Curriculum Design: Inception to Execution

SocArXiv, 2020

This white paper was published in the SocArXiv 2 April 2020 and is shared here under the CC-By Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license. Curriculum development in higher education should follow a formal process. Although the focus in formal curriculum theory is on long-term programs of study, the theoretical and practical considerations are also applicable to shorter-form learning experiences (single courses, lessons, or training sessions). With these considerations in mind, we discuss here an iterative model of curriculum design, the starting point of which (indeed, in the construction of any learning experience), is the articulation of the target learning outcomes: everything follows from these, including the selection of learning experiences and content, the development of assessments, and evaluation of the resulting curriculum. We discuss how the iterative process can be used in curriculum and instructional development, and provide a set of practical guidelines for curriculum and course preparation.

2015

A living thing is distinguished from a dead thing by the multiplicity of the changes at any moment taking place in it Herbert Spencer This report provides general guidelines for the structure of a curriculum, followed by specific advice on the principles of learning and teaching, the process of restructuring and change leadership and management. It provides examples of several educational philosophies, including vertical and horizontal integration. It discusses the use of competence, learning outcomes, level of degree and assessment and provides a number of recommendations. It does not seek to be prescriptive of time allocation to disciplines within a curriculum. Although this report has been written primarily for those who will develop an undergraduate curriculum, the information may be sufficiently generic to apply to the recent development in graduate entry (‘shortened dental ’ or ‘accelerated’) courses and to postgraduate degree planning and higher education certificate or diplo...

Knowledge, Curriculum and Equity, 2017

The Buckingham Journal of Education

Educators in Wales currently find themselves in a moment. This moment is defined by far-reaching reform. Globally, education reform is nothing new, “national curricula are constantly changing” (Sinnema, 2015, p. 965) and historically, Wales is no different.

—This paper aims at probing into the nature of curriculum by critically reviewing literature relevant to the term " curriculum. " The multiple definitions associated with the term are inductively presented in conceptualizations so as to clarify what are the curricular issues that teachers should be concerned about in the school context. This paper then argues for the need to consider a broader spectrum of " curriculum " that embraces the whole aspects in the curriculum development process, for example, objectives, content, methodology, and evaluation of students, especially when a curricular review or evaluation is undertaken.

Curriculum and Course Design: Principles and Practice

2011

Curriculum design and development can be undertaken either as a small or larger scale activity but is often within one or two faculty or school areas. Two projects that the presenters are involved in have been institution wide activities. This has meant that the scale of the projects is large but also diverse and leading to the need for change of both practice and culture. One of the projects which is funded by JISC on curriculum design has been focused on exploring the values and principles staff use when developing their curriculum and the models or frameworks used to support the development. This has been to identify if there are several approaches used within the institution or some key areas that all use. There has also been a desire to explore how staff would like this process to be undertaken and what support could be provided. The other project has been to undertake a review of our virtual learning environment and using stakeholder views and requirements introduce a new stra...

2019

Curriculum is a term in which has evolved with multitude of definitions over the the time. In this academic letter, it is attempted to analyze briefly, the nature, scope and the structure of this term through the analysis of ten definitions selected to glimpse the multi-faceted term- curriculum.