ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS OF A

CURRICULUM DESIGN

There are many labels or names for curriculum design. Some

would call it a syllabus or a lesson plan.
Some would call it a unit plan or a course design. Whatever is the
name of the design, the common components
for all of these are almost the same.

The Lesson Plan is a miniscule curriculum. A lesson plan or

teaching guide includes (1) Intended
Learning Outcomes (ILO) or the Desired Learning Outcome (DLO)
formerly labelled as behavioral
objectives, (2) Subject-matter or Content, (3) Teaching and Learning
Methods and (4) Assessment or
Evaluation.

I.Behavioral Objectives or Intended Learning Outcomes:

The objectives or Intended Learning Outcomes are the reasons for

undertaking the learning lesson from the
student’s point of view; it is desired learning outcome that is to be
accomplished in a particular learning episode,
engaged in by the learners under the guidance of the teacher. The
beginning of the learning journey is the
learning outcomes to be achieved. In this way, both the learner and the
teacher are guided by what to
accomplished.

The behavioral objectives, intended learning outcomes or desired

learning outcomes are expressed in action
words found in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Objectives for the
development of the cognitive skills. For the
affective skills, refer to the Taxonomy made by Krathwohl and for the
psychomotor domain by Simpson.

The statement should be SMART: Specific, Measurable,

Attainable, Result-oriented and Time-bound. In
framing learning outcomes, it is good practice to:
 Express each outcome in terms of what successful students will
be able to do. For example, rather than stating
Students will be able to explain the reason why . . . ., it should
be: Students must have explain the reason why . . . .
 This helps students to focus on what they have to achieve.

 Include different kinds of outcomes. The most common are

cognitive objectives (learning facts, theories,
formulae,principles, etc.) and performance outcomes (learning
how to carry out procedures, calculations and processes, which
include gathering information and communicating results). In
some contexts, affective outcomes are important too (for
developing attitudes or values, e.g. those required as a person
and for a particular profession).

II. Content/Subject Matter:

The content of the lesson or unit is the topic or subject-matter that

will be covered. In selecting content, the
following should be used:
1. Subject-matter should be relevant to the outcomes.
2. Subject-matter should be appropriate to the level of the lesson
or unit. Contents which are too basics or too advanced
for the development levels of learners make students either
bored or baffled and affect their motivation to learn.
3. Subject-matter should be up-to-date and, if possible, should
reflect current knowledge and concepts.
4. Subject-matter should follow the principle of B A S I C S.

III. Teaching and Learning Methods:

These are the activities where the learners derive experiences. It is

always good to keep in mind the teaching
strategies that students will experience (lectures, laboratory, classes, fieldwork
etc.) and make them learn. The teaching-
learning methods should allow cooperation, competition as well as
individualism or independent learning among the
students.
For example:
 Cooperative learning activities allow students to work together.
Students are guided to learn on their
own to find solutions to their problems. The role of the teacher is to
guide the learners. Democratic process is
encouraged, and each one contributes to the success of learning.
Students learn from each other in ways.
Group project and activities enhance the lesson.

 Independent learning activities allow learners to develop

personal responsibility. The degree of independence to learn
 how to learn is enhanced. The energy is more appropriate for
fast learners.

 Competitive activities, where students will test their

competencies against another in a healthy manner,
allow learners to perform to their maximum. Mostly successful
individuals in their adult life are competitive,
even in early schooling. Mostly, they become the survivors in a
very competitive world.
 The use of various delivery modes to provide learning
experiences is recommended.

There are some examples of very simple teaching-learning methods

with detailed steps that you can start using
as you begin teaching.

Some Behaviorist Teaching Learning Methods:

A. Direct Instruction: Barak Rosenshine Model

Detailed Steps:

1. State Learning Objectives/ Outcomes: Begin lesson with a short

statement of objective or desired lesson
Learning outcomes
2. Review: Introduce short review of previous or prerequisite
learning.
3. Present New Materials: Present materials in small, sequenced
manner.
4. Explain: Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations.
5. Practice: Provide active practice for all students.
6. Guide: Guide students during initial practice; or provide seatwork
activities.
7. Check for understanding: Ask several questions, assess students
comprehension.

B. Guided Instruction: Madeline Hunter Model

1. Review. Focus on previous lesson, ask students to summarize
main points.
2. Anticipatory set. Focus student’s attention on new lesson.
Stimulate interest in the new materials.
3. Objective. State explicitly what is to be learned; state rationale or
how it will be useful.
4. Input. Identify needed knowledge and skills for learning new
lesson, present materials in sequenced
steps.
 5. Modeling. Provide several examples or demonstrations throughout
the lesson.
6.Check for understanding. Monitor students’ work before they
become involved in lesson activities, check
to see they understand directions or task.
7.Guided practice. Ask students questions and check their answers.
Again monitor understanding.
8.Independent practice. Assign independent work or practice when it
is reasonably sure that students can work
on their own with understanding and minimal
frustration.

C. Mastery Learning: JH Block and Lorin Anderson Model

1. Clarify. Explain to students what they are expected to learn.
2. Inform. Teach the lesson, relying on the whole group instruction.
3. Pretest. Give a formative quiz on no fault-basis, students can
check their own paper.
4. Group. Based on results, divide the class into mastery and non-
mastery groups (80% is considered mastery).
5. Enrich and correct. Give enrichment instruction to mastery group.
Give corrective (practice / drill) to non-mastery group.
6. Monitor. Monitor student progress.; vary amount of teacher time
and support for each group size and performance.
7. Posttest. Give a summary test for non-mastery group.
8. Assess performance. At least 75% of the students should
achieve mastery by the summative test.
9. Reteach. If not, repeat procedures; starting with corrective
instructions (small study groups, individual tutoring, alternative
Instructional materials, extra homework, reading
materials, practice and drill).

IV. Assessment/ Evaluation:

Learning occurs most effectively when students receive feedback,

i.e. when they receive information on what they have
already (and have not) learned. The process by which this information is
generated is assessment. It has three main forms:

 Self assessment, through which students learn to monitor and

evaluate their own learning. This should be a significant
element in order to produce students who are reflective and
self-critical.

 Peer assessment. In which students provide feedback on each

other’s learning. Students’ can learn to judge each other’s work
as reliable.
  Teacher assessment. In which the teacher prepares and
administers tests and gives feedback on student’s
performance.

Assessment may be formative (providing feedback to help the

student’s achievement by reference to stated criteria). Many
assessment tasks involve an element of both, e.g. an assignment that is
marked and returned to the student with detailed
comments

Summative assessment usually involves the allocation of marks or

grades. This helps the teacher make decisions about the
Progress or performance of the students.

Students usually learn more by understanding the strengths and

weaknesses of their work than by knowing the mark or
grade given to it. For this reason, summative assessment
tasks(including unseen examinations) should include an element
of formative feedback.