Course: Curriculum and Instruction

(Code 6503)
Level: M.A Education.
Semester: Autumn, 2020 ASSIGNMENT No.2
Q. 1 Explain the need of conceptual framework for curriculum design. How can it help
foreseeing the problem of curriculum design?
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.
Purpose of 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.
Instructional 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.
The drawback to this form of curriculum design is that it is labor-intensive. Developing differentiated
instruction puts pressure on the teacher to create instruction and/or find materials that are conducive to
each student's learning needs. Teachers may not have the time or may lack the experience or skills to
create such a plan. Learner-centered curriculum design also requires that teachers balance student
wants and interests with student needs and required outcomes, which is not an easy balance to obtain.
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.
• Remember that curriculum design is not a one-step process; continuous improvement is a
necessity. The design of the curriculum should be assessed periodically and refined based on
assessment data. This may involve making alterations to the design partway through the course
to ensure that learning outcomes or a certain level of proficiency will be achieved at the end of
the course.
Q.2 Discuss the formulation of curricular objectives and the importance of situational
analysis.
Part I: Situational Analysis of the School Situation Broad Contours of the Curriculum Design

The broad contours of the curriculum design project were as follows:

1. Setting: Wesley Intermediate is situated in central Auckland and is a small intermediate school with
a roll of just over 150 students. The school is situated in a state housing area and, accordingly, has a
low socio-economic intake.
2. Teachers: The teachers working at Wesley Intermediate are predominantly European, although at
the current time 40% of the teaching staff are Polynesian.
3. School level: Students aged eleven and twelve year’s olds, or years 7 and 8.
4. Teaching period: All week
5.Overall subject area: Science.
5.Specific topic: Weather.
Maxwell’s (1981) Guidelines for Situational Analysis
Maxwell (1981) discussed a framework for analysing and appraising any educational situation. The
purpose of the situational analysis is to generate useful data that can assist in the curriculum design
process. The internal and external factors selected below are adapted from Maxwell’s framework and
represent those that are more relevant to my own school context.
External Factors
Key external factors are::
Community Values The Wesley Intermediate School Charter (2003) reflects the national and local
educational goals. It was compiled through the guidance of educational acts, community discussion and
management/staff discernment. The mission statement says that the school’s mission is:
“To provide quality education for life- long learning”. When developing curriculum for Wesley
Intermediate the under-girding learning objectives and outcomes need to reflect and revolve around all
of the educational goals outlined below. School policy states that this method of development will help
ensure that the curriculum aides in training students to understand and achieve the learning
objectives/outcomes and become a reflection of the values and social change that the school and
community are trying to achieve. Local educational goals from the Charter are:
Excellence in learning areas.
Celebrating our cultures.
Programmes to promote literacy.
Programmes to promote Numeracy.
Excellence in the arts.
Excellence in sport.
School Goals are listed as follows:
A safe, caring environment for all.
High expectations of all people.
“Best” practice in all we do.
Supportive structures [pastoral care].
Innovation in all areas.
Inclusive environment.
School values and Social Goals include respect for self, others and property, specifically:
Valuing our differences.
Caring, compassion, aroha, kia kaha.
Life long learning.
Non-violence.
Biblical moral values.
Parental Involvement
The first part of community involvement in Wesley Intermediate is parental. Until recently, this has
largely been non-existent as Polynesian parents generally hold the teacher in very high esteem. This
acknowledgement, although it sounds very admirable, does not help teachers in New Zealand schools
that are governed by very different rules and societal expectations. In pacific cultures, it is expected
that the teacher would chastise the student in place of the parent. This understanding hinders
development of teacher parent relationships and fosters a ‘hands off’ approach to education from the
parents. Involving the parents in the life of the school is a very important necessity for curriculum
development at Wesley Intermediate if progress is to be made, in this area.
Wider community Involvement
The next part of our threefold community is the people living and working in the local area. These
people make a huge impact upon the life of the school. They are the ones who talk about the people
involved with the school. They make assumptions and formulate opinions that can have a positive or
detrimental effect. Involving these people in the learning process is not often done but is vitally
important to the overall success of the school.
Involvement of Other Agencies
More and more we are seeing increased community and governmental agencies becoming involved.
The coming year’s curriculum will have to change to integrate these agencies’ input into the
developmental process. Communication between these three facets of community is imperative for the
successful amalgamation of them into a holistic approach to education and community/society.
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is a major factor when looking to develop curriculum at Wesley Intermediate. The
school community is made up of three dominant cultures. These are Tongan, Samoan and Maori with
another three of four other minority cultures also: Cook Island, Nuean, Samalian, Japanese and
European.
Because of the cultural diversity there are many cognitive problems that can occur over the course of a
lesson. The traditional practice or understanding of an excerpt of curriculum can cause a melting pot of
confusion to occur amongst the students. This diverse understanding can be looked upon as an
unassailable problem or it can be looked upon as a means of bringing a multileveled fully rounded
kaleidoscopic view of the excerpt of curriculum. Using diversity, as a strength not only enhances the
learning environment, it moulds, fashions and sharpens the curriculum developers ability to provide
unique life changing curriculum.
Economic Change
As we know that in our times economics plays a big part of most processes. Curriculum development at
Wesley Intermediate is one of these such processes. Over the past 40years Wesley Intermediate has
gone from having one of the highest decile ratings to now having the second to lowest decile rating.
This has a very definite effect upon curriculum development as it changes the presuppositional
understanding of the families and students who access the school. Curriculum must be relevant to the
learner’s outlook on life. The students at Wesley Intermediate have very different life experiences than
students attending a decile 10 school. The curriculum needs to identify and redress these issues that are
different for every school.
Community Involvement
A curriculum developer is always trying to develop relevant life preparing curriculum. Community
involvement should be a paramount desire of any learning establishment where education for not only
life but also eternity takes place. The community needs to be looked upon as a huge mostly untapped
resource that can bring understanding and reason into many facets of the curriculum.
Internal Factors
The most important internal factors for my particular educational setting are as follows:
Student characteristics
1. Numbers of students: 154
2. Age: 11-13yrs
3. Ethnic background: The majority of Wesley Intermediate is made up of Polynesian students with the
major contributors being Tongan then Samoan, Maori, Cook island, Nuiean, African and Asian.
Students’ Ethnic Background
Ethnicity plays a large part in what presuppositions under-gird our eventual worldview. All ethnic
groups have certain traditions and cultural glitches that are always presumed in their worldview
presuppositions. Wesley Intermediate is a school community that consists of multiple ethnic groups as
mentioned earlier. This is the issue that needs to be dealt with at the curriculum development stage.
Any curriculum development will need to take into account that some ethnic groups cannot always take
part in certain parts of the curriculum. However, this is an ideal time for us to use these situations to
deal with the immense diversity that exists amongst human beings whether at a religious, cultural or
personal level.
Emotional and Social Development
One of the most critical issues curriculum development needs to address in my school situation is the
area of emotional and social development. I am continually astounded at the lack of emotional stability
and social response that exist amongst the children that I come into contact with at Wesley
Intermediate. In general, common societal-values no longer exist, a survival of the fittest mentality
combined with selfish indulgence seems to be the ruling the masses at the moment in the school – a
reflection, perhaps, of society on the whole. Curriculum development at Wesley Intermediate has to
take into account the abnormal behavioural issues faced and the fact that many of our students come
from dysfunctional families. Dealing with these issues inadvertently steers the curriculum into certain
areas and away from others.
State of Bodily development:
The students at Wesley Intermediate develop much faster than students from other cultures, because
most of students are Polynesian. It is not unusual to find a 11-12yr old boy weighing on average around
70kg and standing at 1.60m tall. This rapid development at an early age can give them the appearance
of being much older than they are. Because of this there needs to be an understanding of developmental
issues that need to be dealt with which might not exist in other schools.
Physical Needs and Health
Low socio-economic areas are always areas of concern where issues of health and physical needs are
concerned. Because the students’ bodies grow so rapidly they need to obtain good healthy food
unfortunately when finances are tight, which is more often the case than not. Accordingly, food
sometimes becomes a lesser priority. A lot of our students would start the day off with the purchase of
a pie and a can of coke. This is a real concern and must be dealt with constantly at a curriculum
development level. A whole part of the students understanding of what it is to be physically healthy
needs to be change as it directly effects their ability to function in the classroom
Intellectual Development
On average, Wesley Intermediate pupils are two to three years behind their peers nationally. This fact is
a major influence upon curriculum development as learning outcomes have to factor in the gaps in
ability of the learners. There are many reasons for these gaps occurring.
· The first major reason why students at Wesley Intermediate have gaps in their learning is that many of
them have come from other countries where English is not spoken or is a second language. Some of
these students parents can only speak very broken English and would mostly speak their native
language at home.
· A lack of ambition is also evident and possibly responsible for the slow development intellectually.
The drive to get a good education, or to educate oneself is not inherent in the upbringing of the
students, and, while there are always exceptions, it is simply not present in their general home culture.
There is a lack of understanding of what it takes to push the boundaries of understanding not just for
intellectual development but also for the “wow” factor of learning. Students seem to lack the awareness
that with understanding there comes an opening of many doors, not simply in the mind, but in society
and later in the workplace.
· There is often no reading material in the homes of these children at these early critical developmental
stages. This means that the students lack two to three years of formal reading and comprehension of
texts. Parents are unaware or are simply not interested the evidence supporting the idea that reading to
children at home when they are very young will reap the reward of extremely literate children.
Personal Characteristics
Because the over-riding drive for success is very much focused on the achievement of the family and
community, rather than the individual, in most Polynesian cultures, the students find it very difficult to
come to grips with the Western, Greek-influenced style of education. Their personal characteristics are
often swallowed up by the characteristics of the extended family. This in the ideal world would seem to
be a fantastic notion. However, when a family is dysfunctional and lives in a way that is detrimental to
a student’s health, hopes and aspirations then it turns out to be a very destructive influence upon that
student’s life. This is important to understand with regards to the curriculum development process, that
not all cultural influences are good ones. Discussion and learning outcomes need to deal with issues
such as this because the student’s culture is a very integral part of the student’s lives.
Material Resources
Resources are always a major influence upon curriculum development and like any school Wesley
Intermediate has a limited number of resources, ranging from 1950’s to current day. This can be looked
at as an inadequacy or it can be viewed as a bonus. It is always a struggle to provide curriculum that is
up to date and relevant for the time or even the sub culture that is found at Wesley Intermediate and
many schools like it where the clientele are low socio-economic. The resources found at Wesley
Intermediate require the curriculum developer to be a creative and lateral thinker, taking the view that
there are many ways to take an out of date resource and use it to bring the desired cognitive response,
even at a depth and level that was not initially planned for.
A Model for Curriculum Design
Each year the board of trustees through the principal and staff will develop, revise or confirm its
curriculum plan. The plan will set out specific objectives for curriculum delivery and content, and
matched against the strategic plan priorities (school charter 03). At Wesley Intermediate School we
work on a two-year rotation to cover the necessary strands of the New Zealand national curriculum.
Once we have decided on the strands we brainstorm ideas as to what topic will be taught. From here,
the Head of Department and their teams will put a unit together and give to classroom teachers to adapt
to their programme. If a classroom teacher wishes to teach a different topic they can, but the unit will
need to planned and written by themselves.
The reality of the situation is that there is no particular “model” of curriculum development in sight,
apart from perhaps certain pragmatic principles relating to how we interpret the vagueness of the
national curriculum strands. There may be particular models in operation at a national level, models
which are adhered to by the education bureaucrats in Wellington, when they devise policy and
curriculum documents, but these are not made explicit to us. If they exist, they will be based on secular
humanist principles, rather than a biblically informed model. For myself, I am interested in developing
a Christ-centred approach to curriculum design that allows me to operate as a Christian, but within the
mission field of the non-Christian curriculum framework and school that I have chosen. I intend to
explore this in the next assignment in more detail, but the most useful model at this point seems to be
Dreckmyr’s (1997) adaptation of another earlier model whereby Christian presuppositions and
worldview issues can influence and impact the learning content. While I am unable to influence the
broader objectives and content, which are set nationally, thinking about curriculum in this way, at least
enables me to think more carefully about how I can work to subvert the secular humanist system with
more biblically informed teaching, on a local level anyway. This is particularly true with regards to my
own teaching methodology and in-house materials design.
Part II: Curriculum Design Task
Weather Unit: A Summary
The unit described below relates to weather:
· There is no feature of our environment that has such far-reaching effects as the weather. In fact, the
weather often rules the choices that we all make everyday. Whether we are planning a day at the beach,
a walk in the park, or even what clothes to wear, the weather is always a consideration.
· This unit has been designed in a way to facilitate fun and informative ways of discovering and
unravelling the mysteries of weather. At the start of each lesson, there is an outline containing all the
information you would need, to feel comfortable teaching the material that is intended to be covered.
· Each lesson has been designed to cover the proper learning strands and achievement objectives
outlined in the National Science Curriculum Document.
· Incorporated in the unit are the achievement objectives as well as the levels of achievement. It is up to
individual teachers to determine at which of these levels students are operating.
In terms of outcomes, students will:
· Identify and investigate the factors that affect our weather e.g. wind temperature, air pressure and
moisture, landforms, distance from sea.
· Develop skills in using and constructing instruments such as thermometers, barometers, rain gauges,
and wind meters to investigate and record weather conditions.
· Use standard units of measurement for temperature, rainfall, wind speed, wind and water content.
· Explore the major features, including the water cycle, that characterise Earth’s water reserves, e.g.
oceans, rivers, ice caps, clouds.
· To extend and enrich language development through oral and written expression.
· Demonstrate and develop an understanding of general scientific terms.
· Attitudes fostered could include creativity, co-operation, tolerance, and evaluation.
Two Relevant Points from the Situational Analysis
Personal Characteristics
By incorporating a lot of interaction between the students in discussion times and through doing
physical construction or scientific evaluation, I am trying to get the students to develop personal and
corporate understandings of who they are in relation to others. This unit fosters healthy interaction and
co-dependence, it requires students to change or develop there opinions to incorporate an understanding
of others views, while being able to hold their own views at arms length enabling them to maintain a
healthy discussion environment. This kind of critical thinking is a start to helping students examine the
world around them.
Intellectual Development
By making this unit hands on task orientated I am trying to inspire the student and address the issue of
literacy development. This unit helps the learner achieve success through many tactile scientific
processes. It works through the learning objectives systematically and enables the learner to access
information in small bite sized chunks.
Connecting to the School
Wesley Intermediate has as its mission statement that in everything we are striving to provide quality
education for life long learning, to see excellence in all learning areas and foster respect for self, others
and property. During the development of this unit, I have tried to incorporate a safe learning
environment where students can achieve excellence, where they learn respect for their peer’s ideas, and
are able to think constructively about the things they believe and the reasons why they believe them.
This unit has been developed to foster, recognise and support the values and educational goal of
Wesley Intermediate.
Worldview Issues
Wesley Intermediate is a secular state school. With this in mind, I have had to develop this unit
omitting an overt Christian ethos. However, because a high percentage of the school are Polynesian and
would profess to being Christian and the fact that the majority of the teaching staff are Christian, I have
designed this unit to be taught by Christians bringing their unique worldview to bear on the curriculum
fostering the “wow” of creation and the majesty of a creator God. With this in mind, there is much
scope for individual teachers to bring their own Christian teaching biases into the classroom as they use
and reinterpret the unit. I see this as one way that we can be seen to be using the secular curriculum at a
state level, but really be using a more organic Christian curriculum at the local classroom level.
Interaction and Collaboration
While undertaking this situational analysis and designing this unit I have had substantial interaction
with colleagues in my syndicate and school community. We have discussed some of the key factors
that should be incorporated into curriculum development at Wesley Intermediate, and had insightful
discussions of the significance that culture plays on worldview understanding and development of
Wesley Intermediate students.
Insights Gained
One of the key insights I have gained through the study of this unit is that the link between school and
the life of the community has become frail and in some places non-existent. In order to make learning a
life long process, this will need to be ratified at the curriculum development level. School and
community are not separate entities; they are one in the same. Community needs really need to be
better incorporated into the curriculum design process. It may be possible to achieve this with more
highly focused situational analysis, however, closer personal relationships is possibly a another way of
achieving this in an informal sense. I have begun to realise that when developing curriculum at Wesley
there needs to be a dominant theme of values based action and cognitive response. While its possible to
talk about this using words and vocabulary borrowed from secular education, at our local level the
learner needs to be viewed as if they have not received what most would say are fundamental the rights
of every person to be raised surrounded by a loving family in the biblical sense. They have not been
trained and admonished to understand the consequences of actions, being able to respond to life
situations in a rational, mature manner. This is the challenge to which we must rise.
During this assignment, I have had my eyes opened to the power of reflective practice, good planning
and understanding the mountain that we are trying to move. A situational analysis is a great starting
point for any curriculum developer, although I would add that closer community relationships need to
be developed at the same time. The situational analysis enables the developer to maintain a clear focus
on the issues and learning objectives that the curriculum is addressing. Meeting ones, aims, goals or
objectives is paramount in all spheres of life. During this assignment, I have been able to foster an
understanding of school, community, and personal Goals/ideals. This knowledge has helped me to
develop an understanding of curriculum development that brings hope, inspiration and most
importantly a sense of “wow”.
Q. 3 Differentiate between inquiry method and problem solving method of teaching. Explain
with examples whether these methods are subject specific or not.
Students can engage in deep learning of concepts and skills through a variety of inquiry-based models,
including: instructional approaches, instructional sequences, and/or design processes.
• Instructional approaches - models of inquiry that are designated by essential features more so
than one consensus sequence of events
• Instructional sequences - models of inquiry that have a specific sequence of events based on
learning theory or practices of a discipline
• Design processes - models of design based on an iterative process of prototyping and testing to
develop a final product
In general, the traditional approach to learning is focused on mastery of content, with less emphasis on
the development of skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes. The current system of education is
teacher centered, with the teacher focused on giving out information about "what is known." Students
are the receivers of information, and the teacher is the dispenser. Much of the assessment of the learner
is focused on the importance of "one right answer." Traditional education is more concerned with
preparation for the next grade level and in-school success than with helping a student learn to learn
throughout life.

Traditional classrooms tend to be closed systems where information is filtered through layers to
students. In general, the use of resources is limited to what is available in the classroom or within the
school. Use of technology is focused on learning about the technology rather than its application to
enhanced learning. Lesson plans are used to organize the various steps in the learning process for the
whole-class approach. On-target questions that would tend to cause deviations from the plan are met
with, "We will get to that later." The inquiry approach is more focused on using and learning content as
a means to develop information-processing and problem-solving skills. The system is more student
centered, with the teacher as a facilitator of learning. There is more emphasis on "how we come to
know" and less on "what we know." Students are more involved in the construction of knowledge
through active involvement. The more interested and engaged students are by a subject or project, the
easier it will be for them to construct in-depth knowledge of it. Learning becomes almost effortless
when something fascinates students and reflects their interests and goals. Assessment is focused on
determining the progress of skills development in addition to content understanding. Inquiry learning is
concerned with in-school success, but it is equally concerned with preparation for life-long learning.
Inquiry classrooms are open systems where students are encouraged to search and make use of
resources beyond the classroom and the school. Teachers who use inquiry can use technology to
connect students appropriately with local and world communities which are rich sources of learning
and learning materials. They replace lesson plans with facilitated learning plans that account for slight
deviations while still keeping an important learning outcome in focus. They meet on-target questions
with, "How do you suggest we investigate that question?" Another issue regarding inquiry-based
learning has to do with a misconception about when to do inquiry. Inquiry is not only done in
laboratory or group work -- it can also be done in lectures that provoke students to think and question.
Teachers often discount the fact that when they are giving talks or lectures to students, the students, if
engaged, are applying listening and observing skills -- using their senses. If teachers focus more on
"how we come to know" by presenting evidence and information and encouraging student questioning,
then talks can even become powerful inquiry models for students. Collaborative meaning-making can
take place through discourse. For example, when discussing the internal structure of the earth, a teacher
will often give the students information about just the names and sizes of these earth layers, or the
"what we know." But what really is important and intriguing for the student is the "how do we know?"
about these structures. No one has been down there, and physical probes have only scratched the
surface. To enhance inquiry learning, the teacher should explain that indirect scientific evidence,
mainly the transmission and reflection of different kinds of earthquake waves, provides much of our
understanding about the internal structure of the earth. This approach provides the student with the
opportunity not only to learn the names and sizes of the structures but, more importantly, to ponder and
question the nature of indirect scientific evidence as well. Thus, an inquiry approach can help students
connect science with the scientific method. Students learn to apply the method to various fields of
study while coming to understand their content.

Q.4 How can educational curricula and processes improve in the light of evaluation of the
programmes?
The purpose of curriculum evaluation is to determine whether or not the newly adopted curriculum is
producing the intended results and meeting the objectives that it has set forth, and it is an essential
component in the process of adopting and implementing any new curriculum in any educational setting.
Another purpose of curriculum evaluation is to gather data that will help in identifying areas in need of
improvement or change.
There are several parties, or stakeholders, interested in the process and results of curriculum evaluation.
• Parents are interested because they want to be assured that their children are being provided
with a sound, effective education.
• Teachers are interested because they want to know that what they are teaching in the classroom
will effectively help them cover the standards and achieve the results they know parents and
administration are expecting.
 • The general public is interested because they need to be sure that their local schools are doing
their best to provide solid and effective educational programs for the children in the area.
• Administrators are interested because they need feedback on the effectiveness of their curricular
decisions.
• Curriculum publishers are interested because they can use the data and feedback from a
curriculum evaluation to drive changes and upgrades in the materials they provide.
In the end, the goal is always to make sure that students are being provided with the best education
possible. Because the curriculum is a huge part of this, curriculum evaluation is a means of deciding
whether or not the chosen curriculum is going to bring the school closer to that goal.
Let's take a closer look at several of the models available for curriculum evaluation:
The Tyler model, a curriculum evaluation model that takes into account information from the active
learner and pays close attention to how well the goals and objectives of the curriculum are supported by
the experiences and activities provided, was named after its creator, Ralph Tyler, and focuses on four
main areas:
• The purpose of the curriculum being evaluated (the objectives)
• The experiences that are provided to support that purpose (the strategies and content)
• How these experiences are organized (organization of the content)
• How the outcomes are evaluated (assessment)
It has been criticized, however, for its simplicity and because assessment is a final step rather than an
ongoing part of the process.

The Tyler model has several advantages: It is relatively easy to understand and apply. It is rational and
systematic. It focuses attention on curricular strengths and weaknesses, rather than being concerned
solely with the performance of individual students. It also emphasizes the importance of a continuing
cycle of assessment, analysis, and improvement. As Guba and Lincoln (1981) pointed out, however, it
suffers from several deficiencies. It does not suggest how the objectives themselves should be
evaluated. It does not provide standards or suggest how standards should be developed. Its emphasis on
the prior statement of objectives may restrict creativity in curriculum development, and it seems to
place undue emphasis on the preassessment and postassessment, ignoring completely the need for
formative assessment. Similarly, Baron and Boschee (1995), in their book Authentic Assessment: The
Key to Unlocking Student Success, stress that “we are encountering fundamental changes in the way
we view and conduct assessment in American schools” (p. 1).
The Taba model, a curriculum evaluation model emphasizing inductive reasoning, was created by
Hilda Taba who believed that true curriculum should be developed by the teacher, rather than decided
upon by administration or another authority. The Taba model, also called the ''Inductive Approach,''
uses a series of stages or steps, which can be applied in both the development and evaluation of
curriculum.
These stages are:
1. Deciding on objectives
2. Selecting content
3. Organizing content
4. Selecting learning experiences and activities
5. Organizing learning experiences and activities
6. Deciding what and how to evaluate
That broader perspective mentioned above requires a less constricting view of both the purposes and
foci of curriculum evaluation. In reviewing the literature and acquiring a broader understanding of
purpose, two concepts delineated by Guba and Lincoln (1981) seem especially useful: merit and worth.
Merit, as they use the term, refers to the intrinsic value of an entity—value that is implicit, inherent,
and independent of any applications. Merit is established without reference to a context. Worth, on the
other hand, is the value of an entity in reference to a particular context or a specific application. It is the
“payoff” value for a given institution or group of people. Thus, a given English course may seem to
have a great deal of merit in the eyes of experts: It may reflect sound theory, be built on current
research, and embody content that experts deem desirable. The same course, however, may have
relatively little worth for a teacher instructing unmotivated working-class youth in an urban school: It
may require teaching skills that the teacher has not mastered and learning materials that the students
cannot read. In this sense, then, curriculum evaluation should be concerned with assessing both merit
and worth.
The innovative practices to which many educators aspire can accommodate and build on more
traditional mandates (Ferrero, 2006). Although the models above seem sharply distinct from one
another, some evidence of congruence exists in current theories of evaluation. This congruence is quite
evident in the ASCD monograph Applied Strategies for Curriculum Evaluation (Brandt, 1981), in
which seven experts in evaluation were asked to explain how their “evaluation model” would be used
in evaluating a secondary humanities course. While the models proposed by the experts (Stake,
Scriven, Eisner, and Worthen) differed in many of their details, several common emphases emerged in
the approaches: Study the context, determine client concerns, use qualitative methods, assess
opportunity cost (what other opportunities the student is missing by taking this course), be sensitive to
unintended effects, and develop different reports for different audiences. By using these common
emphases, along with insights generated from analyzing other models, it is possible to develop a list of
criteria that can be used in both assessing and developing evaluation models. Such a list is shown in
Exhibit 12.2. Districts with sufficient resources to employ an expert consultant can use the criteria to
assess the model proposed by the consultant; districts developing a homegrown process can use the
criteria to direct their own work. The criteria will obviously result in an eclectic approach to evaluation,
one that draws from the strengths of several different models. Such an eclectic process has been used
successfully in evaluating a field of study; this same process also can be used to evaluate a course of
study with the scope of the evaluation reduced.
Leadership and Evaluation
Quality leadership is a key component in the success of any evaluation process. One of the most
important aspects of that leadership role is for educational planners to understand the process of
evaluation and how it should be administered. Understanding the evaluation process means leaders will
have to convey knowledge of curriculum as well as instructional strategies. They will also have to
convey their expectations of how teaching and learning can be enhanced via the curriculum. There is a
special need for leadership and more understanding as to the process of evaluation and how it relates to
the development of effective curriculum.
Technology and Evaluation
The rapid changes occurring in computer technology also pose a challenge to establishing effective
evaluation programs. Technology capabilities have continued to change faster than educational
researchers can sustain. For example, initial evidence on the use of computers in the classroom showed
that “drill and practice” activities were successful in reinforcing skills. Now, with continued advances
in software and technology, teachers are using computers in classrooms in entirely different ways. It
therefore has been difficult for researchers to complete large-scale, controlled studies that lead to solid
conclusions because by the time their research is published, new technologies are providing new
opportunities for teachers and students. With the exception of National Educational Technology
Standards and the International Society for Technology in Education, the lack of correlated state
technology standards and guidelines at times creates a barrier to providing quality assessment.
Currently, a limited number of districts in the country have established formal guidelines for evaluating
the effectiveness of technology in their schools.
Preparing for the Evaluation
Preparations for the evaluation include three major steps: setting the project parameters, selecting the
project director and the evaluation task force, and preparing the evaluation documents. In setting the
project parameters, district administrators in consultation with the school board should determine both
the purpose and the limits of the project. They should, first of all, be clear about the central purpose of
the review, because purpose will affect both issues to be examined and methods to be used. In
identifying the limits of the project, they should develop answers to the following questions:
• How much time will be allocated, and by what date should the evaluation be completed? • What
human, fiscal, and material resources will be provided? • Which fields will be evaluated? • What
constituencies will be asked for input? Specifically, will parents, community representatives, and
students be involved? With those parameters set, the project director and evaluation task force should
be selected. The project director should be a consultant or a member of the district staff who has
considerable technical expertise in curriculum evaluation. The task force should function as an advisory
and planning group, making recommendations to and monitoring the performance of the project
director. It should probably include a total of 10 to 20 individuals, depending on the size of the district,
and have adequate representation from these constituencies: school board, school administrators,
teachers and other faculty members, and parents and community organizations. If administrators wish,
and if it is felt that their input can be useful, secondary students can be included. The project director
and the task force can then begin to assemble the documents necessary for the program review. The
following documents will typically be needed: • A statement of the curriculum goals for that field • A
comprehensive description of the community and the student body • A list of all required courses in
that field, with time allocations and brief descriptions of each course • A list of all elective courses in
the field, including time allocations, course descriptions, and most recent enrollment figures • A
random selection of student schedules • Syllabi or course guides for all courses offered • Faculty
schedules, showing class enrollments Other materials, of course, will be required as the review gets
under way, but the abovelisted materials are important at the outset.
Q.5 discuss the dynamics of curriculum change in Pakistan and further suggest measure for the
smooth institutionalization of the revised curriculum.
Curriculum change is a learning process for teachers and for their schools. Good understanding of
change and clear conception of curriculum are necessary conditions for im‐proved implementation of
new curriculum into practice. The key message of this presentation can be crystallized into three
conclusions. (1) Successful curriculum development requires better use of ‘change knowledge’ ‐ failure
is often a result of neglecting it. Policy‐makers, education leaders and teachers need to know more
about the drivers of successful curriculum change in schools. There‐fore, learning about educational
change and its key features should become inte‐gral elements of any serious curriculum reform process.
(2) Re‐conceptualizing curriculum. Many curriculum reforms are based on how the curriculum has
traditionally been organized. As a consequence, many curricula have become overloaded, confusing
and inappropriate for teachers and students. Therefore, curriculum orientation should shift from a
curriculum as product model to a curriculum as process model. This would also transform the role of
the curricu‐lum from a purely technical document into a more comprehensive idea that also serves as
guideline for school improvement. (3) Changing the way teachers teach and students learn requires
specific approaches. In‐service training of teachers is not enough. If curriculum reform aims at
changing the ways students learn and teachers teach, more sophisticated implementation strategies are
required. Therefore, helping teachers to create professional learning communities and schools to learn
from each other are recommended approaches. The myth of change Curriculum reforms are all about
change. Nations, states, local communities and schools renew their curricula because their existing ones
are not what they should be, or simply because there is a belief that changing the curriculum will also
bring expected improve‐ments into classrooms. Whatever the drivers for the global curriculum reforms
are, every reform architect is facing the question of how change eventually will happen. Only a few of
those who initiate and authorize these reforms will be asked later on why the intended change didn’t
happen as expected. Change is learning. Undermining this characteristic of change – or learning – has
led many education developers in general and curriculum reformers in particular to adopt
over‐simplistic approaches in trying to change the existing practices and modes of thinking in schools.
Curriculum change efforts are typically labeled as implementation or transmission of intended
curriculum into classroom practice in schools. A common means of this transmission is the diffusion of
information to raise the awareness of re‐form, in‐service training of teachers to improve their
knowledge and relevant skills and dissemination of support materials, such as teachers’ guides and
educational pamphlets to parents, to back‐up the intended change. In many ways the problem of
curriculum change is similar to the problems related to understanding human learning through
be‐haviorist or positivist perspectives. For a long time human learning was explored and explained
using positivist sci‐entific models, especially experimental behaviorist psychology, as a deterministic
and externally observable change (Pinar et al., 1995). This means that by knowing and ma‐nipulating
the stimuli, or input of the learning process, we are able to control the re‐sponse, or output of the
learning process. In this way, complex learning was reduced to a simple sequence of stimulus and
response, in other words, learning was explained through multiple linear stimulus‐response sequences.
What is significant in these concep‐tions of learning as deterministic and reductionist change is that
very little or no attention was devoted to the learner – or organism as it was called in this model – or
intellectual, emotional or social characteristics of the organism. The learner and the mental processes of
her mind constituted a ‘black box’ that was beyond the reach of the methods of positiv‐ist science.
Later in the 20 th century this model of learning has come under continuous criticism and
contemporary learning paradigms based on cognitive psychology, cognition science and brain research
has increasingly been accepted as a dominant perspective on learning. Figure 1 illustrates the nature of
the behaviorist model of learning.
Curriculum and the legacy of modernism
The organization of schooling has long been associated with the idea of a curriculum. Therefore,
another necessary aspect involved in planning successful curriculum imple‐mentation is to understand
what we mean by the curriculum. Comprehensive analysis of different curriculum theories and their
practical implications is beyond the scope of this presentation. What follows, instead, is a brief
narrative on the evolution of curriculum thinking in order to understand why the curriculum is what it
is, and how the broader conception of the curriculum would be more suitable to contemporary
educational knowledge and research on school improvement. The origin of modern curriculum thinking
relates back to the first half of the 20 th century when two American writers Franklin Bobbitt (1918)
and Ralph Tyler (1949) pub‐lished their works on curriculum that were the most dominant in terms of
laying the ground for curriculum theory and practice. Two exerts from these early authorities in the
field of curriculum thinking hopefully show the essence of the modernist conception of the curriculum.
The first exert is from The Curriculum (1918) in which Bobbitt writes that: The central theory [of
curriculum] is simple. Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of specific activities.
Education that prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these specific
activities. However numerous and diverse they may be for any social class they can be discovered. This
requires only that one go out into the world of affairs and discover the particulars of which their affairs
consist. These will show the abilities, attitudes, habits, appreciations and forms of knowledge that men
need. These will be the objectives of the curriculum. They will be numerous, definite and
particularized. The curriculum will then be that series of experiences which children and youth must
have by way of obtaining those objectives.
This question guide is designed to introduce common questions and steps to curricular change to apply
at both the course or curriculum level.
1. Analyze current teaching practices and learning goals
o What would be one thing you would want to change about student learning in your
course?
 o In thinking about observations of your classroom, is there a recurring challenge or issue
you would like to address through an adjustment in your teaching or course design?
o What does student learning or student understanding mean in the context of your course
within the discipline?
o What does it mean when a student “gets it”? What does it mean to say that a student is
not “getting it”?
o Where does your course fit into the curriculum, your department, your discipline
(thinking about the course context)?
2. Re-examine the links between goals and course design
o What are your goals for student learning?
o How do your goals for student learning inform the teaching approaches you take?
o How does your course design most emphasize the learning goals you most value?
o Do students have sufficient opportunity to engage in the kinds of intellectual work that
you most want them to transfer to another course experience?
3. Reconsider the role of assessment in the course
o How do you know that students are meeting your stated goals?
o What types of assessments do you use in the course? What feedback do you get from
students about these assessments?
o How do the assignments map to the goals you have set out for students? What
competencies or skills does each assignment address?
o How many assignments do you consider "authentic" or grounded in true disciplinary
practices?
4. Develop teaching strategies and approach
o In thinking about your assignments, where and how might technology support the
learning process?
o Think about how you structure course time. How might technology help shift some of
what currently happens in the class to outside of class?
o If you use group work or peer collaboration assignments, how are they structured? What
is your rationale for having students work together?
5. Explore Curricular Questions
o What do you want a graduate to know or be able to do well?
o What do you value about this discipline?
o What do you want to preserve about the current curriculum?
 o What would you describe as the areas in the curriculum that could be strengthened?
o Resources:
▪ Research resources and support at the University to assist in this project. The
Dean of the College and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship are
outlets for assistance.
▪ Review the German Department's Curriculum Renewal site.
6. Gather Data
o Is what you value being transferred to students?
o What are your current questions about student learning?
o What methods and data will help you determine what students are taking away from the
major?
o How might you match questions about student learning to particular assessment
strategies to implement in one semester (surveys, focus groups, essays, etc.)
7. Brainstorm the Ideal Major
o What would the ideal major accomplish?
o How and where can the department ensure that the curricular goals for students will be
met at the course level?
o Resources
▪ Revisit disciplinary association mission statements. Discuss as a department how
the curriculum meets or could meet the mission.
8. Formulate, Deliberate, and Assess Possible Reform Models
o Based on the conversations about the ideal major, which potential change would
accommodate your goals for student learning?
o How would this reform your current curriculum?
o Based on earlier assessment strategies, what are your strategies for assessing this
particular change?