THE CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS
INTRODUCTION
• Curriculum development is the term for all processes and activities
related to curriculum development.
• It is thus a continuous process of renewal and planning of curriculum.
• Involves a range of planning and implementation processes involved
in developing or renewing a curriculum
• A quality curriculum development process addresses:
• what students are to know, be able to do, and be committed to (content);
• how it is taught (instruction);
• how it is measured (assessment);
• and how the educational system is organized (context).
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
PROCESS
• There should be a curriculum development committee, composed of
teachers with expertise and members of all parties with interests in the
educational system, to lead the curriculum development process.
• Curriculum development should reflect the fact that students learn
better when topics and concepts are tied together through
interdisciplinary curriculum and thematic instruction
• The curriculum development process must assume that students
develop at different times; levels or stages must be looked at as ranges
rather than specific
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING THE CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
• issue/problem/need is identified (issue ® what),
• characteristics and needs of learners (target audience ® who),
• changes intended for learners (intended outcomes/objectives ® what
the learners will be able to do),
• the important and relevant content ®(what),
• methods to accomplish intended outcomes ®(how),
• evaluation strategies for methods, content, and intended outcomes
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
The curriculum development process is grouped into four main phases,
with each phase having several steps. The four phases are:
1. Planning,
2. Selecting and organizing Content and Methods
3. Implementation,
4. Evaluation and Reporting.
INTRODUCTION CONT’D
Many curriculum development textbooks present the stages or
framework of the curriculum development process as follows:
1. Needs analysis or assessment
2. Setting goals and objectives
3. Course organization
4. Selecting and preparing teaching materials
5. Evaluation
Note that evaluations should occur in most of the steps to assess
progress
Phase 1: Planning or Preparatory
Phase
Identify issue/problem/need
• The need for curriculum development usually emerges from a
concern about a major issue or problem of one or more target
audience.
• This section explores some of the questions that need to be
addressed to define the issue and to develop a statement that will
guide the selection of the members of a curriculum development
team.
• The issue statement also serves to broadly identify, the scope (what
will be included) of the curriculum content.
Phase 1: Planning or Preparatory
Phase cont’d
Forming Curriculum Development Team
• Once the nature and scope of the issue has been broadly defined, the
members of the curriculum development team can be selected.
• The goal is to obtain expertise for the areas included in the scope of
the curriculum content among the team members and develop an
effective team
• Topics covered in this section include:
• the roles and functions of team members,
• a process for selecting members of the curriculum development team
• principles of collaboration and teamwork.
Phase 1: Planning or Preparatory
Phase cont’d
Forming Curriculum Development Team
• Once the nature and scope of the issue has been broadly defined, the
members of the curriculum development team can be selected.
• The goal is to obtain expertise for the areas included in the scope of
the curriculum content among the team members and develop an
effective team
• Topics covered in this section include:
• the roles and functions of team members,
• a process for selecting members of the curriculum development team
• principles of collaboration and teamwork.
Phase 1: Planning or Preparatory
Phase cont’d
Conduct needs assessment and analysis
There are two phases in the needs assessment process.
• Conducting a needs assessment
• This involves finding out the context in which the curriculum development
process is to take place and about the feasibility of it being successful.
• Situation analysis involves collecting basic information about: a) the
educational system; b) the learners; c) the teachers.
• A number of techniques aimed toward learning what is needed and
by whom relative to the identified issue are used.
• KAP - Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey; focus groups; and environmental
scanning, as well as document and policy analysis
Phase 1: Planning or Preparatory
Phase cont’d
Conduct needs assessment and analysis cont’d
Analysis
• This is where you describe how to use the data and the results of the
information gathered.
• The focus of the analysis should be to identify:
• gaps between knowledge and practice;
• trends emerging from the data;
• a process to prioritize needs;
• The characteristics of the target audience.
Phase 2: Setting Objectives,
Selecting and Organizing Content
and Method
State Intended learning Outcomes
• The next step is to refine and restate the issue, if needed, and develop
the intended outcomes or educational objectives.
• An intended outcome states what the learner will be able to do as a
result of participating in the curriculum activities.
• This section includes:
• a definition of intended outcomes,
• the components of intended outcomes (condition, performance, and standards),
• examples of intended outcomes,
• an overview of learning behaviors.
Phase 2: Setting Objectives,
Selecting and Organizing Content
and Method cont’d
Selecting and organizing Content
• Select content that will make a real difference in the lives of the
learner and ultimately society as a whole.
• At this point, the primary questions are:
• "If the intended outcome is to be attained, what will the learner need to
know? What knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours will need to be
acquired and practiced?"
• Organization of content in terms of scope (breadth of knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and behaviours) and sequence (order) are also
discussed.
Phase 2: Setting Objectives,
Selecting and Organizing Content
and Method cont’d
Selecting and organizing Content cont’d
• In selecting content, determining not only what subject matter should
be covered but what mental powers and capacities, such as thinking,
skills, attitudes, values, etc. should emerge from the learning
activities.
Phase 2: Setting Objectives,
Selecting and Organizing Content
and Method cont’d
Designing experiential methods
• After the content is selected, the next step is to design activities (learning
experiences) to help the learner achieve appropriate intended outcomes.
• An experiential learning model and it's components (i.e., experience,
share, process, generalize, and apply) are discussed in this section.
• Additional issues to include:
• learning styles and activities appropriate for each style;
• a list of types of activities (with descriptions);
• an activity design worksheet for facilitators; and
• brief discussions on learning environments and delivery modes.
Phase 3: Implementation
Producing Curriculum products
• Once the content and experiential methods have been agreed upon, the
actual production of curriculum materials begins.
• The activities on this step include:
• Finding and evaluating existing materials;
• Developing assessment criteria;
• Producing curriculum materials
• Curriculum and Assessment Framework
• Curriculum document – Syllabuses
• Textbooks
• Workbooks
Phase 3: Implementation cont’d
Test and revise the curriculum (Piloting of the curriculum)
• This step include selection test sites and conduct a formative
evaluation of curriculum materials during the production phase.
Recruit and train facilitators
• Recruitment of appropriate facilitators are is done to provide
adequate training for curriculum implementers.
• A three-day training program can be organized with the facilitators.
Phase 3: Implementation cont’d
Implementing the curriculum
• Effective implementation of newly developed curriculum products will
require proper planning.
• Strategies to promote and use the curriculum are set at this step.
• It also involves distribution of curriculum products to the schools to
be implemented by the teachers
Phase 4: Evaluation and Reporting
Designing evaluation strategies
• Evaluation is a phase in the curriculum development model as well as
a specific step.
• Two types of evaluation, formative and summative, are used during
curriculum development.
• Formative evaluations are used during the needs assessment, product
development, and testing steps.
Phase 4: Evaluation and Reporting
cont’d
Designing evaluation strategies cont’d
• Summative evaluations are undertaken to measure and
report on the outcomes of the curriculum.
• This step reviews evaluation strategies and suggests simple
procedures to produce valid and reliable information.
• A series of questions are posed to guide the summative evaluation
process and a sample evaluation format is suggested.
Phase 4: Evaluation and Reporting
cont’d
Reporting and securing resources
• The final element in an evaluation strategy is "delivering the
pay off (i.e., getting the results into the hands of people who
can use them).
• In this step, suggestions for what and how to report to key
shareholders, especially funding and policy decision makers,
are provided and a brief discussion on how to secure
resources for additional programming are made.