidence about
student learning, specifically in memory, recall and comprehension.

B. Purpose

The select response is used to:

test student learning of subject/content knowledge (facts, concepts,

principles or generalizations, procedures);
assess prerequisite knowledge (e.g. when communicating in a second
language, students can be assessed on vocabulary prior to a conversation
in that language.)

C. Characteristics

The select response:

can be administered to large numbers of students at the same time;

can be scored very quickly;
is stated in clear, simple language.

D. Teacher's Role

The Teacher:

Uses professional judgment to develop the problem, question or statement

and the scoring of the final product.
 E. Considerations

The essay:

is issued to assess separately the students ability to communicate ideas,

write proficiently and comprehend context.
Is less time-consuming to construct compared to objective item testing,
but can require considerable time to evaluate;
Is not an effective means of assessing a students entire domain of
content knowledge or assessing more than one or two reasoning skills at
any one time.

The Performance based strategy

The Performance Task

A. Definition

The performance task:

is an assessment which requires students to demonstrate a 'skill or

proficiency by asking them to create, produce, or perform;
may be an observation of a student or group' of students performing a
specific task to demonstrate skills and/or knowledge through open-ended,
"hands-on" activities.

B. Purpose

The performance task is used to:

provide an efficient means of assessment where the skill can not be

demonstrated with a pencil-and-paper test;
enable learners to demonstrate abilities skills, attitudes, and behaviors;
provide information about a learner's ability to organize, draw on prior
knowledge and experience, improvise, choose from a range of strategies,
represent learning, and make decisions to complete a task;
test skills in the affective. cognition. psychomotor, and perceptual
domains.

Characteristics

The performance task:

can be diagnostic, formative or summative assessment;

uses ongoing feedback;
allows most learners to participate successfully in varying degrees;
provides opportunities for learners to work individually as well as in small
groups.
 Focuses on the process as well as the product
Provides contexts that have relevance to the students (may enhance
motivation as students work on real tasks; tasks are meaningful real
world application.
Provides the most realistic assessment of job related competencies as
well as the product;
Includes tasks such as painting, speeches, musical presentations,
research papers, investigations athletic performance projects, exhibitions
and other products that require students to construct a unique response to
a task.

D. Teachers Role

The Teacher

Observes a student or group of students performing a specific task;

Shares with the student the responsibility of developing and organizing the
performance task, and settling assessment criteria.
Assigns a level of proficiency based on the performance
The Exhibition / Demonstration

A. . Definition

The exhibit ion/demonstration:

Is a performance in which the student demonstrates individual

achievement through application of specific skills and knowledge;
is used to assess progress in tasks that require students to be actively
engaged in an activity (e.g. performing an experiment)

B. Purpose

The exhibition/demonstration is used to:

allow students to show achievement of a skill or knowledge by requiring

the student to demonstrate that skill or knowledge in use,

C. Characteristics

The exhibition/demonstration:

is either an actual situation or a simulation (emphasis in a simulation is

upon mastery of the fundamentals of the knowledge/skill);
is often used in the Arts;
is accompanied by a list of performance attributes as well as the
assessment criteria. which should be determined prior to the
demonstration;
 is frequently organized in assessment stations where the stations are
used to test II variety of skills (e.g., basketball circuit jump, set shot,
dribble around pylons)

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

assesses how well a student performs a practice, behavior or skill.

E. Considerations

The exhibition/demonstration:

may be interdisciplinary;
may require student initiative and creativity;
may be a competition between individual students or groups;
may be a collaborative project that students work on over time;
should be constructed and administered in a manner which is
equivalent for all students (e.g., all candidates in a music
demonstration play the same piece on the same piano).

THE OBSERVATIONAL STRATEGY

A. Definition

Observation:

is a process of systematically viewing and recording student behavior for

the purpose of making programming decisions; permeates the entire
teaching process by assisting the teacher in making the decisions required
in effective teaching

B. Purpose

Observation:

provides systematic, ongoing information about students in relation to

areas of strengths and weaknesses, preferred learning styles, unique
interests, learning needs, skills, attitudes, behavior, and performance
related expectations.

C. Characteristics

Observation:
 can be used every day to assess students of different ages, across
subject areas, and in different settings (alone, in partners, small groups or
whole class);

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

The Conference

A. Definition

The conference:

is a formal or informal meeting between/among the teacher and student

and/or parent;
has a clear focus on learning for discussion

B. Purpose

The conference is used to:

exchange information or share ideas between among the individuals at the

conference;
explore the student's thinking and to suggest next steps;
assess the students level of understanding of in particular concept or
procedure:
enable a student to move ahead more successfully on a particular piece of
work;
review, clarify, and extend what the student has already completed; help
students internalize criteria for good work.

C. Characteristics

The conference:

provides a clear focus for discussion (i.e., a specific piece of work);

requires that responsibility for the success of the conference is shared by
all participants;
may take place as the learner is exploring a new concept or topic, or be a
goal-setting session or a report on progress;
is brief, informal and occurs routinely;
can be effective for both diagnostic and formative assessment.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

comes to the conference prepared with specific questions to be answered;

 gives individual feedback and clarifies misconceptions;
puts students at ease, and supports student progress. In the case of a
writing conference, for example, a mini-lesson may be given by the
teacher;
focuses on the process of reasoning followed by the: student;
recants information (conference record) during or Immediately following
the communication.
E. Considerations

The conference:

can be part of collaborative planning and decision-making;

is assisted by prepared questions
can be involved in major projects or independent studies.

THE INTERVIEW

A. Definition

The interview:

is a form of conversation in which all par1ies (teacher, student and parent)

increase their knowledge and understanding.

B. Purpose

The interview is used to:

focus on inquiry where the purpose of the meeting is based on

investigation;

explore the student's thinking:

assess the students level of understanding of particular concept or

procedure;

gather information, obtain clarification, determine positions and probe for

motivations help determine student's understanding of qualities of good
work.

. Characteristics

The interview:

tends to be a meeting which involves inquiry;

 can be adapted to probe any problem or any consideration;

occurs routinely;

is usually guided by planned questions.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

is responsible for the initial questions that guide the conversation, as well
as the flow and movement of the exchange;

generates information during the interview which may lead to decisions,

agreements, solutions;

allows. students to take the lead in the interview when appropriate.

E. Considerations

The interview:

needs time built in for conversations especially when the purpose is an

honest and thoughtful exchange.

ORAL STRATEGY

The Questions & Answers

Definition

Questions

are posed by the teacher to determine if students .understand what is

being/has been presented or to extend thinking, generate ideas or
problem-solve.

Answers:

provide opportunities for oral assessment when the student responds to a.

question by speaking rather than by writing.

B. Purpose
 Questions and answers arc used to:

provide n mechanism which monitors a student's understanding while

assessing student progress (what they know and can do);

gather information about 1\ student's learning needs.

C. Characteristics

Question and answers:

help teachers and students clarify their purpose for learning and link
previous information with new understandings.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

notes how students answer questions during instruction to know if the

students understand what is being presented or are able to perform skills;

should ensure that all students participate, not just those individuals who
typically respond with answers.

E. Considerations

Questions and answers:

can help to ensure that all students are involved if tracking is done to
ensure that all students participate;

is used with consideration that some individuals are not comfortable or

fluent expressing themselves orally.

The Classroom Presentation

. Definition

The classroom presentation:

is an assessment which requires students to verbalize their knowledge,

select and present samples of finished work and organize thoughts, in
order to present a summary of learning about a topic.

B. Purpose

The classroom presentation is used to:

 provide summative assessment upon completion of a project or an essay;

assess students when it is inappropriate or difficult to test a student's

understanding or knowledge with pencil-and-paper test.

C. Characteristics

The classroom presentation:

can provide students with an opportunity to use concrete materials to

express their ideas and talents;

may be a teaching tool if the presentation is designed to further the

learning of the audience.

. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

with the students or alone, sets the criteria for the assessment of the
presentation (i.e., rubric);

monitors student progress at selected stages during student preparation;

provides oral or written feedback after the presentation.

E. Considerations

The classroom presentation:

is a natural form of assessment for speeches, debates and subjects such

as the study of languages;

holds the potential to increase peer comparisons which may be harmful to

some students because of the oral and visual aspects of presentations;

is a critical skill to be taught. practiced, assessed and evaluated.

THE REFLECTIVE STRATEGY

Self-Assessment

A. Definition

Self-assessment

is the process of gathering information and reflecting on one's own

learning;
 is the student's own assessment of personal progress in knowledge, skills,
processes. or attitudes;

leads a student to a greater awareness and understanding of himself or

herself as a learner.

B. Purpose

Self-assessment is used to:

assist students to take more responsibility and ownership of their learning.

provide insights and information that enable students to make decisions

about their learning and to set personal learning goals;

use assessments as a means of learning;

focus on both the process and products of learning;

help students critique their own work;

help student internalize the characteristics/criteria of quality student work,

Characteristics

Self-assessment:

promotes the development of metacognitive ability (the ability to reflect

critically on one's own reasoning);

may involve an introspective observation, a product assessment or a test;

may include attitude surveys, interest inventories, and personal journals;

involves questions such as "I tow do I learn best?", "What are my areas for
growth?". "Where do I need to improve?"

is used to determine if a student's beliefs about his/her performance

correspond to the actual performance observed by the teacher.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

guides students by helping students understand how to reflect on learning;

provides time and opportunities for self-assessment;

 designs the questions or selects the self-assessment tool.

can use student self-assessment to determine change or growth in the

student's attitudes, understandings, and achievement;

completes the assessment based on personal reflection about

achievement or performance.

E. Considerations'

Self-assessment:

is used to compare whether the student and the teacher have similar
views of expected performance and criteria for evaluation;

develops gradually as students begin to use the process in daily activities;

can help students to witness personal growth through comparison with

their own previous work, regardless of ability.

THE RESPONSE JOURNAL:

A. Definition

The response journal:

provides frequent written reflective responses to a material that a

student is reading, viewing, listening to, or discussing.

B. Purpose

The response journal is used to:

record personal reflections, observations, and interpretations.

C. Characteristics

The response journal:

allows time for students to formulate well-considered responses;

includes both factual information and the student's personal

reflections;

is provided within a climate which is non-threatening and open, and

which encourages risk-taking;

can provide the focus for a student-teacher conference.

 Is a vehicle for communication with teachers, peers, parents; can
include visual representations (e.g.. artwork. sketches);

Can be used in nil subject areas..

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

writes comments in the spirit of a dialogue (by asking questions and

sharing thoughts).

E. Considerations

The response journal:

focuses on the process of reflective thinking;

includes depth of thought and connection with understandings and

experience as appropriate criteria for assessment;

respects the personal nature of a journal and the learner's desire

for privacy;

does not cmphl1si1.c the formal aspects of writing style or

correctness.

COMBINATION OF STRATEGIES

The Portfolio

A. Definition

The Portfolio:

is a purposeful collection of samples of a student's work that

is selective reflective and collaborate;

demonstrates the range and depth of a student's achievement,

knowledge, and skills over time and across a variety of contexts

Has student involvement in selection of portfolio materials as part

of the process.
 Is a visual presentation of a students accomplishments,
capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and progress over a specified
time.

B. Purpose

The purpose is used to:

document typical student work and progress.

Provide a comprehensive view of the students progress, efforts

and achievements.

Reflect growth and progress but may serve different purposes

during the year.

Provide a focus for student reflection on their own learning

Build a student sense of responsibility for his/her own learning;

Build a student confidence in her/his abilities as a learner;

Promote an ongoing process where students demonstrate assess and

revise in order to improve and produce quality work

C. Characteristics

The Portfolio:

tracks student progress on a variety of assessments over a period of time;

promotes the skills of student self-assessment and goal setting;

has a stated purpose and intended audience which are important to the
entire process;

may include entries that the student and teacher consider as important
representations of learning;

can provide a focus for a conference or an interview involving the

student. the teacher and parents;

provides the opportunity for students to practice, assess, and select their
own work.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:
 makes regular formative assessments during the portfolio process to
determine individual needs and progress toward specified learning
expectations in order to provide further instruction;

provides regular feedback to students regarding their performance related

to pre-stated criteria in order to help the students to improve determines or
negotiates with the students the purpose for the portfolios, the criteria for
selections (e.g. number of items, categories) und the time frame for use;

reads the reflections and comments on the student's assessment' or

personal learning

E. Considerations

The Portfolio:

if! developed collaborately by teachers and students, including shared

development of the purpose of the portfolio and criteria for selecting
samples for inclusion;

requires standardization regarding what is included if the portfolio is used

for evaluative purposes;

RECORDING DEVICES/ TOOLS

Recording devices provide various means of organizing the recordings of

information about student achievement. Teachers can choose or develop recording
devices which suit the teacher's style, the students and the activity or learning being
assessed. These are:

1. anecdotal record

2. checklist

3. rating scale

4. rubric

5. learning log

The Anecdotal Record

A. Definition

The anecdotal record:

 is a short narrative describing both a behavior and the context in which the
behavior occurred;

should objectively report specific and observed behaviors;

describes student performance in detail and in writing.

B. Purpose

The anecdotal record is used to:

provide an ongoing record of written observations of student progress;

to record objectively, significant observations that are not part of a formal

assessment which might otherwise be forgotten or remembered
incorrectly;

record observations of unanticipated performances, behaviors, incidents.

or events.

C. Characteristics

The anecdotal record:

provides rich portraits or an individual student's achievement;

to records observations which have special significance and cannot be

obtained from other classroom assessment strategies;

may appear unstructured since this tool is used to record spontaneous,

unexpected demonstrations and/or behaviors statements;

records information on a form which specifies the learner, the date of

observation and a factual description of the event or behavior.

Sows information collected over time and carefully analyzed in order to

make accurate judgments about student achievements

Provides a mechanism to recognize patterns of student growth over time;

is often used to document students behavior for alter reference.

D. Teachers Role

The Teacher
 determines which observations arc to he considered significant and
important;

pre-plans the general format of the form with labels (e,g., name of student,
date, time, setting, description);

states in clear, concise language exactly what is observed;

should record information while the event or behavior is fresh in the

teacher's mind;

records incidents with a purpose (e.g" in terms of instructional decisions,

progress related to a specific student goal);

establishes a systematic procedure for collecting records on allstudents,

ensuring that no individual is overlooked.

E. Considerations

The anecdotal record:

is time-consuming to read, write, and interpret;

is often used in conjunction with other assessment strategies;

records interpretations or recommendations separately from the

description of the student's performance; .

The Checklist:

A. Definition

The checklist

is a list of actions or descriptions that a rater (teacher) checks off as the

particular behavior or expectation is observed;

is a written list of performance criteria which is used to as a student

performance through observation, or may be used assess student
performance through observation, or may be used to assess written work;

is a list of skills concepts behaviors processes and/or attitudes that might

or should occur in a given situation.

B. Purpose

The checklist is used to:

 record whether a specific skill or behavior was evident or not evident

record the presence or absence of specific behaviors in given situations

record a performance that can should be shown to students to help them

see where improvement is needed.

C. Characteristics

The checklist

is used when the process or product can be broken into components that
are judged to be present or absent; adequate or inadequate;

provides a list of key attributes of good performance that are checked as

either present or absent;

is quick and useful with large number of criteria;

can be used in a variety of settings to establish the presence or absence

of a series of conditions;

enables the teacher to record whether a specific skill or behavior was

evident or not evident or more specifically whether the behavior was
observed or not at the time the checklist was used.

Includes specific concepts, skills, processes, and/or attitudes which are to

be assessed;

Is diagnostic, reusable and capable of charting student progress;

Is an efficient way to obtain information about a students improvement

over time by using the same checklist more than once;

Is useful for diagnosing an individual students strengths and weaknesses;

Consist of a list of statements which are expected to be exhibited;

Usually uses a check mark, or other indicator which is placed in the

appropriate space on the checklist form to indicate that it ahs occurred;

Is useful for students in self and peer assessment.

D. Teachers Role

The teacher:
 observes, judges, and determines if a student's performance meets the
criteria outlined on the checklist;

records the occurrence of the skill, behavior, concept, process, and/or

attitude on the checklist;

does not valuable the quality of the work or contribution but Indicates that
it occurred or was completed;

should make a sufficient number of observations about a student before

an evaluate judgment is applied.

The Rating Scale

A. Definition

The rating scale:

is a simple tool for assessing performance on a several-point scale

ranging from low to high. It may have a few as 3 points or as many as 10
points;

assesses the extent to which specific facts, skills, attitudes, and/or

behaviors are observed in a student's work or performance;

is based on II set of criteria which allows the teacher to judge

performance, product, attitude, and/or behavior along a continuum.

is used to judge the quality of a performance.

B. Purpose

The rating scale is used to:

provide detailed diagnostic information on a student's performance,

product, attitude, behavior in reference to pre-stated criteria.

record the frequency or even the degree to which a student exhibits a

characteristic;

record the range of student achievement in relation to specific behaviors;

describe performance along a continuum.

C. Characteristics
The rating scale:

provides a scale or range of responses for each item that the teacher is
assessing.

can be analytic or holistic. Analytic rating scales describe. a product or

performance on multiple dimensions (e.g., in writing task the dimensions
or criteria that might be rated are organization, mechanics, and creativity).
Holistic ratings consider nil the scoring criteria simultaneously, rather than
assigning separate scores.

D. Teachers Role

The teacher:

uses II scale to describe the student;

makes decisions about the student's work on the basis of descriptions,

categories, or topic and assigns a numerical or qualitative description.

E. Considerations

The rating scale:

uses statements to rank, describe or identify criteria;

uses carefully chosen words to describe the meaning of various points on

the scale so that they have the same meaning to different raters (teacher,
student, peer)

is used best as single rating scale and applied across all performance
criteria. Using many different scales requires the teacher to change focus
frequently, distracting attention from the performance and decreasing
rating accuracy.

The Rubrics

A. Definition

The rubric:

is a series of statements describing a range of levels of achievement of a

process, product or It performance;
 contains brief, written descriptions of the different levels of student
performance;

defines desired expectations with specific performances outlined for each

level;

is a descriptive rating scale which requires the rater to choose among the
different levels;

uses criteria and associated descriptions to assess the actual

performance.

B. Purpose

The rubric is used to:

summarize both student performance and product against prestated

criteria;

make scoring of student performance more precise than using a list of

items;

provide a clear description of what "quality" work looks like.

C. Characteristics

The rubric:

consists of several descriptions, each for a different level of quality;

addresses several qualities (criteria) simultaneously within the same scale

and at different levels;

uses the same set of variables to judge ate ach level of rating.

uses specific descriptions of each of the variables for each point along the
continuum.

Communicates to students, teachers and parents what is expected in

terms of quality work

Provides a summative representation of a student performance

Is used effectively in conjunction with exemplars which are concrete

examples of student work at various levels.

D. Teachers Role
The teacher:

selects which of the descriptions comes closest to the students

performance

E. Considerations

The rubric:

can be used in conjunction with self-assessment and peer, review

involves student in the process of identifying important performance

criteria which gives him/her ownership of the criteria and provides
concrete examples of good and poor performance or products;

can be designed for a specific task such as a design project. or it many be

designed for a generic skill such in problem solving.

The Learning Log

A. Definition

The learning log:

is an ongoing record by the student of what he/she does while working on

a particular task or assignment;

makes visible what a student is thinking and/or doing through frequent

recordings over time.

B. Purpose

The learning log is used to:

show student progress and growth over time;

provide the student with the opportunities to gather and interpret

information. to ask questions. and to make connections,

C. Characteristics

The learning log:

is It useful tool if students arc working on 1\ project which stretches over several
days or even weeks;
 an provide a helpful focus for discussion during a conference where progress is
assessed.

Provides unlimited opportunities for individual reading and writing on a consistent

basis.

D. Teacher's Role

The teacher:

provides the guidelines for the maintenance of the learning log;

provides regular feedback In the students.

E. Considerations

The learning log

may present a challenge for some students who have a difficult time expressing
their thoughts in writing;

provides students with opportunities for reflection about their progress towards a
stated goal.

ANOTHER SOURCE CITES VALUABLE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES:

Non-Test Monitoring and Assessment

Many of the following suggestions are similar to the suggested teaching strategies.
Those who advocate increased use of non-test monitoring and assessment argue that
instruction and assessment ,at their best are intertwined. Good instruction involves
observing and analyzing student performance and the most valuable assessment
activities should be learning experiences as well.

1. Oral and written reports _. Students research a topic and then present
either orally or in written form.

2. Teacher observation - The teacher observes students while they work to

make ccI1ain the students understand the assignment and are on task.
Example: Cooperative Learning

3. Journal - Students write daily on assigned or personal topics. Example:

What is the thing you remember about yesterday's lesson.
4. Portfolio of student's work - Teacher collects samples of student's 'work
and saves for determined amount of time. Example: Dated sample of
students' writing, test, etc.

5. Slates or hand signals - Students use slates or hand signals as a

means of signaling answers to the teacher. Example: Review questions -
write answers and hold up slate.

6. Games.. Teachers utilize fun, activities to have the students practice and
review concepts. Example: Science trivia.

7. Projects - The students research on a topic and present it in a creative

way.

8. Debates.. The students take opposing position on a topic and defend their
position. Examples: The pros and cons of an environment legislation.

9. Checklist The teacher will make a list of objectives that students need to
master and then check off the skill as the student masters it.

10. Cartooning - Students will use drawings to depict situation and ideas.
Examples: Environmental issues.

11. Models The students produce a miniature replict of a given topic.

Example Molecules.

12. Notes Students write a summary of a lesson.

13. Daily assignments . The students complete work assigned on a daily

basis to be completed at the school or home. Example: Worksheets
issues

14. Anecdotal record - The teachers record a students behavior. Example: A

daily log or a students success.

15. Panel - A group of students verbally preset information. Example: A

discussion presenting both the pros and cons of the environmental issues.

16. Learning centers .- Students use teacher provided activities for hands-on
learning. Example: An activity folder on frog dissection.

17. Demonstration -. Students present II visual enactment of aparticular skill

or activity. Examples: Proving that air has. A weight.

18. Problem solving - student follow a step-by-step solution of a problem.

 19. Discussions - Students in a group verbally interact on a given topic.
Example: Environmental Issues

20. Organize note sheets and study guides - Students collect information to
help pass a test. Example: one 3x5 note card with information to be used
during a test.

Curriculum and Instruction

A curriculum according to Howell and Evans (1995) and Sands, et al (1995) is a

structured set of learning outcomes or tasks that educators usually call goals and
objectives. Students are. expected to learn the information specified in the
curriculum so that they will have the skills needed to prepare students to succeed
in society. Curriculum is the "what" of teaching.

Further, Howell and Evans (1995) says that knowledge of the curriculum is
for successful assessment, evaluation, decision making and teaching. Without a
curriculum component,. there is no need of the teacher-directed instruction and
therefore no lesson. Deciding which curriculum task should be taught and which
instructional approach to use best, requires the .use of evaluative procedure.

Curriculum here is understood ..s the content. Curriculum developers need to bring to
the content selection the criteria of significance, validity, interest. Learn ability and
feasibility.

Significance brings the content to the degree to which it contributes the basic
ideas, concepts, principle and generalization and to the development of particular
learning abilities, skills, processes and attitudes and to the congruence of the content in
the light of the objectives selected.

Validity refers to .the degree of authenticity of the content selected and to the
congruence of the content in the light of the objectives selected.

Interest is the degree to which the content either caters or fosters particular
interests in the students

Learnability is the appropriateness of the content in the tight of the particular students
who arc to experience the curriculum.

Feasibility refers to the question, Can the selected content be taught in the time
allowed, considering the resources, staff and particular community?

The above criteria should be used for the selection of appropriate general
curricular objectives and content.
 The other aspect of curriculum described here arc the objectives. The objectives
provide cue to what content should be included. Curriculum objectives guide the
learning outcomes to be achieved as well as the activities to accomplish these
objectives. Each objective provides a condition, a performance and an extent of
performance. Of course, objectives should meet the criteria of SMART specific,
measurable, attainable, result-oriented and time-bound.

Both the objectives and the contents are inputs to what is defined as the
curriculum. The plan is the intention but it will not have impact if is not placed into
motion.

On the other hand, instruction is the actual engagement of learners of the planned
learning activities. It is the implementation of the curriculum plan. It should be
emphasized that curriculum and instruction interlock with each other. thus without a
curriculum plan, there could be no effective instruction and without instruction,
curriculum has very . little meaning.

Meaningful instruction can be achieved through the different learning experiences

provided. The good selection of these experiences will strengthen instruction. Here are
some criteria to be used in instruction which will select the learning experiences.
Positive answers to these questions will ensure that instruction addresses the
curriculum.

Docs instruction provide learning experiences that:

bring about optimum benefit to the learners?

approximate real life situations?

encourage the learners to inquire further?

heighten learners interest and motivation?

involve the use of different senses?

approximate real life situations?

provide opportunities for broad and deep study?

provide mastery of total learning?

Thus it is important that the curriculum content and objectives should match with the
instruction from where learning experiences are provided.

Curriculum and Assessment

Like instruction, curriculum is also related to assessment. In fact. it is curriculum as
explained above that determines what assessment should be done, and how to do it.

What to accomplish is established by the curriculum. How to determine if the

curriculum has been achieved is determined by assessment.

Assessment is the process of collecting information which describes student

achievement in relation to curriculum. expectations. There are four levels of
achievement based ,on curriculum expectations. These levels can be used to judge the
quality of students work.

Level 4 Student has demonstrated all the required knowledge and skills and
achievement has exceeded the standard set.

Level 3 - Student has demonstrated most of the required knowledge and skills and
achievement exceeded the standard set.

Level 2 - Student has demonstrated some of the required knowledge and skills
and achievement exceeded the standard set.

Level 1 - Student has demonstrated few of the required knowledge and skins and
achievement falls below the standard set

To ensure that assessment is aligned with the curriculum, the teacher needs to
ask the following key questions:

For diagnostic assessment

1. What do I expect my students to learn?

2. What is the best way for my students to demonstrate their achievement?