Curriculum Review and Development

Sections 2, 5 and 7 TCPB 111

WHAT IS CURRICULUM?

Curriculum = what we want students to learn – curriculum is everything that goes on at a school.

However, Curriculum refers to a written

outline of what students will be taught and may also refer to all the classes offered by a school or to an overall program

Curriculum & teaching decisions should focus on what students need to know and on planning effective ways to teach them

Curriculum development involves:

Planning for content Assessing learning

CURRICULUM COHERENCE A coherent curriculum links all parts to

the whole Course outlines & syllabus follow an

organized scheme of scope and sequence

Scope refers to what and how much students are expected to learn

Sequence involves the order in which curriculum and content are organized

Student Perceptions Do students perceive the coursework

as coherent and meaningful? If students see no clear purpose in

their studies, they ask themselves, "Why are we doing this?"

Students must believe that what they are learning has value & that seemingly isolated facts & skills are coherent, meaningful & useful

CURRICULUM PLANNING Content is developed & integrated into units of

study Curriculum planning is organized by:

• Establishing a structure• Finding ways to implement curriculum • Writing written curriculum goals • Monitoring curriculum • Align teaching, resources, and assessment

procedures • Assess quality & effectiveness of the

curriculum

7

Curriculum Planning Approach, Rationale, Design & Procedure

• Approach – theoretical foundation for teaching

• Rationale – Reason why a subject is important to learn

• Design – Definition of content and methodology

• Procedure - Methods, practices, and activities used in instruction (stop)

Identifying Student Needs (Needs Analysis)

Establish student level of competence currently

Decide how they will use their learning in the future

Questions for Needs Analysis

Are the goals and objectives rigorous? Are goals and objectives appropriate to the

student level? Are students expected to demonstrate basic

or higher levels of recall knowledge? Can students finish school simply by

completing a number of assignments and passing final examinations without demonstrating competence?

Do students have higher-order understanding and skills needed to apply complex principles and knowledge independently?

Developing Course Objectives

Objectives specify what the learner should know and do after a period of learning • a unit of work within a subject or to

the subject as a whole • Stated in a form that can be taught,

observed, assessed, and evaluated

Learning Outcomes & Performance Standards

Learning outcomes specify what students are expected to learn and do.

Performance standards specify how students demonstrate what they have learned

Curriculum Focus Curriculum should focus on student

involvement in realistic, independent, and authentic activities that extend learning

Ideally, moving to a new topic should be determined by student performance rather than by a time

Time should be allocated according to the needs of students and complexity of task

Assessment methods should require students to demonstrate full understanding of the essential content and concepts and can apply what they learned independently

Developing the curriculum

Learning objectives define results that the curriculum is designed to achieve

Need to select appropriate content and develop ways to achieve objectives

Process of selecting content for teaching is called syllabus design.

• Syllabus represents a particular view of what students need to know.

• Often a syllabus specifies ways to deliver content.

Declarative and Procedural Knowledge Objectives often focus on declarative

knowledge, or factual information• When students know declarative information, they

know what. For example, in a science class, a student define “voltage”, explains what “joules” are

Curriculum should also focus on procedural knowledge, which is knowing how• Procedural knowledge include objectives on

knowing how to use the knowledge of physics independently in new situations

Declarative knowledge comes before procedural knowledge

Phases of Knowledge (1) Constructing meaning (2) Processing and organizing information (3) Storing knowledge for active retrieval

The primary factor for constructing meaning is using prior knowledge to interpret what is

being learned

“Constructing” means using prior knowledge and is a vital component of learning

Before students are introduced to new content and applications, they need to access prior knowledge and use that knowledge as a guide to understanding

Curriculum Guidelines Emphasis on students showing their

depth of knowledge not only covering content

Applying knowledge to solve problems Sequencing and coordination of learning Clear statement of objectives and how

they relate to educational goals Integration of knowledge within each

subject and with other related subjects

Establishing Methodology

Methodology = procedures used to teach content in a class• Based on current understanding and theory about

teaching and learning• Accountable in terms of the objectives it is

designed to attain Classroom activities, assignments, &

assessment procedures should be seen as means toward an end, not as goals in themselves • Students may be unclear about how class

procedures relate to goals and objectives. • Students may see completion of assignments and

tests as the significant goal and a final grade becomes the objective

Curriculum Revision A curricular program is successful only to

the extent that the objectives are valid and the instructional methods are effective

Curriculum evaluation is concerned with student performance and with the processes of learning

Curriculum review considers:• If sufficient time and resources are provided• If goals and objectives are relevant and attainable, • If student performance meets the standards of the

learning objectives and is a result of instruction

Guidelines for Curriculum Revision

Review goals to ensure they are up to date Update the knowledge base and teaching

materials. If extensive changes have been made, new resources can be adopted and assessment procedures modified

Review and revise the scope and sequence of each course of study

Determine whether entries should be dropped, placed at different levels, or added

Submit drafts of the revision to teachers for review and comments

Approach• Approach = Teacher’s beliefs on how students learn and

how content should be taught• Classes will be taught differently by different teachers

depending on their approach to teaching and learning•If a teacher believes that students learn best through listening to and taking notes, then her approach to teaching will rest strongly on talking•Teachers who believe that small group discussion is more effective will approach teaching differently

Guiding Principles for Developing an Approach to Teaching

Teachers have a responsibility to clarify and justify their approach to teaching and learning.

Guiding principles are necessary to any subject regardless of whether the teacher prefers lecturing, discussion, or a combination of both• The need for prior knowledge• Moving from the general to the specific• Relating and organizing information

Principles Underlying an Approach to Teaching The ability to learn something new depends on what is

already known. Learning anything about math, music, or history depends on the learner’s prior knowledge

The best way to learn a subject is to begin with its general principles, then study an ample number of facts and concepts with diverse examples that illustrate those principles.• Example: In biological science, students should

understand the dynamics of plant and animal relationships before they learn what a niche is and understand different types of niches found in nature

General knowledge is the best organizer for deep understanding. The most effective way to introduce a new topic is to start with a summary. After students gain a broad context, they can mentally fit the various parts that follow into that whole and make sense of them.

These guidelines suggest that the dispute between the learning of content and deep understanding as an “either – or” proposition is irrelevant. • Deep understanding is not possible without broad

knowledge of content.• However, accumulating facts that add little to a

student's understanding and independent thinking wastes time

Rationale A rationale is the reason WHY a

student should learn the topic or subject area

Both teachers and students need an understanding of the purpose and meaning of instruction

If students do know have a reason for learning, they will not learn

The rationale should be explicitly stated in a curriculum document

DESIGN In Design, using goals and objectives, the

teacher: • defines and organizes the most

appropriate content to the meet student needs

• chooses or devises teaching materials• determines the roles of both the teacher

and the students during instruction.

DESIGN Specifically, in defining and organizing

content, the teacher: • Specifies the specific learning outcomes

and performance standards• Selects and organizes the subject matter

content• Designs a syllabus to be given to the

students• Determines the format of instruction

(lecture, discussion, demonstration, etc.)

DESIGN: ORGANIZING INSTRUCTION Teachers sometimes make the mistake of arranging their

instruction to match a textbook’s organization. By doing this, the teacher has given responsibility and control for the class to an external source. • Teachers should determine first what they want their

students to learn, then select the materials that will best meet their requirements.

When choosing or creating teaching materials, the teacher needs to:• Think about the purpose, relevance, and adequacy of

the materials• Decide on the format of the materials (textbooks,

handouts, journal articles, etc.)• Relate the materials to other sources of content

(lectures, individual research, etc.)

DESIGN: ESTABLISHING ROLES

The role of teacher and students must be established

This factor is directly related to the approach: • In a lecture format, the role of the teacher is

active while that of the students is generally passive

• In contrast, in a discussion format, the teacher is more passive while the students are active.

DESIGN: ESTABLISHING ROLES Roles must be established in advance so that the

class format can be efficiently planned and smoothly operated. Some factors include:• The types and number of assignments and other

assessment procedures• The level of control that instructors and students have

over class activities• The view of the student as either a processor, a

performer, and a problem solver• The level at which the teacher determines the subject

content• The types of interactions permitted in class between the

teacher and students

PROCEDURE Procedure refers to the methods, practices, and

activities used in teaching. In other words, how is the class actually taught? • The teacher reflects on the approach and design, and

then determines the best instructional methods • For a teacher who believes lecturing is the best

instructional approach, this component seems relatively simple: the teacher talks and the students listen and take notes

• For teachers who prefer discussion or individual research projects, the practices become more complicated.

PROCEDURE

Certain conditions need to be addressed, such as assessment procedures and the available resources of time, space, and equipment

For Example• A teacher may initially prefer an interactive syllabus

focusing on individual student research and small group discussion only to discover that the class runs for only ten weeks, equipment is unavailable, and two or three class meetings are lost to holidays. In this situation, the most effective method of presenting essential content may be a series of lectures and reading assignments.

PROCEDURE Successful curriculum design and revision are dependent

on the teacher’s attitude toward teaching. It is crucial that the teacher is dedicated to the principle

that all students have the opportunity to meet the learning outcomes and performance standards.

Low expectations of student performance and indifference to teaching do not result in successful learning.

However, improvement in teaching rarely occurs simply by telling teachers to work harder. It happens because the teachers themselves have concern and dedication while providing support to their students.

Conclusion: Factors Associated with Effective Teaching

High expectations of student achievement (students are more successful when teachers expect them to succeed than when they expect them to do poorly)

Time on task (students learn more when they are given adequate time to learn)

Closeness of the content to assessment (students show better results when they are evaluated on what they have been taught)

A focus on the student needs (students perform better when teaching is based on their needs rather than the number of assignments)

Factors Associated with Effective Teaching

Flexible instructional organization and management (students succeed more with innovative and creative instruction than with long lectures and routine assignments)

Students are actively involved in learning (students who participate and interact in class perform better than those who passively listen to lectures and complete assignments)