Curriculum definitions and reference point - Article Example

If the ‘curriculum’ is to become the instrument of change in education, its meanings and operational terms must become clear. Historically, universities and colleges derived power not from teaching, research, or a coherent program of studies but from the right to certify and examine. Studies were loose congeries of subjects (predominated by canon law, theology and civil law) grouped around faculty members for indeterminate lengths of time (depending upon the chosen faculty and institution) with examiners being the arbitrators.

Example, In Spain, students attended university only a year or two, until they landed a preferment in the hierarchy of civil or church administration. Fortunes, enrollments, and subjects in French and German universities were “continually threatened by the brooding, `protective presence of spiritual and temporal powers.”In 1643, University of Glasgow - identifies a “curriculum quinque annorum.”In 1829, Glasgow calendar refers to “the curriculum of students who mean to take degrees in Surgery to be three years.

”Since, Scottish learneds and divines populated the colonial universities in America. They brought with them the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment, stern in its theology and orderly in its views of education. Thus, the two settings where the notion of a curriculum did persist were Scotland and the United States.In the United States, the development of a structure for the curriculum, in administrative and managerial terms, proceeded rapidly. However, the concept of what the realm of curriculum might be became highly diffused, and two consequences persist. 1. The curriculum as a concept, as a discrete idea, was almost without boundaries.

It could mean anything from the “bundle” of programs an institution offered, to the individual experience of a particular student. 2. Systematic description, that is, an orderly, technical terminology that enhanced insights on practice and linked ideas to application, had not developed. Often faculty at work on the curriculum had to invent their own labels to describe what they did.Defining curriculum, two views:1. The word can connote either formal structural arrangements or the substance of what is being taught (split in definition).

Most faculty would side with the notion that “the structural aspects of the curriculum had much less to do with the quality…quality instead was more importantly linked to matters of substance.”2. Six uses for the term – a. a colleges—or programs—mission, purpose, or collective expression of what is important for students to learn b. a set of experiences that some authorities believe all students should have c. the set of courses offered to students d. the set of courses students actually elect from those available e.

the content of a specific discipline f. the time and credit frame in which the college provides educationIn sum, application of the concept of “curriculum” spread in the United States, but it did not achieve the refined meaning, precise definition, or consensus among professors that standards of professional practice normally require.To apply the concepts of curriculum to real situations, a working definition should be put into operation. Common concepts to develop a working definition are:1.

The concept of the curriculum as a plan for learning is well developed based on a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the subject. Further field research among faculty led back to the course as the fundamental component of such a plan, not the curriculum. 2. The curriculum can be seen as an instructional system, another well-developed approach.3. The concept of system has been extended to consider the curriculum as a major subsystem of the university, thus opening analysis of inputs and outcomes.

This approach can be characterized as “systemic curricular planning.” 4. The idea of the curriculum as a medium of student development has been explored and developed in some of the most compelling literature of higher education.5. Strong traditional orientations to the curriculum as an analog to the structure of knowledge persist in “essentialist” approaches and in contemporary reinterpretations.The simplest framework for looking at the curriculum is provided by four penetrating questions about purpose, content, organization, and evaluation.

The Design ApproachDesign is the placing of subject matter so as to put it to its greatest advantage or to have it in the most interesting shape, form, or position possible.One great asset of the concept of design is its comprehensive neutrality. The curriculum designer is free of presumptions, free to examine components on their relative merits; large classes or small, interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity, master classes or studio classes—their value is determined by the place in the design.

With an approach involving design, questions are moved to a lower level of abstraction, and, consequently, more dimensions of operation can be considered.To approach change in the curriculum as a problem in design, not philosophy or technique, fixes the responsibility with the inventor—that is, the faculty. Curriculum as design emphasizes invention, intention, and construction.A Framework for Design AnalysisThe curriculum is an intentional design for learning negotiated by faculty in light of their specialized knowledge and in the context of social expectations and students needs.

The components of design as they apply to higher education can be readily adaptable from art, engineering, and science, they are - context, content, and form - and each component is elaborated to fit higher education in the table below: Components of Curriculum Design: An Open Matrix1. ContextExamplesSocial and Cultural InfluencesHow society defines the functions of higher education; expectations Filtering and interpretive InfluencesCultivate expert work force, build responsible citizens, sustain elite leadership, provide upward mobility Prevailing cultural waves (free speech in the 1960s, “me-ism” in the 1980s, issues of equity) Political, social, economic events: wars, depressions, civil rights movement Pressures of a “hidden curriculum”Direct Influences, Environmental FactorsLegislation, public policy Market forces, labor markets, financial markets Demographic trends and events Value of knowledge-in-use, technology-in-demandG.I. Bill, NDEA, student loan programs, draft exemptions, civil rights decisions in courts Placement patterns, interest rates Baby boom, immigration, sex ratio, single-parent homes Post-Sputnik emphasis on science, business boom of the 1980sOrganizational/Institutional ClimateInstitutional features Community dimensionsTradition, “saga,” culture, administrative structure, faculty ethos Student cultures and subcultures Ecology of service area 2.

ContentExamplesNature of Significant Knowledge: EpistemologyStructure of organized knowledge Methods of establishing and verifying knowledge Subsets of related knowledge “Ideal-typical” rolePrinciples, theories, laws, bodies of information Styles of inquiry, systems of proof, technique Prerequisite and conjunctive disciplines and fields Expected role attributes, “knowledge-in-action” behaviors Nature of Learning: Psychology of FieldLearning strategies for apprehending the field at higher cognitive levels Students capacities and learning styles; preconditions of maturity, experience, schoolingLaboratory, clinical, field experience Perfect pitch for music, physical vigor and coordination, aptitude for spatial relations, work experienceAffective Domain: Values, Attitudes, BeliefsHelpful personality traits, orienting values, attitudes, beliefsLicensed “expertise,” orientations toward helping, precision in observationsConsequences of Knowledge Holding:Manifest and LatentCognitive outcomes, “certain knowledge” of field Patterns of habit and trained behaviorsSensitivities and appreciationsComponents of skill and technique, competencies3.

FormExamplesDistribution of Learning Resources: Time, Space, FacilitiesFaculty work loadFaculty expertise: matching talent to learning designsStudent time distribution, weighting creditsBudgetary system, allocation methods, priorities, adjustmentsAllocation of physical facilities, space, equipment, services Contact hours, preparation, course development, advising, in-house, extramural service, research and scholarship Inventory of faculty training, survey of interests Class/study mix, part-time work, structure of credit Instructional Strategies and Prevailing Modes of Instruction Calendar and scheduling system; class size, composition, and sorting processes; instructional strategies; alternatives to formal study Integrating learning experiences, applications of knowledge Challenge exams, advanced placement, credit for life experiences, tutorials, projectsStudy abroad, honors programs, senior seminars, case studies, internships, voluntary service, field study Proximate Outcomes and AssessmentsStandardized tests of formal knowledge, external examiners, competency reviews Qualitative assessments Career development and entry experience, formal grading and reporting procedures GRE, LSAT, MCAT, ACT— Comp; licensing, certification, and accrediting boards; performance portfolios, evaluations of specific skills Student self-reports, situational measures, involvement summaries Alumni surveys, feedback from employers, placement data, policies on grades, transcripts, privacy A Working TerminologyTwo lines of systematic search and invention mark the effort to get into a terminology that reflects the wider reach of learning.

One is taxonomic, the other functional.Taxonomic approaches are the most popular. They mirror the process of the natural sciences, examining, describing, sometimes measuring, and sorting according to prominent characteristics cases in the field. These features are then laid out in a hierarchy of family, genus, species, and variety. Example - Carnegie Foundations full classification.Functional categories are derived from concepts or premises considered critical to the processes of teaching, learning, or development.

Example - Comparing the curriculum in chemistry of the Grandes Ecoles of France and British universities, using common-sense approach. Each of these approaches has virtues in helping to understand and describe the complexity of the curriculum. They do not, however, always make a connection with the curriculum as faculty members encounter it day by day. The gap to practice is closed, perhaps foreclosed, with a tightly knit set of design procedures based on instructional development.A Terminology for Curriculum AnalysisCourseWhatBasic building block of a curriculum and fundamental unit of professional practice for academics.

Can be subdivided into modules or units.WhoThe domain of individual faculty members. Students role is reactive. Departmental interest is usually tacit.HowCourse reviews best conducted by three-person team from within the department, concentrating on description.PatternWhatGroups of courses related by internal affinities of knowledge, technique, or methodology. Commonality of content in such sets of courses the hallmark.WhoFaculty members from involved departments plus department heads. Deans hold role of observer/monitor.

HowInterdepartmental communities review plans and practice for coherence and redundancy.ConstellationWhatCourses related by common goals or objectives, oriented toward similar outcomes.WhoDeans and/or program directors hold the initiative. Faculties in committees or task forces make decisions. Chief academic officer has supporting role. Aims must be clear to students.HowStanding committees or commissions have oversight. Specialized staff support might be needed.ProgramWhatAn arrangement of courses and learning options that leads to publicly recognized certificates or credentials.

WhoDeans hold a primary interest. External bodies, usually professional associations or licensing boards, participate.HowExternal reviews play a major role. Consultants, advisory committees, and self-studies are significant.CurriculumWhatAn institutions entire educational program.WhoChief academic officer in charge of initiatives. Deans and faculty responsible for operations. Board of trustees has oversight. State could have a formal responsibility.HowComprehensive, process-oriented academic plan requiring various working papers and position documents.