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Curriculum Design Theories

Deborah McgeeneyEDU-522 Mary McKone

Curriculum design is the process of creating a curriculum that aligns with the objectives, learning outcomes and goals of a course. With curriculums, they may involve creating an entirely new one or making changes to an existing one so that it better meets the needs of students taking the course. Taking a subject and creating a plan for teaching that subject is the process of curriculum design. Planning a curriculum includes what materials you might use, how the material might be organized for use, and how they will be used in the classroom to develop students’ knowledge and skills. One might define the term “curriculum” as the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program.

CURRICULUM DESIGN PROCESS

Helping educational institutions to meet the needs of their students is the purpose of curriculum design. Curriculum design is a fairly new approach to education that looks to find ways that schools can be more effective at teaching students within the constraints of limited resources and time. Curriculum design involves identifying learning objectives and activities that will help students reach those objectives. The process also requires assessing what resources are needed to conduct the activities and ensure student success. A good curriculum design will keep the students in mind and outline how they are assessed and what standards they are expected to meet. It will also provide a framework for how content is delivered to students, and how it is evaluated.

PURPOSE OF CURRICULUM DESIGNS

1. Subject-centered design 2. Learner-centered design 3. Problem-centered design

TYPES OF CURRICULUM DESIGNS

SUBJECT-CENTERED DESIGN

In subject-centered design, the curriculum is centered around a particular discipline. Just imagine if you could go to school and only take social studies classes! That’s the idea behind this type of curriculum design: to provide a complete experience in one specific field of study. It involves using a specific subject as the focal point of learning.

SUBJECT-CENTERED APPROACH

Focus: This approach centers on organizing the curriculum around specific subjects or disciplines, such as mathematics, language arts, history, or science. Strengths: It allows for a structured and systematic presentation of content. Subject-centered curricula are often aligned with standardized assessments and traditional academic expectations. Weaknesses: This approach may not cater to individual student interests and diverse learning styles. It can lead to compartmentalized learning, where students struggle to make connections between different subjects.

LEARNER-CENTERED DESIGN

In a learner-centered curriculum design, students take charge of their own learning. Students set their own goals, develop plans for reaching the goals, track their own progress for reaching their goals, assess their own performance, and reflect on how they can improve their performance against their goals. Learner-centered curriculum designs give students some control over what they’re learning so they can pursue topics that excite them.

learner-centered approach

Focus: This approach places the learner at the core of curriculum development, tailoring the learning experiences to meet individual needs, interests, and abilities. Strengths: It fosters personalized and meaningful learning experiences, promoting student engagement and motivation. Learner-centered curricula cater to diverse learners and encourage active participation. Weaknesses: Implementing a fully learner-centered approach can be resource intensive and challenging, especially in large class sizes. It requires skilled and adaptive educators to support each student effectively.

problem-centered design

Problem-centered curriculum design focuses on real-world problems that students can solve together. Students learn to solve problems collaboratively and increase their critical thinking skills.

problem-centered approach

Focus: This approach revolves around using real-world problems or scenarios to drive the learning process. Students actively explore and solve complex problems, applying knowledge and skills to find solutions. Strengths: Problem-based curricula enhance problem-solving, collaboration skills, and critical thinking. They promote deeper understanding and the transferability of knowledge to real-life situations. Weaknesses: Designing problem-based curricula requires careful consideration of engaging and relevant problems. It may take more time to cover content compared to traditional approaches, potentially leading to gaps in certain subject areas.

References

Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2017). Curriculum (7th ed.). Pearson Education. Nagl, S. (2023). The connection between curriculum design and student learning. School of Professional Studies at Wake Forest University. https://sps.wfu.edu/articles/the-connection-between-curriculum-design-and-student-learning/ Holmes, B. and, McLean. M. (1989). The Curriculum, A Comprehensive Perspective. London: Unwin Hyman Ediger, M. (2017). Curriculum, Which Direction Are We Going? Reading Improvement, 54(3), 101–104

THANK YOU!

By: Deborah McGeeney