Curriculum Development major steps involved

Concept of and the major steps
in Curriculum Development

• Curriculum Development can be defined as
the step by step process used to create
positive improvement in the courses offered
by a school, college or university.
• Curriculum Development is defined a planned,
a purposeful, progressive and systematic
process to create positive improvement in the
educational system.

• In the words of H.L. Caswell, “ The curriculum
development is all that goes on in the lives of children,
their parents and their teachers. The curriculum is made
up of everything that surrounds the learner in all his
working hours.’
• In modern times, the term is interpreted in a more liberal
sense because there is no questioning the fact that the
child’s education is influenced by not only books but by
the play ground, library, laboratory, reading room, extra
curricular programs, the educational environment and a
host of other factors.

Curriculum development on the whole
should aim at enabling the learners to acquire
knowledge, develop concepts and inculcate
skills, attitude, values and correspondence
with the social, cultural, economic and
environmental realities at national and
international levels.

Curriculum should help the students to develop in the following
areas:
• Language abilities and communication skills needed
for social living and further learning.
• Competencies that facilitate mathematical operations
and their applications in day to day life and learning.
• Knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary for keeping
physically fit and strong in conformity with normal
development patterns.
• A proper understanding about the role and
importance of sex in human life and healthy attitude
towards sex and members of opposite sex.

• Qualities that make a man socially effective and happy in
various social settings such as friendliness, cooperativeness,
compassion, self discipline, self control, humour, courage,
love for social justice, etc.
• Moral and character values such as honesty, truthfulness,
dependability, courtesy, fearlessness, compassion etc.
• Pre- vocational/ vocational skills, willingness to work hard
and dignity of manual work necessary for increased
productivity and job satisfaction.
• Ability to appreciate and discover beauty in various life
situations and integrate into one’s own personality.

• Understanding of the environment and its limited resources
and the need for conservation of natural resources and
energy.
• Appreciation of various consequences of large families and
over population and need for checking population growth.
• Understanding the diverse cultural and social system of
people living in different parts of the country and the
country’s composite cultural heritage.
• Knowledge of national symbols and desire and
determination to uphold the ideals of national identity and
unity.

• An awareness of the inherent equality of all
and the need of global fraternity with a strong
commitment to human values and to social
justice
• Knowledge of scientific methods of enquiry
and its use in solving problems.

• Curriculum development is a specialized task which
requires systematic thinking about the objectives to
be achieved, learning experiences to be provided,
evaluation of changes brought out by the curricular
activities and so on.
• We need to follow the order in which decisions
related to curriculum development are made and
we have to make sure that all the relevant
considerations are taken into account before taking
any decision.

Steps in the process of curriculum
Development
• Analysis of the social situation
• Identification and selection of objectives
• Selection and managing content
• Selection of curriculum experiences
• Assessment and evaluation of curriculum

Step 1: Analysis of social situation
• Diagnosis of the students weakness
• Identifying weakness of educational process
• Review of activities
• Relevance of content in relation to the
objectives
• Assess the workability of all components of
education process

Step II: Identity and Formulating Objectives
• Main sources for identifying the educational
objectives are;
• Analysis of external and internal situation.
• Educational philosophy, social, economic and
political basis of education
• The stages of growth and development of
students
• National needs and future requirements.

The following points should also be considered while
formulating the objectives:
a) Matching: The objectives should be related to the broad
goals of education from which they are derived.
b) Worth: Worth relates to whether attaining an objective
has value in the life of the student in the present or future.
The objectives should be useful, meaningful and relevant
to the need of the students.
c) Wording: The statements of the objectives should be
worded properly, so that students can easily understand
the intended outcomes.

d) Appropriateness: All objectives should be derived from and cater to
the needs and interests of the students.
e) Logical grouping: The objectives should be grouped according to
some common idea or in terms of domains - cognitive, affective and
psychomotor. Proper grouping of the objectives will help plan and
develop a more meaningful curriculum in terms of its content and
evaluation.
f) Revision: The objectives require periodic revision because students'
needs, realm of knowledge, instructional strategies, etc.. change at a
very fast pace these days. Revision of objectives will have a recurring
impact on the curriculum and make it an on-going process.

Step III: Selection and organizing Content
Generally content refers to subject matter of facts, concepts,
generalizations, principles and theories. The curriculum content
should enable students to gain and apply knowledge in day-to-clay
life.
At the macro level the criteria for the selection of content should
be based on the socio-political and educational philosophy of the
society or the nation.
At the micro level the criteria should suit the specific objectives set
for meeting the student's needs.

Some of the criteria for content selection are
discussed as follows:
i) Self-sufficiency: This criteria helps the students to
attain maximum self-sufficiency and that too in the
most economical manner.
ii) Significance: The content to be learned should be
significant in terms of its contributions to the basic
ideas, concepts, etc., in particular learning abilities.

iii) Validity: Validity relates to the authenticity of the content
selected. The content selected should be valid to the extent
that it flows from and supports the goals and objectives of the
curriculum.
iv) Interest: Content should suit the personality and intellectual
capabilities of the students. It is likely that the students, interest
are transitory. The criterion should be weighed and adjusted to
provide for student's maturity, prior knowledge, experience,
etc.
v) Utility: The utility criterion is concerned with the usefulness of
the content. For example, the content learned by the student
should be useful in his/her job situations.

vi) Learnability: This criterion relates the optimal
placement and appropriate organisation and
sequencing of content. The selected content should
not be out of the range of student's experiences,
intellectual abilities, etc.
vii) Feasibility: Feasibility as a criterion of content
selection compels curriculum planners to analyze
and examine the content in the light of the time and
resources available to the student, costs involved,
contemporary socio-political climate, etc.

In selecting and organizing of curriculum content, the
following precautions should be taken and observed:
• Students needs and interest should be taken into account.
• The contents should be based on earlier achievements of
students.
• The contents should be according to the abilities and
capacities of learning of the students.
• The individual difference of the students should be kept in
mind.

• The contents should be accurate and clear.
• The contents should be useful for the
students, society as well as the nation.
• The content should be helpful in developing
mental abilities, skills, interests and values
among the students.

Step IV: Selecting the learning experiences
• Learning experiences means the learning activities
which shape the learner's orientation to the content
and ultimately their understanding of it.
• Various teaching methods are used by teachers such
as, lecture, discussion. project, demonstration, etc.
Similarly there are various learning activities, such as
viewing films, conducting experiments, undertaking
fieldtrips, taking notes, working on assignments,
participating in discussions, etc.

• There are a few questions which should be considered
before we select learning experiences. They are listed below:
• Do the learning experiences function the way we wish them
to in the light of the overall aims and the specific objectives of
the curriculum?
• Will the student be able to apply the knowledge gained to
practical situations?
• Is it feasible in terms of time, staff expertise, resources, etc.,
to learn the content of the curriculum in the specified time.
• Do the learning experiences enable students to develop
thinking skills and rational powers?

• Do the learning experiences stimulate in students a greater
understanding of their own existence as individuals and as
members of a group/society?
• Do the learning experiences foster in students an openness
to new experiences and a tolerance for diversity?
• Do the learning experiences allow students to address their
needs and interests?
• Do the learning experiences cater to total development of
students in cognitive, affective
and psychomotor domains?

Wiles and Bondi have given some useful criteria for
selection of curriculum experiences, in the light of the
overall goals and objectives of the curriculum. They are:
1. Valid in light of the ways in which knowledge and skills
will be applied in and out of school situations.
2. Feasible in terms of time, staff expertise, facilities in
the school etc.
3. Optimal in terms of students learning the content
4. Capable of allowing students to develop their thinking
skills and rational powers

5. Capable of stimulating in students greater understanding
of their existence as individual and as members of groups.
6. Foster in the students openness to new experiences and
tolerance for diversity.
7. Facilitate learning and motivate students to continue
learning.
8. Capable of allowing students to broaden their interests
and address their needs.
9. Facilitate total development of students in cognitive,
affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain.

Evaluating the Curriculum
The effectiveness of any educational
programme is judged by its potential to
realised its goals and objectives.
There are two types of evaluation; viz
1. Students evaluation and
2. curriculum evaluation.

1. Students Evaluation :
Student evaluation aims at assessing the changes in
student's behaviour. These changes in behaviour can
be assessed through:
• Oral, written or practical tests.
• Responses during interactive teaching-learning
sessions, discussions in different kinds of situations,
etc.
• Written products of different kinds, e.g. assignment
responses term papers, project report, etc.

2. Curriculum evaluation
Curriculum evaluation refers to the evaluation of
different components of curriculum: objectives, content,
methods and evaluation procedures for student
assessment to determine whether the curriculum caters
to the needs and the educational purposes of the target
group.
Curriculum components can not be evaluated in
isolation, since each component affects and influences the
rest. Since these components are interdependent, each
has to be evaluated in relation with the others.

Curriculum Development major steps involved

More Related Content

Similar to Curriculum Development major steps involved

Recently uploaded

Curriculum Development major steps involved