LECTURE 5

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT.
Cont…
• Curriculum development is the process of determining what
students will learn in a specific course of study.
• Curriculum development describes all the ways in which a
training or teaching organization plans and guides learning.
• Roadman,(1970)says:Curriculum development is “a
systematic process of determining the content to be
imparted, the pedagogy suitable for doing so, the structure
through which it may be carried out most effectively and
determination of how such a process will be evaluated”.
 Cont…
• It is an activity which results in plans for instructions.
• It includes a variety of activities around the creation of planned
curriculum,pedagogy,instruction,and delivery methods for
guiding student learning.
• This learning, can take place in groups or with individual learners.
• It can take place inside a classroom or outside a classroom.
• It can take place in an institutional setting like a school, college or
training centre, or in a village or a field.
• It is central to the teaching and learning process. (Rogers and
Taylor) 1988).
Cont…
• In other words Curriculum development is a planned,
thoughtful and deliberate course of actions that ultimately
enhance the quality and impact of the learning experience
for students.
• It includes the development and organization of learning
activities designed to meet intended learning outcomes.
• It also involves the thoughtful assessment of those learning
outcomes.
• The ultimate goal of curriculum is to enhance the quality and
impact of the teaching and learning experience.
Cont…
• The curriculum development team helps faculty create and
revise courses and programs to ensure the best student
learning experience.
• We guide instructors through the program and curriculum
development and renewal process, resulting in purposeful
and positive change.
• Whether designing a course or a program of studies, there
are a number of things that must be considered to create
meaningful learning experiences.
Cont…
• Curriculum development moves beyond a content-centred
approach to one that considers the relationship between the
course/program learning outcomes, assessment of those
outcomes, and the activities and opportunities designed to
facilitate student learning.
• In designing a course or program, developers need to consider:
 Outcomes: What should the learner know and be able to do at
the end of this course/program?
 Assessment: How will learners and teachers know if the learning
outcomes have been accomplished?
 Activities: What needs to be done to achieve the learning
outcomes?
Cont…
• Various approaches have been used in developing curricula.
• Commonly used approaches consist of:
• Analysis (i.e. need analysis, task analysis),
• Design (i.e. objective design),
• Selecting (i.e. choosing appropriate learning/
teaching methods and appropriate assessment methods)
• Formation (i.e. formation of the curriculum
implementation committee / curriculum evaluation
committee) and
• Review (i.e. curriculum review committee).
 Steps of Curriculum Development
• Typically, curriculum development involves four main steps.
(i) Identify what learning is needed and decide on the type of
training you need to provide to meet these learning
needs.
(ii) Plan the training carefully, so that learning is most likely to
take place.
(iii) Deliver the training so that learning does take place.
(iv) Evaluate the training so that there is evidence that
learning has taken place.
• Curriculum Development involves the sum total of all the processes
which determine how curriculum construction proceeds, from the
conceptualization stage to the evaluation stage
.
An Integrative Approach to Curriculum
Development
• Curriculum development is a process and system as well as a
science and art.
• A carefully crafted process and efficient system involving all
influential variables is the only option in the contemporary
world of education which is unpredictable and highly
competitive.
• Curriculum development should be central focus of the
strategic planning activity of an institution.
Cont…
Cont…
• In order to understand and evaluate the existing theories of
curriculum development in institutions of higher education
with a particular reference to the USA, a thorough literature
review is carried out with a focus on issues presented in
Figure 1 as a conceptual framework of the study.
• Figure 1, demonstrates that while developing curriculum,
which is the main focus of this lecture all institutions of
higher education regardless of their types, origins and sizes
should consider:
Cont…
• Environmental variables surrounding the institution;
pedagogical strategies to be used to implement the learning
and teaching activities envisaged in the curriculum; graduate
competences to be developed; and, educational institution
leadership that is required.
• Since quality education is not only about building pre determine
skills but it is also about the realization of one`s full potentials
and the ability to use those skills for greater good of self and
others(Dewey,1918,1966;Miller& Seller,1985),the task of
curriculum development demands a comprehensive approach.
Cont…
Cont…
• Figure 2 above provide a comprehensive approach to
curriculum development involving co curricular and core
curricular teaching and learning activities.
• Core curricular activities tend to focus on a particular
discipline (concepts, theories etc.),where as co curricular
activities are assume to include themes sports,music,dance
and culture etc.
• An appropriate combination of these two elements of
quality-cum-inclusive educational program and services is
believed to produce graduate with balanced competencies.
Cont…
 Cont…
• Figure 3 shows that curriculum development requires a systematic
approach and therefore, should be approached in stages.
• In stage 1, both internal and external environment should be
studied in order to have a comprehensive knowledge and
understanding of what is happening in and around the educational
institutions.
• In stage 2, which is more closely related to and is based on the
knowledge of stage 1, specific competencies to be developed in
students are identified and analyzed.
• These competencies are then classified into personal, professional
and institutional competencies.
 Cont…
• In stage 3, the actual curriculum is designed and developed keeping
in mind the knowledge of previous two stages.
• In stage 4, specific pedagogical strategies, which are most relevant
and effective in imparting the knowledge intended in the
curriculum are identified and proposed.
• In stage 5, it is critical for educational institutions to establish
necessary mechanisms to: follow-up the implementation of
curriculum as planned; carry out regular evaluation of the learning
outcomes; and, provide necessary and on time feedback to
interested parties in education including policy makers, academic
directors, parents, teachers and students a few to name (to name a
few).
Cont…
• Figure 3 also suggests that while developing curriculum other
factors such as society, industry, and the role of government
have to be fully taken into account.
• This requires dynamic, participative and pro-active
institutional leadership.
• Figure 4, further envisage that educational life of a learner is
not a cycle, rather a unidirectional and straight forward
pathway.
• There is no need for a learner to go back to stage one or two
once a learner moves forward.
Cont…
The Curriculum Development
Process
• The development of an effective curriculum guide is a multi-step,
ongoing and cyclical process.
• The process progresses from evaluating the existing program, to
designing an improved program, to implementing a new program
and back to evaluating the revised program.
• Many school districts carry out this process in a planned and
systematic manner that includes the eleven components listed in
Figure 1-1.
• Each of these components is addressed in the sections that follow.
Cont…
 A. Planning
1. Convening a Curriculum Development Committee. Such a
committee, consisting primarily of teachers who represent the
various schools and grade levels in a district, administrators,
members of the public and perhaps students, becomes the
driving force for curriculum change and the long-term process of
implementing the curriculum.
• It is critical that an effective, knowledgeable and respected
chairperson lead such a committee and it includes knowledgeable
and committed members who gradually become the district's de
facto “experts” during the development phases of the process as
well as the implementation phases.
 Cont…
2. Identifying Key Issues and Trends in the Specific Content Area.
• The first step in any curriculum development process involves
research that reviews recent issues and trends of the discipline,
both within the district and across the nation.
• This research allows a curriculum committee to identify key
issues and trends that will support the needs assessment that
should be conducted and the philosophy that should be
developed.
Cont…
• Research often begins with a committee's reading and
discussing timely, seminal and content specific reports from
curriculum associations.
• Committee members should examine what is currently being
taught in the curriculum.
• They should examine state and national standards in the
discipline.
• Committee members should also be provided with recent
district CMT and CAPT results and be familiar with the
instructional materials and assessments in use throughout the
program.
Cont…
• In addition, the committee should become familiar with
newly available instructional materials – particularly those
that may eventually be adopted to help implement the new
curriculum.
• Committee members should also broaden their perspective
and gather information by visiting other school systems that
are recognized leaders in education.
• As a result of this process, committee members are likely to
identify many of the following issues and trends that will need
to be addressed as the curriculum development process
moves forward:
Cont…
• Meeting the needs of all students;
• Learning theory and other cognitive psychology findings on
how students learn;
• What determines developmental readiness or
developmental appropriateness;
• The current expectations of the field;
• The knowledge of and readiness for change on the part of
teachers;
Cont…
• the availability of resources;
• the role and availability of information and technology
resources;
• scheduling issues;
• methods and purposes of assessments; and
• professional development.
 Cont…
3. Assessing Need and Issues.
• Curriculum development should be viewed as a process by which
meeting student needs leads to improvement of student learning.
Regardless of the theory or model followed, curriculum developers
should gather as much information as possible.
• This information should include the desired outcomes or
expectations of a high quality program, the role of assessment, the
current status of student achievement and actual program content.
• The information should also consider the concerns and attitudes
of teachers, administrators, parents and students.
 Cont…
• The data should include samples of assessments, lessons from
teachers, assignments, scores on state standardized tests,
textbooks currently used, student perception and feedback from
parents.
• Armed with a common set of understandings that arise from the
identification of issues and trends, a curriculum development
committee is wise to conduct a needs assessment to best
ascertain the perceptions, concerns and desires of each of the
stakeholders in the process.
• By examining this data carefully, it may reveal key issues that
should influence the curriculum design.
Cont…

• For example:
Cont…
• Teachers may be dissatisfied with older content and
techniques in light of recent research;
• Test scores may be declining or lower than expected in some
or all areas;
• Teachers may not have materials or may not know how to
use materials to enhance understandings;
• Teachers may want to make far greater use of technology to
enhance learning;
• Teachers and others may wish to relate the content of the
program more closely to contemporary problems and issues;
Cont…
• Teachers may be looking for ways to increase the amount of
interdisciplinary work in which students are engaged;
• students may express a need for different and enriched
curricular opportunities;
• parents and others may have concerns about implementation.
 Whatever the particular circumstances, an effective curriculum
development process usually entails a structured needs
assessment to gather information and guide the curriculum
development process.
Cont…
 The information, commonly gathered through surveys,
structured discussions and test data, most frequently
includes:
• Tteacher analysis of the present curriculum to identify
strengths, weaknesses, omissions and/or problems;
• Sample lessons that illustrate curriculum implementation;
• Sample assessments that illustrate the implementation of
the curriculum;
• Identification of what teachers at each grade level perceive
to be the most serious issues within the curriculum
Cont…
• A detailed analysis of state and local test data, including CMT
and CAPT scores, grade-level criterion-referenced test data
and course final examination results;
• Suggestions for change and improvement generated by
meetings with teachers, guidance counselors and
administrators;
• Parent and other community members concerns and
expectations for the program obtained through surveys and
invitational meetings.
B. Articulating and Developing
4. Articulating a K-12 Program Philosophy.
• These fundamental questions guide the overarching
philosophy of the program.
* "Why learn (specific discipline)?"
• "Upon what guiding principles is our program built?"
• "What are our core beliefs about teaching and learning in
(specific discipline)?"
• “What are the essential questions?”
• “How will we use assessment to improve the program and
student learning?”
Cont…
• As such, the program philosophy provides a unifying framework
that justifies and gives direction to discipline based instruction.
• After having studied curriculum trends and assessed the
current program, curriculum developers should be ready to
construct a draft philosophy guiding the K-12 program.
• Such a philosophy or set of beliefs should be more than just
"what we think should be happening," but rather "what our
curriculum is actually striving to reflect.“
• Figure 1-2 below provides a checklist for evaluating program
philosophy statements.
Cont…
Cont…
5. Defining K-12 Program, Grade-Level and Course Goals.
• The purpose of the K12 program philosophy is to describe
the fundamental beliefs and inform the process of
instruction.
• The curriculum guide delineates K-12 program goals as well
as grade-level and course goals that address the key
cognitive and affective content expectations for the program.
Cont…
• An effective set of program goals has the following
characteristics:
• Each goal is broadly conceived, to provide for continuous
growth K-12 and into adult life.
• Each goal grows logically out of the philosophy of the
specific discipline and the linkage is clear.
• Each goal grows out of a district goal and the linkage is clear.
• The goals are comprehensive enough to provide the basis
for a quality K-12 program for all learners at all places on
the learning continuum.
Cont…
• The goals include each of the outcomes suggested by the
philosophy.
• Each goal is realistic.
• There is a manageable number of goals (usually between 4-8).
• Each goal lends itself to developing one or more objectives.
Cont…
6. Developing and Sequencing of Grade-Level and Course Objectives.
• If the philosophy and goals of a curriculum represent the
guiding principles of the curriculum, then the grade-level and
course objectives represent the core of the curriculum.
• The specific grade-level and course objectives include clear
expectations for what each learner is expected to know and
be able to do and how it will be measured.
Cont…
• The committee should consider several key questions to
identify, select, write and sequence objectives:
• Is the objective measurable and how will it be measured?
• Is the objective sufficiently specific to give the reader a clear
understanding of what the student should be able to do,
without being so detailed as to make the statement labored
or the objective trivial?
Cont….
• Is the objective compatible with the goals and philosophy of
the program and the real and emerging needs of students?
• Is the objective realistic and attainable by students?
• Are appropriate materials and other resources available to
make the objective achievable?
Cont…
• As objectives are selected and written, they should be
organized in an orderly fashion.
• This order can be achieved in numerous ways: by grade, by
strands, in units, in sequential levels of instruction, through
essential questions or through some combination of these.
• Decisions about the organization of a curriculum guide
should be made carefully and reflect the overarching
philosophy of the program and the preferences of the
teachers who are to use the guide.
 Cont…
• A graded structure organizes objectives by the grade in which a
student is enrolled and is the most commonly used structure.
• An organization by units groups objectives by main topics.
• Units may or may not be of differing difficulty and may be large or
small, sequential or non sequential.
• A unit organization is most commonly used for middle or high school
courses.
• A strand organization places all of the objectives for a specific topic
or strand together in a sequential order, without regard to specific
grade.
• Such an organization lends itself to individual instruction and
continuous progress within a strand.
Cont…
• A sequential organization outlines objectives in a continuous
chain without regard for grade level or strand, and allows for
individual student progress along a continuum of skills and
experiences.
• An organization by big ideas or essential questions centers
the curriculum on enduring understandings.
• This method develops assessments and determines criteria
of acceptable performance related to the essential
questions.
Cont…
7. Identifying Resource Materials to Assist with Program Implementation.
• An effective curriculum guide goes beyond a listing of objectives
and identifies suggested instructional resources to help answer
the question, “What instructional materials are available to help
me meet a particular objective or set of objectives?”
• As teachers and programs move away from a single textbook
approach and employ a broad range of supplementary materials,
instructional modules for particular units, computer software
and the like, it is increasingly important that the curriculum
guide suggests and links available resources to curriculum
objectives.
 Cont…
8 Developing and/or Identifying Assessment Items and Instruments to
.

Measure Student Progress.

• In many cases, a set of grade-level criterion-referenced tests, performance
based tasks and course final examinations that answer concretely the
question, "How will I know that my students know and are able to do what
is expected of them?" holds an entire curriculum together.
• This piece of the curriculum development process helps to focus
instruction and ensures the often elusive, but critical, alignment of
curriculum, instruction and assessment.
• Essentially the assessment piece of a curriculum is what drives curriculum.
• The assessments measure not only student progress, but also the
effective.
C. Implementing

9. Putting the New Program into Practice.

• Too often, traditional practice entails sending a committee away
for several after-school meetings and two weeks of summer
writing as prelude to a back-to-school unveiling and distribution
of the updated or revised curriculum.
• The process envisioned here entails a much more in-depth and
systematic approach to both development and implementation.
• Instead of assuming that the process ends with the publication
of a new guide, an effective curriculum committee continues to
oversee the implementation, updating and evaluation of the
curriculum.
D. Evaluating
10. Updating the New Program.
• In this age of word processing and loose-leaf bound curriculum
guides, it is easier than ever to update the guides and keep them
as living, changing documents.
• One of the most common methods of periodically updating a
curriculum guide is through grade-level meetings designed to
share materials, activities, units, assessments and even student
work that support the achievement of the curriculum goals that
were unknown or unavailable when the guide was first
developed.
Cont…
• These approaches are invaluable professional development
opportunities wherein teachers assume ownership of the
curriculum they are responsible for implementing.
• In this way, the guide becomes a growing resource for more
effective program implementation.
• Resource teachers are particularly effective vehicles for the
preparation and distribution of these updates.
Cont…
11. Determining the Success of the New Program.
• The curriculum development cycle ends and then begins again
with a careful evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of the
program.
• Using surveys, focused discussions and meetings like those
described in section 3, a curriculum development committee
needs to periodically gather data on perceptions of program
strengths, weaknesses, needs, preferences for textbooks and
other materials, and topics or objectives that do not seem to be
working effectively.
Cont…
• This information should be gathered from data that
represents overall student performance that is linked closely
to daily instruction.
• Teams of teachers responsible for the specific discipline
could accomplish this by sharing samples of assessments,
performance tasks, student work, lessons and instructional
practices related to the curricula.
Cont…
• The data from these surveys and meetings must then be combined
with a careful analysis of more numerical data on the program
such as:
• ongoing grade-level and course criterion-referenced exam data; •
teacher developed assessments, performance assessments,
student portfolios;
• CMT results (overall, over time and by objective);
• CAPT results (overall, over time and by objective);
• course enrollments (particularly by level in middle and high
schools); and
• SAT and AP results.
Cont…
• This information should be gathered from data that
represents overall student performance that is linked closely
to daily instruction.
• Teams of teachers responsible for the specific discipline
could accomplish this by sharing samples of assessments,
performance tasks, student work, lessons and instructional
practices related to the curricula.