Curriculum Development and Course Design

1. Curriculum Development and Course Design

2. Presentation Objectives By the end of this presentation you should be able to: • define the terms curriculum and course design; • explain the components of a curriculum and course; • describe the process of curriculum and course design.

3. Curriculum and Course Design • Curriculum simply means `a course of study.' • Curriculum development is the process of designing a course of study according to a set of requirements.

4. Curriculum and Course Design • A course is a well planned sequence of learning experiences occupying several learning sessions and involving some form of assessment of the learner’s work. • Course design is the planning and writing of a framework to guide the teaching and learning process. • Course design involves reflecting on and making decisions about the teaching of the entire course well before it begins.

5. Curriculum and Course Design In designing a course, you need to ask yourself the following questions: • What should the students gain from this course? • What can I select from the knowledge, skills and attitudes embodied in my discipline in order to achieve my purpose most effectively? • What teaching and learning methods and media will serve me best in what I am trying to do? • How will I know that my students have learned what I want them to learn?

6. Curriculum and Course Design Answering such questions will enable you to: • determine the objectives for the course; • analyze the content to be taught and learned as well as the appropriate methods and instructional media to be used; • identify background knowledge and pre-requisites that learners will require to succeed in the course; • identify the central and unifying concepts of the course; • determine the kind of monitoring and evaluation to be used.

7. Curriculum and Course Design Curriculum development and course design involves the following five major tasks: • assessing learner needs and characteristics; • deciding on objectives to be achieved; • selecting learning experiences that will help to achieve objectives; • determining appropriate methodologies and resources; • evaluating the course or curriculum.

8. Course Design Process • Two schools of thought: Statement of purpose (objectives) vs statement of content. • Objectives approach to systematic course design involves decision making and action in five major steps: • Step 1:Situation analysis • Step 2:Objectives formulation • Step 3:Content derivation • Step 4:Selection of appropriate methods and media • Step 5:Determination of evaluation procedures and timing

9. Assessing Learner Needs and Characteristics Instructional design should be based upon: • Task analysis • Learner analysis • Analysis of the environment An analysis helps us to understand the characteristics of the learners and the environment in which the learners live/work.

10. Determining Objectives To Be Achieved To inform the learner of what he/she should be able to do on completing a task, exercise or assignment. Learning objectives should be formulated in measurable terms and should measure all of the following: • content to be mastered • skills to be mastered • habits to be learned • techniques to be acquired • behaviour and attitudes to be developed. Why? To make tasks more manageable and remove ambiguity and difficulties of interpretation. To be better able to evaluate progress.

11. Determining Objectives to be Achieved A learning objective is much more precise and specific. It provides both the tutor/facilitator and the learner with clear and concrete direction as to where they are going. A clear learning objective gives both the tutors/facilitators and the learners direction with regard to both the subject content and the mental processes which the learner is expected to develop.

12. General Principles in Selecting Learning Experiences For a given objective to be attained, a learner must have experiences that give an opportunity to practice the kind of behaviour implied by the objective. Learning experiences must be such that the learner gets satisfaction from carrying on the kind of behaviour implied by the objectives. Learning experiences must begin where the learner is, that is starting from the known and progressing to the unknown. This means starting from the simple and advancing to the complex. There may be many experiences that can be used to attain the same educational objective. This means planning a number of different learning experiences that will achieve that same objective. The same learning experience will usually bring about several learning outcomes.

13. Appropriate Instructional Methodologies and Resources • A variety of methods breaks the monotony and holds the learners' interest. • Determine opportunities to use different methods and resources, combined appropriately, depending on the topic to be taught. • Select methods and learning experiences that give opportunities to practise the behaviour implied in the learning objective. • Use a variety of experiences and methods that are less tutor/facilitator centred and more learner centred. • Ensure that the instructional media you choose will help to achieve the objectives and facilitate the learning of new content.

14. Appropriate Instructional Methodologies and Resources • Experiential Learning • Visualization in Participatory Programmes (VIPP) • Lecturette • Discussions • Role-plays • Case studies/Scenarios • Brainstorming • Guest Speakers

15. Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Curriculum and Course in Achieving the Objectives Curriculum and course evaluation is the process of determining the degree to which these changes in behaviour are actually taking place. It implies that it must involve more than a single appraisal. The process of evaluation determines the degree to which changes in the learners’ behaviour are taking place. Evaluation must appraise the behaviour of the learners at an early stage and other appraisals at later points to identify changes that may be occurring. Without knowing what the learners were like at the beginning it is not possible to tell how far changes have taken place. The most commonly used methods of evaluation include tests, attitude scales, data gathering instruments such as interviews and observation schedules, and practicals. These methods should be used either singly or in combination. The method that is used must be appropriate to the objective that is being evaluated.