Mindanao Autonomous College Foundation, Inc.

Graduate Studies
Quezon Boulevard, Lamitan City, Basilan

MEDM 202
CURRICULUM ORGANIZATION
AND DEVELOPMENT
 CURRICULUM ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Organizing the curriculum means choosing clear and objective goals that are in accordance with
the needs and interests of students. The elements of the curriculum organization include:
concepts, generalizations, skills, values.

Curriculum design is important because it centers a teacher's practice based on individual needs
in the classroom. Any curriculum development effort should focus on being an effective
educator, as it involves rethinking lessons that already exist to re-envision what would better
prioritize the needs of the students.

Educators are always seeking out ways to bring energy into their classrooms and into their
lessons. But regardless of grade level, creating engaging and relevant curricula that meets
standards while also effectively teaching subject matter can feel like an impossible effort.

The good news for teachers is that there are resources out there to help them reinvigorate or
simply refine their lessons. Whether they’ve been teaching for two years or 20, a curriculum
design refresher can help teachers find new, innovative ways to motivate their students.

What is Curriculum Design & Why Is It Important?

Curriculum design is generally defined as “the deliberate organization of curriculum within a

course or classroom. When instructors design their curriculums, they identify what will be done,
who will do it and when, as well as what the objective of each course is. Curriculum design
involves planning activities, readings, lessons, and assessments that achieve educational goals.”

Curriculum design is important because it centers a teacher’s practice based on individual needs
in the classroom. Any curriculum development effort should focus on being an effective
educator, as it involves rethinking lessons that already exist to re-envision what would better
prioritize the needs of the students. The process of design and creation of new or revised
curriculum brings fresh and up-to-date ideas to the classroom.

What is Curriculum Planning?

A component of curriculum design and development is curriculum planning — identifying and

selecting teaching strategies and organizational methods based on individual student needs that
will result in improved student growth and student learning outcomes.

Curriculum planning should incorporate the 6 elements of effective teaching, from the Danielson
Framework for Teaching:

 Demonstrate knowledge of content and pedagogy;

 Demonstrate the knowledge of students;
 Set instructional outcomes;
 Demonstrate knowledge of resources;
 Design coherent instruction;
 Design student assessments.

Curriculum Models: Product vs. Process

Curriculum models are the first step in curriculum development, and they help educators
determine what type of curriculum design is appropriate for their students and their learning
goals. They have long-existed and act as formulaic guides for teachers as they design their new
or existing curricula.
Curriculum models have five areas they define:

 Focus — Subject or student. Where is the emphasis?

 Approach — Traditional or modern. What type of instruction will be used?
 Content — Topic based or content based. How will units or strands be written?
 Process — Formative or summative. How will assessments be used?
 Structure — System, linear or cyclical. How often does the curriculum get reviewed?

From there, there are two models of curriculum development that are widely used today — the
product model and the process model. The Journal of Education and Practice defines them as:

 Product model: Product models emphasize the outcome of a learning experience. The
product model of the curriculum leads to some kind of desirable end product. Examples
given are knowledge of certain facts, mastery of specific skills and competencies, and
acquisition of certain “appropriate” attitudes and values.
 Process model: With process models, the emphasis is on learning acquired from
experience of work and life, that is experiential learning. It comprises open-ended student
activities with developing tendencies and capacities. The emphasis is on the quality of the
learning as it takes place rather than on predetermined outcomes.

Think of it like this — the product model is assessment driven; like a target for the teacher and
students to prepare toward the end of a unit. All the lessons that come before the product drive
toward the end result. Whereas a process approach depends more on developing skills and
revision of work based on continually assessing student needs.

Types of Curriculum Design

There are three categories of curriculum design, differentiated by who or what the primary focus
of the lessons will be.

 Subject-Centered Curriculum Design:

o Focuses on a specific discipline/subject
o Subject-centered curriculum design describes what needs to be studied and how it
should be studied
o Most common type of curriculum used in the U.S.
o Downside — not student-centered, constructed without taking into account the
specific learning styles of the students, which can reduce student engagement and
motivation
 Learner-Centered Curriculum Design:
o Focuses on students’ own interests and goals
o Acknowledges that students have individual learning styles, and therefore should
not be subject to a standardized curriculum
o Aims to empower learners to shape their education
o Downside — it can create pressure on the educator to source materials specific to
each student’s learning needs
 Problem-Centered Curriculum Design:
o Focuses on specific issues and their solutions
o Teaches students how to be problem solvers
o Considered an authentic form of learning because students are exposed to real-life
issues, so they develop skills that are transferable to the real world
o Downside — this format does not always consider individual learning styles

Benefits of Utilizing Curriculum Design

Educators are already asked to handle more than their fair share of tasks in their career, so if
they’re going to add anything to their workloads, it must clearly improve things for them and
their students. Thankfully, curriculum design benefits them both by:

1. Creating a curriculum with a purpose and concrete goals — a goal-oriented curriculum

that has been crafted with student learning styles and outcomes in mind has been shown
to improve participation, improve retention, foster collaborative learning and ultimately
make learning more fun.
2. Ensures that standards are being met — While they don’t have to be the singular focus of
curriculum design, educators do have to ensure that their subject matter is meeting
standards and helping students successfully reach the benchmarks of their grade and age
levels. With updated curriculum design, educators can more clearly demonstrate how
their courses meet standards.
3. Improves the teaching process — When lessons or curricula have been in circulation for
years, they can get stale for both the students and the teacher. With a refreshed
curriculum design, educators can find new and exciting ways to teach the subject matter
they’re passionate about, making their jobs more fun and students more engaged.
4. Improves student outcomes — With a curriculum that is learner-centered or problem-
centered, the teaching methodologies are more likely to align with student learning styles
which, in theory, should improve their performance in the classroom.

Curriculum Design Tips

Curriculum design should be an intentional process, and it can be guided by a teacher’s own
experience, or perhaps in a workshop setting, or even part of a curriculum design course.
Regardless of the inspiration, there are a few curriculum design tips all educators should keep in
mind.

 Identify student needs: A student-centered curriculum obviously must originate with

students’ needs. However, even if they aren’t considering that type of curriculum design,
teachers should have a clear understanding of these needs and use them as a compass as
they revamp their course curriculum.
 Have a clear set of goals: Clearly defined learning outcomes or course goals will help
guide educators as they design new curriculum. These can be state standards, individual
student goals or even goals for themselves as educators, but having identifiable
benchmarks makes it easier to assess both student and educator success.
 Acknowledge limitations: In an ideal world, teachers would have endless resources and
time to ensure that all components of their lesson plans and overall curriculum are taught
to completion. But in reality, there are limitations, in terms of bandwidth, class time,
student abilities and more. When they are designing or updating course curriculum,
teachers must acknowledge these limitations and ensure that realistic expectations are set.
 Select your instructional methods — Choosing to redesign curriculum is an opportunity
for educators to formulate lessons and strategies that play to their strengths. In planning
out a refreshed course plan, they should select instructional methods that they enjoy, that
are effective with students and that they are proficient in.
 Establish an evaluation process — While curriculum design is an opportunity to play to
one’s strengths, it is also an opportunity to reflect and more clearly see the effectiveness
of certain teaching strategies. During this process, educators should implement a solid
evaluation process that gives them high-quality feedback on their lessons and helps
inform improvements for the next time.
Lastly, and most importantly, educators should consider taking a curriculum design course. In
these courses, teachers are afforded the time to do the curriculum-enriching work for their
school, district and classrooms that they may not have had during the school year. At the
University of San Diego’s Division of Professional and Continuing Education, our experienced
professional educators provide meaningful and timely feedback throughout our curriculum
design program, centering each individual teacher’s needs based on their grade level, subject and
coursework plan. At the end of the course, teachers are ready to inspire their students with a
fresh, engaging new curriculum.

Curriculum Development: Complete Overview & 6 Steps

What is curriculum development?

Curriculum development is the multi-step process of creating and improving a course taught at a
school or university. While the exact process will vary from institution to institution, the broad
framework includes stages of analysis, building, implementation, and evaluation.

In K-12 schools, curricula are often developed at a local or state level to result in standardized
learning outcomes across different schools. At the college level, instructors may get more
individual flexibility to develop their own curricula. Either way, the individual or group is
responsible for planning a course (and choosing strong corresponding course materials) that
effectively accomplishes educational goals and meets student needs.

Ideally, the curriculum development process should be one of continuous improvement

rather than a linear or stagnant approach. Plans for instruction should be frequently
reviewed, revised, and updated as new and different needs arise. Change may be required due to
subject-area discoveries, innovations in instructional best practices, or shifts in course delivery
such as the pivot to remote teaching.
Why is curriculum development useful for educators?

In many ways, the need for curriculum development is self-evident. Just imagine trying to teach
each day in a lecture hall or K-12 classroom without a plan in place! A thoughtfully developed
curriculum provides educators with a useful framework to build upon during day-to-day
instruction.

Curriculum development takes care of the big-picture strategy required to successfully

teach a course. Because decisions like course objectives, content sequencing, and delivery
methods are made upfront, instructors can focus on smaller details like planning for a specific
lecture or writing effective assessments.

Additionally, an iterative curriculum development process gives educators a structure to make

improvements to the course after evaluating student performance and receiving end-of-semester-
feedback.

Why is a concrete curriculum development strategy valuable for learners?

In addition to providing benefits for teachers, curriculum development is a useful structure for
learners.

Curriculum development allows teachers to take a thoughtful and methodical approach to

determine what students will be required to learn. The early phases of the process involve
deep research and analysis to ensure that students get the best education possible.
Additionally, one of the most effective approaches for course development specifically addresses
the needs of learners. We'll cover learner-centered design later in this article.
Are there different curriculum development processes or models?
First, there are generally two types of curriculum models: the product model and the process
model. The model you choose to follow will influence the steps you'll take to develop the course.

Entire textbooks have been written on these long-standing models, but here's a brief explanation
of each to make sure everyone is on the same page:
 Product model. Also known as the objectives model, this model focuses on
evaluations, outcomes, and results. It determines what learning has occurred. If
you need to develop a curriculum that prioritizes standardized test scores, you'll
need to adhere to the product model. Generally, this model is thought to be more
rigid and more difficult to adapt to your students' unique needs, but it does
provide quantitative learning assessments.
 Process model. This model focuses on how learning develops over time. There's
an emphasis on how the students are learning, and what thoughts they have
throughout the process. This approach is more open-ended and considers the
overall growth and development of a student rather than their performance on an
exam.
Consider the characteristics of each model as well as any institutional requirements you need to
adhere to. You may already have a strong preference for one of the two! It is also possible to
develop a curriculum that values both product and process.

Once you've determined what type of curriculum you want to create, it's time to choose an
approach. There are three widely accepted methodologies for curriculum design:
 Subject-centered

 Problem-centered

 Learner-centered

We'll explore each of these in greater detail later on so that you can determine which curriculum
development strategy makes the most sense for your course.

What's the difference between curriculum development and instructional design?

You've likely encountered the concept of instructional design while researching curriculum
development. So what is instructional design, and how does it compare to the process of
developing a curriculum?

Instructional design (often abbreviated as ID or referred to as learning design) is the

systematic process of designing and creating a high-quality educational experience.

ID is a multi-step approach that prioritizes the needs of the learner at every phase.
In some cases, the term is used interchangeably with curriculum development, but the two have
some key differences.
As some education experts put it:
Curriculum development is what students will learn, while instructional design is how students
will learn it.
When it comes to creating a truly high-quality educational experience for your students, the two
go hand in hand, but here we're focusing primarily on the concept of curriculum development.

What are the steps of curriculum development?

Generally, the steps to curriculum development will fall into a rough framework that mirrors
many instructional design approaches. Each process looks something like this:
1. Analysis
2. Design
3. Selecting
4. Formation
5. Review
For the best results, you'll want to choose a framework that looks at these steps as a cycle rather
than a linear process. This ensures you can continue revising your curriculum even once your
course is underway.

We'll walk through the steps of one cyclical process later in this post when we explore
Skyepack's iterative six-step approach to curriculum development.

What are the challenges of curriculum development?

With so many steps to follow, curriculum development is not a simple or easy process.
Instructors across all education levels may also face additional obstacles that make the process
more difficult or time-consuming.

Some of these challenges include:

 Institutional requirements. You may need to conform to standards set by your
state's board of education or by institutional administration. This may mean
covering material that will be assessed by standardized tests, requiring you to
incorporate product-focused curricular elements. Or it may mean including certain
types of course objectives.
 Long waits for development experts. Your institution may have trained
curriculum experts on staff to help professors with course development.
Unfortunately, there is usually a much higher demand than these small teams have
the capacity for, leading to long wait times.
 Gathering relevant required materials. Once the curriculum is mostly outlined,
instructors will need to search for the right required materials to align with course
objectives. Often, it's difficult (and sometimes impossible) to find an option that is
affordable for students and works well for your course. This is too often the case
with both textbooks and e-textbooks from traditional publishers, but new options
like custom digital course materials can alleviate these concerns.
Between the many challenges and the complex steps involved, many instructors may feel they
aren't up to the task of developing an effective curriculum on their own. In this case, an expert
course content creator could help simplify and streamline the process.

Common Curriculum Development Models

Earlier, we listed the different course design models you're likely to come across. We'll now
walk through each of them in greater depth so you can understand what they are and how you
might apply them to your course.

Subject-Centered
This model emphasizes the specific skills and knowledge associated with a subject area.
Most kinds of widely standardized curriculum fall under the subject-centered approach. It's the
most common approach used throughout K-12 schools in the U.S, but it's also found throughout
college classrooms, especially in large 1000-level lecture classes.

When you hear the term "core curriculum," it's referring to a subject-centered approach. While
this model intends to create equal learning experience across different schools and classes, it
doesn't always work out that way in practice.

Because this approach is not student-centered, it can lead to a lack of engagement and potentially
lower performance. Additionally, this approach leaves little room for cross-subject connections.

Example: If you're teaching an introductory European history course, a subject-centered

curriculum may include covering the details and key players of major wars.

Problem-Centered

This approach aims to provide students with relevant real-world skills. Learners are taught
how to look at a problem and come to a solution. Some benefits of this approach are an
increased emphasis on critical thinking, a focus on collaboration, and more innovation in the
classroom. Students still learn key skills and knowledge, but with additional context.

Example: A problem-centered approach to teaching a public relations course might involve

tasking a group of students with assessing a real business's PR strategy and developing an
actionable campaign.

Learner-Centered

Learner-centered design emphasizes the needs and goals of each learner as an individual.
With this approach, you'll analyze the preexisting knowledge and learning styles of your
students. The needs of your learners will guide your curriculum development process.

Generally, this type of curriculum development aligns most closely with a process-focused
curriculum.
Example: One way to incorporate learner-centered design into your curriculum is by inviting
students to fill out a pre-course survey to see what they already know about your subject and
what areas they are most interested in learning. This can be especially beneficial for upper-level
courses—hopefully, students are coming in with a solid foundation of knowledge, but a learner-
centered approach uses data rather than assumptions to determine curricular goals.

For a comprehensive curriculum that strikes an ideal balance for your course, learners, and
subject area, you'll want to include elements from each of these models. A fully customized and
comprehensive approach to curriculum design will yield the best results for your course over
time.

What Is Curriculum Development ?

Curriculum Development is the step-by-step process of designing and improving the course offered at schools,
colleges and universities. Even though each institution will have its own process, the broad stages of the
framework consist of analysis, design, implementation, and evaluation.

Curriculum refers to specific lessons and academic content taught in schools and educational institutes for a
particular course or program. On the other hand, curriculum development is a process that aims to
improve the curriculum by using various approaches.

Few of the commonly used techniques include need and task analysis, objective design, choosing appropriate
teaching and learning methods, choosing assessment methods, and forming the curriculum committee and
curriculum review committee.

Hence the entire process is divided into segments to ensure the development of an effective curriculum that
would help to facilitate an enriching educational programme.

Types Of Curriculum Development Models:

 Learner-Centred Design
 Subject-Centred Design
 Problem-Centred Design

1) Learner-Centered Design

The learner-centered design focuses on the understanding that each learner has different characteristics. The
teachers or instructors are to give opportunities to the learners to take ownership of a project or assignment.

They require to create chances for independent learning with well-regulated liberty. This indicates that students
take a more active role in the classroom, but it is to be done under the instructor's guidance.

There are four distinct attributes of learner-centered design, which includes:

Context- This refers to the assignments and tasks given in the classroom that should have real-world
application. Consequently, the relevant context in student learning will help learners to connect with what they
are learning.

Construction - Learners should relate their own experiences and prior learning with new learning.

Collaboration- Creating an environment and providing opportunities that encourage collaboration between
classmates. Activities like group discussions and team assignments allows the learners to only form
individuality but also expose to others’ opinions.

Conversation- Exercises to improve learners' communication skills are mandatory, and hence instructors
should employ them accordingly.

2) Subject-Centered Design

Subject-centered design is a traditional approach to curriculum that focuses on a particular

Subject matter or discipline rather than on the individual. Additionally, during the curriculum development
process, this approach includes four subtypes of curriculum designs: subject-area design, discipline design,
broad-field design, and correlation design.

3) Problem-Centered Design

Problem-centered design is an approach that focuses on developing problem-solving skills, thinking and
communication skills. This is a student-centric strategy wherein the learners are given problematic situations
and encouraged to solve them after careful observation.

Process Of Curriculum Development

The curriculum development process consists of the following six stages.

 Stage 1: Assessing the educational needs

 Stage 2: Formulating objectives and learning goals

Stage 3: Careful selection of learning experiences to accomplish these objective

Stage 4: The selecting the rich and valuable content through which teachers can offer the learning
experiences.

 Stage 5: Organizing and integrating learning experiences with relevant content keeping in mind the
teaching-learning process

 Stage 6: Timely and accurate evaluation of all the above phases.

Principles Of Curriculum Development
The principles of the curriculum are norms, values, moralities, and philosophies that will benefit teachers,
students, and the whole education system. The curriculum and instructional strategy are essential components
of imparting knowledge to students.

 Totality Of Experiences
 Child-Centeredness
 Conservation And Creativity
 Integration
 Flexibility
 Flexibility
 Utility
 Character Formation
 Mental Discipline
 Social Fulfillment

The following are a few of the basic principles of curriculum development :

1) Principle Of Totality Of Experiences

It is imperative to realize that curriculum does not merely indicate academic subjects traditionally taught in
schools and colleges. It also includes the totality of experiences a student gains through several curricular,
extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.

2) Principle Of Child-Centeredness

Instead of sticking to the predetermined curriculum, instructors must consider the child’s concerns, motives,
and needs while developing the curriculum. In addition, while planning any curricular activities, educators
must consider ways to enrich learners’ interests.

3) Principle Of Conservation And Creativity

While developing a curriculum, it is mandatory to include subjects and experiences that would help conserve
cultural heritage. Furthermore, one of the most essential principles of curriculum development is that the
curriculum cannot be static.

On the contrary, it should be subject to modification as per the requirement aligned with the changing global
educational trends and students’ needs.

4) Principle Of Integration
The curriculum should be planned in such a way that varied subjects could be added at different stages of
education. Similarly, the existing subjects should be able to integrate with other subjects apart from enabling
the students to correlate with the content.

5) Principle Of Flexibility

One of the ideal qualities that a curriculum should have is flexibility and dynamism, as this will be
instrumental in serving the needs and concerns of individuals and society. Also, timely changes and
appropriate modifications to the curriculum allows educators and learners alike to stay updated with academic
goals.

6) Principle Of Utility

Curriculum construction should follow the principle of utility, according to which educators must include
content that is useful to the individual and society. In addition, the curriculum must consist of rich and valuable
content that would be useful later in life.

7) Principle Of Character Formation

The goal of the curriculum is not just educating learners through bookish knowledge. It should also encourage
the development of character and personality in students. Therefore, the curriculum must aid in students’
character training throughout the academic years.

8) Principle Of Mental Discipline

A significant task of the curriculum is to foster learners' various mental faculties or powers through cognitive
training and practice.

9) Principle Of Social Fulfillment

Education aims to provide the overall development of the students through comprehensive teaching styles and
content. Moreover, the curriculum should also consider adding the element of social life so that learners could
gain insight into becoming responsible citizens.