Aims, goals and objectives:
Aims, goals and objectives define the main purpose of the curriculum. What type of attitude, skills and values we want to inculcate in our students. Defining goals and objectives answers the following questions.
• What the learner will do?
• What the learners need to know?
• What is important for the learners to understand?
• What the learner learns at the end of lesson?
Aims, goals and objectives are important to consider in the process of curriculum development because it tells students what they are supposed to learn which helps them to focus on the main thing without wasting time on irrelevant things. It helps teachers to stay focused on the topic and helps them to choose the best teaching method according to the topic. This will also help in efficient use of instructional time. During curriculum development it is also analysed that the defined objectives will have values in student’s life or not.
Content:
Curriculum content is the important part of curriculum development. Through content we can deliver what we want our students to learn. During curriculum development it is important to focus on that,
• The content should reflect the pre-determined objectives.
• The content should be properly sequenced for example from simple concepts to complex concepts.
• The content should contain all the required details to understand a concept.
So, course content is the important component of the curriculum development because it provides the basis to select the appropriate content that is properly sequenced/organized and according to the level of students, that reflects the aims and objects of the curriculum and carries all the necessary details and meet students’ interest.
Instructional strategies and learning experience:
Instructional strategies refer to the techniques that are used by the teacher while teaching a lesson. Different educational strategies are used to teach different topics. Instructional strategies are considered as the basic element of curriculum development because it plans the activities related to the content which engages students in learning process. Including student centred activities in the curriculum helps student to increase their understanding about the topic. It creates opportunities for students where they can practice their skills and knowledge and able to apply their knowledge and skills in real life situations.
Assessment/ evaluation:
Assessment and evaluation is made to check whether
• We are achieving our objectives?
• What is the Quality of curriculum?
• What are the short comings that we faced?
Assessment and evaluation is an important part of the curriculum development because it includes/ suggests the methods and plans for assessing the objectives and curriculum as a whole. It also determines the method of student assessment which can be exams, quizzes, evaluation of assignments and projects.
Define organization of curriculum. Explain criteria for effective organization of curriculum with examples.
Organization of curriculum:
Organization of curriculum refers to the procedure of selecting components of curriculum from the subject and learners experiences then developing the curriculum components in an appropriate and sequential way to form a curriculum structure.
• It is also defined as the procedure of converting curriculum content into learning experiences of the learners.
• All learning experiences have accumulative effect on each other.
• Organized learning experiences fortify each other. They will move from simple to wards complex concepts.
Criteria for effective organization:
There are 2 types of relationships between the learning experiences.
Horizontal:
Concepts and learning experiences in one subject reinforce the LE in other subject.
Vertical:
It is referred as repetition of content over a period of time.
There are three main criteria’s for the organization of curriculum:
• Continuity
• Sequence
• Integration
Continuity:
In continuity content, concepts and skills are repeated. At this level there is a vertical relation ship present between learning experiences.
When students are upgrade from one grade to another, continuity between the concepts are present but as they move forward the complexity of the concept increases.
Continuity can be achieved with in the same grade level and also between the 2 different grade levels.
Example:
For example in 3 class first students learn addition of 1 digit e.g. 2+2=4 than after two exercises they learn addition of two digits. 22+22= 44
When they upgrade to class 4 they learn addition of 3 to 4 digits e.g. 222+333=555 or
23+23+23= 69
In this way students can practice their skill and develop their skill.
Sequence:
Sequence is also very important for the organization. Again and again Repetition of a concept with out any advancement is of no use. So it is important to add new learning experiences with the continuity of previous concept. In this way the breath and depth of the concept increases.
• Sequence moves from simple to complex.
• It helps students to learn new knowledge and skills.
Example:
For example in class 4th the students learns about the 3 states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and their characteristics. But in class 5th the students learns the states of matter and arrangements of particles (structure) between solid, liquid and gas.
Integration:
Integration means that the skills, behaviours and concepts taught in one subject area are revised in different subjects. This will help students to get a better understanding of them and use in their daily lives.
In integration, horizontal relationship is present.
In integration learners can see the similarities between the ideas.
Example:
For example,
• In arts class students can make the diagrams from their science book.
• While learning the concept of speed in physics students can actually calculate their speed.
• Students can use concepts of maths while solving numerical in physics and understanding other concepts.
There are some other steps that are important in organizing curriculum that are
1-Organizing the curriculum at general level:
It includes particular subject like English, Urdu or any other, broad fields or the core of the curriculum.
Example:
For example one broad field like health is selected and curriculum development is started.
2- General organization and management of curriculum:
Certain principles are followed for the development of curriculum. Concept starts from simple level and gradually complexity is introduced in the concept. While developing curriculum in any subject, best principle of organization should be choose.
Example:
For example in 1 class the concept of classification is introduced, at this level students are able to classify things according to one attribute but this concept of classification is enhanced as the students move from grade 1 to 2 and from 2 to 3 students are able to classify things according to 3 to 4 different attributes.
3-low level units:
For teachers to teach in the class low level units are proposed in the form of lessons, topics with proper sequence and organized units.
Example:
Sequenced and well arranged topics in any subject
Flexibility:
The plans that are given to instructors have different types of objectives, learning experiences and methods of assessments. These types of plans are known as source units. These source units are helpful for the teachers.
Example:
Lesson plans for teachers.
4-Student teacher planning:
In this step teachers and students collectively plan the lesson. They can decide whether which activities are performed by the teacher or by the students. After planning the lesson the lesson is delivered, students participates in the lesson and activities and teacher evaluates their performance.
Example:
It includes Planning of activities that are performed in the school and activities that are performed at home to clear the concept. For example to completely understand the concept of density of different liquids and water students can perform mixing of oil and water experiment at home and experiment of ice cubes in water at school.