Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Aimable Ineza
Makerere University Business School
MARCH 2018
Contents
REFERENCE ..................................................................................................................................................... 16
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I. INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM DESIGN
The word curriculum is derived from the Latin word “currere” meaning to run or to proceed. A
curriculum is a well-defined, prescribed course of studies which students must complete for them
to pass a given level of education.
The curriculum is a total guided learning experiences designed to facilitate learners’ learning for
establishing quality relationship between what is learnt and what operates outside the school
(Ololube, Kpolovie & Makewa, 2015).
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II. PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM DESIGN AND HOW THEY ARE USED
IN TEACHING/LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Principles help teachers and schools in their practice as a basis for reviewing, evaluating and
improving teaching and learning. Learning should be designed on the following principles.
Relevance
The relevance to the needs of the field and the learners: Course content and methods used to
teach it must fit the current requirements and focus of the field of learning; and also be
appropriate for the learners’ level and professional needs.
Coherence
The coherence of the whole programme of learning and teaching: All parts of the course must
clearly be based on the same principles and approach, rather than sending the learners ‘mixed
messages’.
Reiterative process
Curriculum needs to be evaluated and reviewed continuously to remain relevant. The CHEPSAA
workshops are the start of this process.
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The following additional principles may also be considered in developing the curriculum:
Breadth
The intended curriculum should expose learners to a broad range of experiences therefore
learning should be planned and organized so that they learn and develop skills within the
classroom and other aspects of school life. This means that there should be inclusion of co-
curricular activities in an effective curriculum.
Progression
Learners should experience continuous development in their learning as each stage must build
upon earlier knowledge and achievements therefore the curriculum should help learners reflect
on and apply what was learnt earlier.
Depth
A curriculum should give learners opportunities to develop their full capacity for thinking and
learning, exploring and achieving more advanced levels of understanding. As learners grow, they
develop the ability to critically think and be creative therefore the curriculum should be designed
to expose learners to a wide range of content at a given level of education.
The implication of the above principles in teaching/learning scenario are that, in any curriculum
design, the learner is at the center of the learning process. For example, teachers must use the
principles of relevance, challenge and enjoyment, breadth, progression, depth as well as
personalization and choice to use teaching in order to help the learners to achieve learning.
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The principle of relevance is a reminder that the curriculum should seek to recognize and
promote achievements outside the classroom activities. All kinds of learning experiences that are
relevant and supportive to the learning process must be considered.
All the stated principles above oriented to enhance the employability of the learner. Without
employability, the learner would generally not be able to enjoy the fruits of learning. Learning is
meaningful when its fruits are used to help oneself and the others, especially through gainful
employment.
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III. SUBJECT-CENTERED AND LEARNER-CENTERED CURRICULUM
Teacher Vision (2017) advises that the difference between learner-centered and subject-centered
curriculum is philosophical. Philosophy drives behavior, so when it comes to your teaching style,
it is important to have a deep understanding of your own belief system.
Subject-centered curricula on the other hand, focus essentially on delivering content by all
means. The teacher determines what ought to be taught, when, how, and in what time frame. The
content that must be covered throughout the year take precedence. The classes often require strict
discipline because children's interests are considered only after content requirements are
established.
In this framework students are compared with one another. Student success is judged in
comparison with how well others do. A fixed standard of achievement is not necessarily in place.
In these classrooms grades resemble the familiar bell curve.
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Table 1: Comparison between Subject-centered and learner-centered curriculum
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challenges of teaching positive attitude towards the
subject
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IV. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
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performance of learners and teachers are examined; this information can be obtained through
questionnaires, interviews, direct observation of skills and so on.
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5. Evaluation
This phase is a system of feedback, providing information to planners, teachers, students, parents
and decision-makers. Evaluation is a process involving ongoing activities aimed at gathering
timely information about the quality of a programme. It is done to identify successes and failures
of the curriculum with the intention of correcting deficiencies and to measure if stated objectives
have been achieved.
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V. REDESIGNING CURRICULUM AND JUSTIFICATION
In the 21st century, humanity is facing severe difficulties at the societal (global warming,
financial stresses), economic (globalization, innovation) and personal levels (employability,
happiness). Technology’s exponential growth is rapidly compounding the problems via
automation and offshoring, which are producing social disruptions. Education is falling behind
the curve, as it did during the Industrial Revolution (Fadel, 2011)
Adapting to 21st century needs means revisiting each dimension of the curriculum in order to
address the following short-comings:
Knowledge – relevance required: Students’ lack of innovation. There must be a strike of
balance between the conceptual and practical.
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Character (Behavior, attitude & values) – to face an increasing challenging world: as
complexities increase, humankind is rediscovering the importance of teaching character
traits such as performance-related: adaptability, persistence, resilience, etc. Moral-
related: integrity, justice, empathy, ethics, etc.
Meta-Layer: essential for activating change, building expertise, fostering creativity via
analogies, establishing lifelong learning habits, and so on.
Most of the education transformation efforts worldwide are focused on the “How” of education,
which is laudable. But very little is being done about the “What”. Education must wake up and
adopt, through re-designing, the much needs an innovative global curriculum, adapted to the
needs of the 21st century student and society.
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VI. RATIONALE FOR DESIGNING NEW PROGRAMMES
The following are some of the reasons why some education systems decide to abandon old
education programs to design new ones:
Too many non-practical subjects – too many subject that are not relating with the
knowledge and skills need on the market
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REFERENCE
CHEPSAA. (2013). Principles and practice of good curriculum design. Cape Town, Consortium
for Health Policy & Systems Analysis in Africa.
Fadel, C. (2011) Redesigning the Curriculum. Center for Curriculum Re-design. Retrieved from
http://curriculumredesign.org/
Olulube, N.P., Kpolovie, P.J., & Makewa, L.N. (2015) Handbook of Research on Enhancing
Teacher Education with Advanced Instructional Technologies. A volume in the Advances
in Higher Education and Professional Development (AHEPD) Book Series
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