Topic 2 : Models of Curriculum Design

Comparison of curriculum design models

Steps in curriculum design in relation to models of curriculum design

Interaction Model of Curriculum Design

The Taba Model

 Interaction Model takes into consideration the background and experience of students &
teachers.
 The curriculum elements are seen as flexible, interactive and modifiable.
 Taba's approach is based on the inductive approach to curriculum design.
 Interaction Model takes into consideration the background and experience of students &
teachers.
 The curriculum elements are seen as flexible, interactive and modifiable.
 Taba's approach is based on the inductive approach to curriculum design.
  Hilda Taba believed that there must be a process for evaluating student achievement of
content after the content standards have been established and implemented.
 The main concept of this approach to curriculum development is that teachers must be
involved in the development of the curriculum.
 She believed that the curriculum should be organized around generalized learning objectives
which enables students to discover principles that will enable them to be successfully.
 There are seven major steps for developing a "grassroots approach to curriculum
development. These steps are:

1) diagnose the needs of the students;

2) teacher defines objectives to be taught;

3) objectives and content should match;

4) the content is sequenced according to learner's interest,

achievement level;

5) instructional methods must keep students engaged;

6) learning activities are organized, remembering the students being taught; and

7)students and teachers involved in evaluation procedures.

 Taba stated that there are three groupings of objectives: knowledge- what children need to
understand; skills-children need to learn how to; and concepts-children need to be (Ornstein
& Hunkins, 2009).
 She was an advocate for students using problem solving and inquiry discovery techniques.
 The main idea to this approach is that the needs of the students are at the forefront to the
curriculum.
 The use of Taba's ideals of charting students status in learning and placing students with
similar learning in diverse groupings, what is now called cooperative learning groups.
 This is an idea that needs to be considered if using the basic ideas of this approach in
curriculum design.

Strengths

 Teachers are aware of students’ needs.

 Teachers see curriculum as a “plan for learning”.

Weaknesses

 Time can be wasted working on skills which may never be mastered.

Naturalistic Model of Curriculum Design

The Walker Model

 It is a descriptive model.
 The term “naturalistic” describes how the process of curriculum planning is done instead of
suggesting how it should be done.
 It uses communicative approach to curriculum design.
 The communicative approach starts with the more subjective perceptions and views of the
designers, the target group, and other stakeholders.
 Walker suggests that better curriculum planning and development will result if persons
participate in the process and reach a consensus about the final product.
 Walker’s model has three phases:

1. Platform – includes ideas, preferences, points of view, beliefs and values about the
curriculum.

2. Deliberations – here interaction between stakeholders begin and clarification

of views and ideas in order to reach a consensus of a shared vision.

3. Design – here, curriculum developers actually make decisions, which are based
on deliberations (above). These decisions affect curriculum documents and materials
production.

 The platform guides the group in making decisions and determining actions.
 The platform is the guiding force for the deliberative process, and all decisions made during
the process will be judged in terms of consistency to the platform.
 Therefore, the platform should also include explicit models of the issues and the curriculum
problems that the group will be faced with.
 After a platform has been established, the process of deliberation begins as the group
attempts to make specific decisions in regards to the curriculum.
 Deliberation may take on many forms, but the most common forms are argumentation and
debate.
 During deliberation, proposed decisions are formulated and alternatives to those proposed
decisions are suggested.
 Arguments for and against the proposed decisions and their alternatives are then considered
by the group in an attempt to choose the most defensible alternative.
  The result of deliberation is the curriculum design.
 Walker suggests that the design is best represented as the series of decisions that were
made during the creation of the design.
 These decisions make up two parts of the design: the explicit design and the implicit design.
 The explicit design is composed of the decisions that were made during deliberation—after a
consideration of alternatives.
 The implicit design consists of those decisions that were made automatically—without
considering alternatives.
 In Walker’s naturalistic model, the important output that is generated by curriculum
development is a set of decisions.
 As a result, evaluation is used only as a means of justifying or discrediting the decisions that
were made, rather than as a self-corrective process that directs practice to the attainment of
objectives.

Strengths

 Walkers’ model consider the inputs of curriculum developers, target group, and other
parties/stakeholders in the development of the curriculum.
 There is a broad social support because all parties involved are given opportunity to
contribute.

Weaknesses

 Walker describes what happens in the process of curriculum design but does not describe
what actually happens in the classroom.
 The processes for deliberation can be time consuming and resource intensive.
 Consensus is often hard to achieve.

Objective Model of Curriculum Design

The Tyler Model

 Tyler stated his curriculum rationale in terms of four questions that, he argued, must be
answered in developing any curriculum and plan of instruction:

(1) What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?

(2) What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?

(3) How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?

(4) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

 These questions may be reformulated into a four-step process:

 Step 1 : stating objectives
o What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
o describes an intended result of instruction, not the process (is Malaysia’s
educational purpose clearly stated?)
 Tyler proposes that educational objectives originate from three sources:
 o the needs of society
o the needs of learners
o nature and structure of knowledge

 Step 2 : selecting learning experiences

o What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?
o What methods of teaching and learning will be used?
 Drills
 Lectures
 Laboratory exercises
 Internships
 Collaborative learning
 Combination of many methods
 Experiences must cover all 3 domains of learning
> Cognitive > Affective > Psychomotor
 Step 3 : organizing learning experiences
o How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
 From simple to complex – eg. graded tasks (beginner, intermediate,
advanced)
 From general to specific – eg: essays, critical analysis, reflective writing
 Experiences should build on each other – eg. Projects (PBL: project based
learning)
 Step 4 : evaluating the curriculum.
o How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
 Achievement Tests
 Progress reports
 Summative Examinations
 Research / Follow up studies
 Program Reviews
 Once the first step of (Step 1) stating and refining objectives is accomplished, the Tyler’s
model proceeds through the steps of (Step 2) selection and ( Step 3) organization of
learning experiences as the means for achieving outcomes, and, finally, (Step 4) evaluating in
terms of those learning outcomes.
 Tyler recognizes a problem in connection with the selection of learning experiences by a
teacher or curriculum designer.
 The problem is that by definition a learning experience is the interaction between a student
and his environment; that is, a learning experience is to some degree a function of the
perceptions, interests, and previous experiences of the student.
 Thus, a learning experience is not totally within the power of the teacher to select.
 Nevertheless, Tyler maintains that the teacher can control the learning experience through
the manipulation of the environment, which results in stimulating situations sufficient to
evoke the kind of learning outcomes desired. 
Graphic Representation of Tyler’s Model

Strengths:

 Provides an easy to follow step- by-step guide to curriculum planning and development.
 Begins with a set of clear objectives that teachers must plan tasks and work towards
achieving the specified outcomes.

Weaknesses

 Sees curriculum development as a fixed, linear process.

 Division of labour at the various steps are fixed so curriculum ‘actors’ are unaware of what
others do.
 Treats ends and means separately
 Doesn’t consider that not all learning outcomes can be measured e.g. critical thinking,
problem solving, values etc.
 Fails to consider the changing environment.
 Fails to recognize that the future cannot be predicted accurately with precision.

Process Model of Curriculum Design

The Wheeler Model


This cyclical model was developed by Daryl Kenneth Wheeler.
 He modified Tyler’s straight line model into a cyclic or spherical model.
 Reason: Tyler’s model did not provide for feedback or help students achieve the evaluative
outcomes or expected objectives (Urebvu, 1990).
 This model which Wheeler called the circular model has five steps which are:

Step 1. Selecting an objective

Step 2. Choosing learning experiences

Step 3. Choosing content

Step 4. Organizing and integrating learning

experience and content

Step 5. Evaluating.

Wheeler’ Model is cyclic or spherical

  Step 1: Selecting (Aims, Goals and Objectives)
 Aims cover all the experiences provided in the curriculum.
 Goals are tied to specific subjects or group of content within the curriculum.
 Objectives describe more specific outcomes as a result of lessons or instructions
delivered at a class.
 Step 2: Choosing Learning Experiences
 Learning experiences result from learners’ involvement in activities.
 Step 3: Choosing Content
 Content is what we teach.
 Step 4: Organizing and integrating learning experience and content
 Step 5: Evaluation
 In Wheeler’s model, there is a feedback mechanism that provides learners with ways to
measure their progress or accuracy.
 Feedback helps learners achieve the evaluative outcomes or expected objectives.