Course: Curriculum Development and Instructions (838)
Level: MA/M.Ed
Assignment 2
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Q.1 How we use ideas as focusing centers of curiculum?
Curriculum design is a term used to describe the purposeful, deliberate, and systematic organization of curriculum (instructional blocks) within a class or course. In other words, it is a way for teachers to plan instruction. When teachers design curriculum, they identify what will be done, who will do it, and what schedule to follow.
Curriculum Design
Teachers design each curriculum with a specific educational purpose in mind. The ultimate goal is to improve student learning, but there are other reasons to employ curriculum design as well. For example, designing a curriculum for middle school students with both elementary and high school curricula in mind helps to make sure that learning goals are aligned and complement each other from one stage to the next. If a middle school curriculum is designed without taking prior knowledge from elementary school or future learning in high school into account it can create real problems for the students.
Types of Curriculum Design
There are three basic types of curriculum design:
Subject-centered design
Learner-centered design
Problem-centered design
Subject-Centered Curriculum Design
Subject-centered curriculum design revolves around a particular subject matter or discipline. For example, a subject-centered curriculum may focus on math or biology. This type of curriculum design tends to focus on the subject rather than the individual. It is the most common type of curriculum used in K-12 public schools in states and local districts in the United States.
Subject-centered curriculum design describes what needs to be studied and how it should be studied. Core curriculum is an example of a subject-centered design that can be standardized across schools, states, and the country as a whole. In standardized core curricula, teachers are provided a pre-determined list of things that they need to teach their students, along with specific examples of how these things should be taught. You can also find subject-centered designs in large college classes in which teachers focus on a particular subject or discipline.
The primary drawback of subject-centered curriculum design is that it is not student-centered. In particular, this form of curriculum design is constructed without taking into account the specific learning styles of the students. This can cause problems with student engagement and motivation and may even cause students to fall behind in class.
Learner-Centered Curriculum Design
In contrast, learner-centered curriculum design takes each individual’s needs, interests, and goals into consideration. In other words, it acknowledges that students are not uniform and adjust to those student needs. Learner-centered curriculum design is meant to empower learners and allow them to shape their education through choices.
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Insructional plans in a learner-centered curriculum are differentiated, giving students the opportunity to choose assignments, learning experiences or activities. This can motivate students and help them stay engaged in the material that they are learning.
Problem-Centered Curriculum Design
Like learner-centered curriculum design, problem-centered curriculum design is also a form of student-centered design. Problem-centered curricula focus on teaching students how to look at a problem and come up with a solution to the problem. Students are thus exposed to real-life issues, which helps them develop skills that are transferable to the real world.
Problem-centered curriculum design increases the relevance of the curriculum and allows students to be creative and innovate as they are learning. The drawback to this form of curriculum design is that it does not always take learning styles into consideration.
Curriculum Design Tips
The following curriculum design tips can help educators manage each stage of the curriculum design process.
Identify the needs of stakeholders (i.e., students) early on in the curriculum design process. This can be done through needs analysis, which involves the collection and analysis of data related to the learner. This data might include what learners already know and what they need to know to be proficient in a particular area or skill. It may also include information about learner perceptions, strengths, and weaknesses.
Create a clear list of learning goals and outcomes. This will help you to focus on the intended purpose of the curriculum and allow you to plan instruction that can achieve the desired results. Learning goals are the things teachers want students to achieve in the course. Learning outcomes are the measurable knowledge, skills, and attitudes that students should have achieved in the course.
Identify constraints that will impact your curriculum design. For example, time is a common constraint that must be considered. There are only so many hours, days, weeks or months in the term. If there isn’t enough time to deliver all of the instruction that has been planned, it will impact learning outcomes.
Consider creating a curriculum map (also known as a curriculum matrix) so that you can properly evaluate the sequence and coherence of instruction. Curriculum mapping provides visual diagrams or indexes of a curriculum. Analyzing a visual representation of the curriculum is a good way to quickly and easily identify potential gaps, redundancies or alignment issues in the sequencing of instruction. Curriculum maps can be created on paper or with software programs or online services designed specifically for this purpose.
Identify the instructional methods that will be used throughout the course and consider how they will work with student learning styles. If the instructional methods are not conducive to the curriculum, the instructional design or the curriculum design will need to be altered accordingly.
Establish evaluation methods that will be used at the end and during the school year to assess learners, instructors, and the curriculum. Evaluation will help you determine if the curriculum design is working or if it is failing. Examples of things that should be evaluated include the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and achievement rates related to learning outcomes. The most effective evaluation is ongoing and summative.
Question 2. Discuss the important level of evaluation
Education is considered as an investment in human beings in terms of development of human resources, skills, motivation, knowledge and the like. Evaluation helps to build an educational programme, assess its achievements and improve upon its effectiveness. It serves as an in-built monitor within the programme to review the progress in learning from time to time. It also provides valuable feedback on the design and the implementation of the programme. Thus, evaluation plays a significant role in any educational programme.
Evaluation plays an enormous role in the teaching-learning process. It helps teachers and learners to improve teaching and learning. Evaluation is a continuous process and a periodic exercise.
It helps in forming the values of judgement, educational status, or achievement of student. Evaluation in one form or the other is inevitable in teaching-learning, as in all fields of activity of education judgements need to be made.
In learning, it contributes to formulation of objectives, designing of learning experiences and assessment of learner performance. Besides this, it is very useful to bring improvement in teaching and curriculum. It provides accountability to the society, parents, and to the education system.
Let us discuss its uses briefly:
(i) Teaching:
Evaluation is concerned with assessing the effectiveness of teaching, teaching strategies, methods and techniques. It provides feedback to the teachers about their teaching and the learners about their learning.
(ii) Curriculum:
The improvement in courses/curricula, texts and teaching materials is brought about with the help of evaluation.
(iii) Society:
Evaluation provides accountability to society in terms of the demands and requirements of the employment market.
(iv) Parents:
Evaluation mainly manifests itself in a perceived need for regular reporting to parents.
In brief, evaluation is a very important requirement for the education system. It fulfills various purposes in systems of education like quality control in education, selection/entrance to a higher grade or tertiary level.
It also helps one to take decisions about success in specific future activities and provides guidance to further studies and occupation. Some of the educationists view evaluation virtually synonymous with that of learner appraisal, but evaluation has an expanded role. It plays an effective role in questioning or challenging the objectives.
A simple representation explaining the role of evaluation in the teaching-learning process is shown below:
Evaluation has its four different aspects namely:
(i) Objectives,
(ii) Learning experiences,
(iii) Learner appraisal and the, and
(iv) Relationship between the three.
Definition of Evaluation:
The term evaluation conveys several meanings in education and psychology.
Different authors have different notions of evaluation:
- Encyclopedia of Education Research:
To measure means to observe or determine the magnitude of variate; evaluation means assessment or appraisal.
- James M. Bradfield:
Evaluation is the assignment of symbols to phenomenon, in order to characterise the worth or value of a phenomenon, usually with reference to some social, cultural or scientific standards.
- Gronlund and Linn:
Evaluation is a systematic process of collecting, analysing and interpreting information to determine the extent to which pupils are achieving instructional objectives.
Perhaps the most extended definition of evaluation has been supplied by C.E. Beeby (1977), who described evaluation as “the systematic collection and interpretation of evidence leading as a part of process to a judgement of value with a view to action.”
In this definition, there are the following four key elements:
(i) Systematic collection of evidence.
(ii) Its interpretation.
(iii) Judgement of value.
(iv) With a view to action.
Let us discuss the importance of each element in defining evaluation. The first element ‘systematic collection’ implies that whatever information is gathered, should be acquired in a systematic and planned way with some degree of precision.
The second element in Beeby’s definition, ‘interpretation of evidence’, is a critical aspect of the evaluation process. The mere collection of evidence does not by itself constitute evaluation work. The information gathered for the evaluation of an educational programme must be carefully interpreted. Sometimes, un-interpreted evidence is presented to indicate the presence (or absence) of quality in an educational venture.
For example, in a two year programme in computers, it was observed that almost two-third of each entering class failed to complete the two years programme. On closer examination it was found that most of the dropouts after one year were offered good jobs by companies.
The supervisors of companies felt that the one year of training was not only more than adequate for entry and second level positions but provided the foundation for further advancement. Under such circumstances, the dropout rate before programme completion was no indication of programme failure or deficiency.
Characteristics of Evaluation:
The analysis of all the above definitions makes us able to draw following characteristics of evaluation:
- Evaluation implies a systematic process which omits the casual uncontrolled observation of pupils
- Evaluation is a continuous process. In an ideal situation, the teaching- learning process on the one hand and the evaluation procedure on the other hand, go together. It is certainly a wrong belief that the evaluation procedure follows the teaching-learning process.
- Evaluation emphasises the broad personality changes and major objectives of an educational programme. Therefore, it includes not only subject-matter achievements but also attitudes, interests and ideals, ways of thinking, work habits and personal and social adaptability.
- Evaluation always assumes that educational objectives have previously been identified and defined. This is the reason why teachers are expected not to lose sight of educational objectives while planning and carrying out the teaching-learning process either in the classroom or outside it.
- A comprehensive programme of evaluation involves the use of many procedures (for example, analytico-synthetic, heuristic, experimental, lecture, etc.); a great variety of tests (for example, essay type, objective type, etc.); and other necessary techniques (for example, socio-metric, controlled-observation techniques, etc.).
- Learning is more important than teaching. Teaching has no value if it does not result in learning on the part of the pupils.
- Objectives and accordingly learning experiences should be so relevant that ultimately they should direct the pupils towards the accomplishment of educational goals.
- To assess the students and their complete development brought about through education is evaluation.
- Evaluation is the determination of the congruence between the performance and objectives.
Question 3. Explain different strategies of curriculum change
Curriculum Differentiation & Strategies
Content
Process
Product
Learning Environment
This chapter contains an introduction to curriculum differentiation for students with exceptional learning abilities, descriptions and examples of 30 strategies to differentiate learning experiences for them. A description of each strategy is followed by a list of behaviors that indicate it is needed. Examples and resources are also provided. The ideas presented here are based on the work of Maker & Nielson in Curriculum Development and Teaching Strategies for Gifted Learners.[1]
Differentiated Curriculum For All and For High Ability Learners
In the ways and to the extent students are similar,
Their curriculum should be similar.
In the ways and to the extent that they are different,
Their curriculum should be different.[2]
Although the notion of differentiation has appeared the education literature since the 1950s, it has gained greater significance and attention as the diversity of students in today’s classrooms has increased.
Tomlinson[3] defined curriculum differentiation for all students as “ensuring that what a student learns, how he/she learns, and how the student demonstrates what he/she has learned is a match for that student’s readiness level, interests, and preferred mode of learning.” This implies a commitment to accommodating individual learner characteristics. That commitment is also evident in the sets of principles of high quality curriculum for general and gifted education Hockett[4] derived from general and gifted education literature (see Figure 1). Flexibility “to account for student differences,” a theme common to high quality curriculum in both general and gifted education, is operationalized in practice as curriculum differentiation.
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Figure 1: Principles of high-quality curriculum in general and gifted education, and themes they have in common
The principles for general education (left circle in Figure 4.1.1) are appropriate for students identified as gifted, however, they need to be adjusted to respond to the capacities that distinguish the learning of students with high ability. Those capacities are evident in the “Brilliant Behaviours” they demonstrate: learning more quickly, greater depth and complexity of conceptual understanding, longer concentration on tasks, greater curiosity, a greater preference for solving more complex problems[5], motivation, advanced interests, communication skills, memory, insight, imagination, creativity, inquiry, reasoning, and humor.[6] When these learner characteristics are accommodated, the principles are qualitatively different from those for learners in general education who do not share these characteristics. The results are apparent in the circle on the right,in the five principles of high-quality curriculum for gifted learners. The principles for gifted learners highlight features of curriculum that respond to the exceptional abilities of these individuals.
The commonalities among the principles for general and gifted education (overlapping area between circles) have contributed to confusion surrounding the distinctions between them. Isn’t it all just “good education”? Aren’t best practices for gifted students good for all students? The answer to these questions is, “It depends…” The principles do overlap however there are significant, qualitative differences between them. It is those differences that distinguish curricula differentiated for high ability learners from curriculum differentiated to respond to the needs of students with less ability. The differences in the practices reflect the differences in the students. This is not elitism; it is flexibility. It is responsiveness to the characteristics that distinguish these groups of learners.
Differences in ability result in differences in what and how much is learned from appropriately differentiated learning experiences. The difference in the slope of the lines in Figure 4.1.1 indicate the academic benefits of the match between learner and curriculum accumulate over time.
Differentiation should be a constant best practice in classrooms, not an occasional event. The learner characteristics that create a need for it are constants and so should be the response to them. The subjects in which an individual’s abilities are strong (frequent, intense, consistent) will require on-going differentiation to ensure the differential benefits continue to accumulate. Motivation and attitudes torward school, as well as academic achievement, may suffer when students with high ability are offered unchallenging curriculum. Boredom and challenging behaviors are likely outcomes.
Differentiation should also be systematic. The system that guides it should offer a rationale and research base for its recommendations. Both should be connected to learner characteristics. The system becomes a tool for communication with curious students, parents, teaching colleagues and administrators. A systematic approach also allows teachers to monitor successes and on-going challenges, tracking them for changes and reporting purposes.
The Four Elements of Curriculum
Every learning activity in a curriculum is composed of four elements: content, process, product and learning environment.
Content: The content of curriculum is the new knowledge, skills, behaviors and attitudes to be learned in the activity. Content can be drawn from one discipline (subject) or it may be interdisciplinary. The content in any discipline may be in the form of facts, concepts, procedures, principles, generalizations, theories, strategies, heuristics, actions, meanings, emotions, etc.
Process: The process in curriculum is in the actions (thinking, feeling, physical, etc.) students use to develop their understanding of the content. Learning processes include the way students find and work with information and resources, as well as the ways they interact with others (peers, experts, teacher, etc.).
Product: Products of learning experiences communicate the substance of what has been learned. Bright and gifted students should be expected produce evidence in which they demonstrate their potential and their growth in understanding, not their age. Assessment criteria and procedures should clearly communicate this expectation.
Learning Environment: The environment in which students learn has physical and psychological features can be enhanced to increase the benefits of differentiating the contents, processes and products learning.
Each element can be modified to accommodate the characteristics of an individual or group of high ability learners.
Question 4. Analyze the process of curriculum development at higher level.
The curriculum development process systematically organizes what will be taught, who will be taught, and how it will be taught. Each component affects and interacts with other components. For example, what will be taught is affected by who is being taught (e.g., their stage of development in age, maturity, and education). Methods of how content is taught are affected by who is being taught, their characteristics, and the setting. In considering the above three essential components, the following are widely held to be essential considerations in experiential education in non-formal settings:
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Essential Considerations for Curriculum Development:
The CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT MODEL on the next page shows how these components relate to each other and to the curriculum development process. It begins when an issue, concern, or problem needs to be addressed. If education or training a segment of the population will help solve the problem, then curriculum to support an educational effort becomes a priority with human and financial resources allocated. The next step is to form a curriculum develop-ment team. The team makes systematic decisions about the target audience (learner characteristics), intended out-comes (objectives), content, methods, and evaluation strategies. With input from the curriculum development team, draft curriculum products are developed, tested, evaluated, and redesigned -if necessary. When the final product is produced, volunteer training is conducted. The model shows a circular process where volunteer training provides feedback for new materials or revisions to the existing curriculum.
An Example: 1n the case of population education, a need rural out-of-school youth with information on how population relates to the total environment as well as their personal lives.
It also shows the interaction and relationships of the four essential phases of the curriculum development process: ( I) Planning, (II) Content and Methods, (III) Implementation, and (IV) Evaluation and Reporting. It is important to acknowledge that things do not always work exactly as depicted in a model!
Each phase has several steps or tasks to complete in logical sequence. These steps are not always separate and distinct, but may overlap and occur concurrently. For example, the curriculum development team is involved in all of the steps. Evaluations should occur in most of the steps to assess progress. The team learns what works and what does not and determines the impact of the curriculum on learners after it is implemented. Each step logically follows the previous. It would make no sense to design learning activities before learner outcomes and content are described and identified. Similarly, content cannot be determined before learner outcomes are described.
In the experience of the author, and confirmed by other curriculum specialists, the following curriculum development steps are frequently omitted or slighted. These steps are essential to successful curriculum development and need to be emphasized.
| Essential Curriculum Development Steps Needing Emphasis
Needs assessment: if not conducted, wonderful curriculum could be developed, but the appropriate needs of the target audience may not be met. Involving youth: the target audience and volunteers (or staff) who will be the implementors of the curriculum must be involved (i.e., they participate as full members of the curriculum development team). Recruiting and training volunteer facilitators: competent and skilled curriculum implementors are critical (the printed word cannot teach experiential group process, it doesn’t provide feedback).Evaluating and reporting on the impact of the curriculum: is critical for securing human and financial support from key policy decision makers and for assessing whether the curriculum has achieved the intended outcome. |
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(1) Identify Issue/Problem/Need
The need for curriculum development usually emerges from a concern about a major issue or problem of one or more target audience. This section explores some of the questions that need to be addressed to define the issue and to develop a statement that will guide the selection of the members of a curriculum development team. The issue statement also serves to broadly identify, the scope (what will be included) of the curriculum content.
(2) Form Curriculum Development Team
Once the nature and scope of the issue has been broadly defined, the members of the curriculum development team can be selected. Topics covered in this section include: (1) the roles and functions of team members, (2) a process for selecting members of the curriculum development team, and (3) principles of collaboration and teamwork. The goal is to obtain expertise for the areas included in the scope of the curriculum content among the team members and develop an effective team.
(3) Conduct Needs Assessment and Analysis
There are two phases in the needs assessment process. The first is procedures for conducting a needs assessment. A number of techniques are aimed toward learning what is needed and by whom relative to the identified issue. Techniques covered in this section include: KAP – Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey; focus groups; and environmental scanning.
Analysis, the second part of this needs assessment step, describes techniques on how to use the data and the results of the information gathered. Included are: ways to identify gaps between knowledge and practice; trends emerging from the data; a process to prioritize needs; and identification of the characteristics of the target audience.
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Question 5 .Differentiate betweeen the bases of curriculum at primary level and secondary level
Difference Between Primary And Secondary Schools
Difference Between Primary and Secondary Schools:
Students enrolled in Indian Education always have to pass through Primary & Secondary Education provided in schools. Although Primary Schools and Secondary Schools are not different, rather education is classified in Primary (further classified as primary & middle school) and Secondary Education. Few schools are also there which provide education up to Primary level only. Students have to switch schools to Secondary level in such cases. Students must understand the Difference between primary and secondary schools.
Below is the Difference Between Primary and Secondary Schools:
Primary Education:
Primary Education is a basic need for any kid who puts his first step towards education entering as a student in his life. Primary schools provide education up to class 8th Government schools provide free education for children age 6 to 14 or up to class 8 under the Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. In recent decades primary school enrolment has been a success story, largely due to various programs and drives to increase enrolment even in remote areas.
Kerala has become the first Indian state to achieve 100 percent primary Education as declared by the Vice-President of India in January 2016. Although a lot is to be done and various challenges yet to be overcome to gain 100 percent primary education all over India. Also improving the quality of education in schools is the next big challenge for both state and central governments.
The government has also launched various schemes for primary schools like mid-day meals, free uniforms, books, copies, and other facilities like medicines, etc so as to ensure no kid remains without primary education in his or her childhood. Also, the government keeps surveys on yearly basis, how many kids are still unable to get primary education and provide them with better primary education by implementing new policies from time to time.
Secondary Education:
Secondary Education refers to high schools and senior secondary schools. These schools specifically prepare for studying at the college level. Various counseling programs are held at these levels so as to make students aware of the courses and colleges according to the latest trends in the market. The basic difference between Primary and Secondary is Middle School which prepare students for High School and Secondary schools prepare for college and other higher universities.
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Secondary schools also guide the students to take part in various programs like NCC and sports programs like zonal etc so that students feel motivated and their skills can be further nourished and can also allow students to choose their career options in their own interesting fields.
Secondary Education deals with deciding streams like Science, Arts & Commerce which enables them to decide their worth for higher education like the doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc. The government also provides various scholarship programs for poor students, so that they can avail themselves of the opportunity to complete their education till 12th and also in higher education.
Difference Between Primary and Secondary Schools
| Primary Schools
|
Secondary Schools |
| Students are motivated for speaking and writing skills | Students are focused on English as a medium for interaction at higher levels |
| Students are introduced to basic subjects at lower levels like science, math and drawing, etc | Students are prepared for streams like Science, Arts & Commerce deciding their future higher studies |
| Age group usually starts from 5 for the primary education | Age group usually starts from age 12 for secondary education |
| Less syllabus accompanied by easy learning along with the playful environment of classes | The syllabus is wide and conceptual along with its importance |
| Homework is less and much creative like drawing etc | Homework is related to scope. |
| Students are introduced to the exam patterns and made habitual for sitting hours in the exam | The syllabus is wide and conceptual along with its importance |
| Students are made aware of their minute responsibilities like belongings etc | Students become mature enough about exams and are also introduced to Board patterns |
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Conclusion:
The Primary and Secondary Schools are an integral part of our education system, neither of them can be counted less important. Schools are also taking an important roleplay in the overall development of students. Parents also need to have a discussion with their kids for all the activities in the school along with the teachers, knowing about the performance of their kids, both in academics as well as curriculum activities.
In a nutshell, we can say that Primary is the root of education, whereas the Secondary is the developing stage for the students, deciding their future course of action in career-related studies. So, its key for every student to have primary as well as secondary education and also discuss with parents for overall performance. Students need to have a motivation session in every class from 1st to 12th so as to boost up them for every academic challenge they face in their life along with coordination of parents and teachers.
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