curriculum in computer science, Principles of curriculum development, Principles of curriculum construction, Criteria of selection of content and organization of content curriculum for different stages, organizing the selected content, Development of a computer science curriculum

1. Curriculum in Computer
Science
By
Dr. I. Uma Maheswari
iuma_maheswari@yahoo.co.in

2. Principles of Curriculum
Development
• The curriculum that is framed should meet
the demands of the students.
• It should not be examination ridden.
• It should be inter related with the real life
activities.

3. According to Secondary Education Commission
Report the present curriculum is
• Narrow in conception.
• Bookish and theoretical.
• Contents voluminous but not rich and
significant.
• Examination ridden.
• Cut-off from the life around.

4. Principles of curriculum
construction
The following principles may be listed.
1. The principle of child centredness:
This means that the curriculum should be
suited to the needs, interests, etc of the
students.
2. The principle of community-centredness:
It should determine the purpose of a
society.

5. 3. Principle of integration: It should integrate the
child’s needs with the demands of the society.
4. Principle of conservation: It should help in
preserving and transmitting the traditions,
standards of conduct etc. It is the objective of
education to transmit the culture.
5. Creative principle: The students should be
placed in the place of a discoverer and there
should be provision for creative type of
activities.

6. 6. Principle of activity Centredness: There
should be emphasis on learning by doing.
More provision should be made of individual
laboratory work and other field experience.
7. Forward looking principle: It should help the
child in adjustment and prepare him for full and
effective adult life.
8. Principle of elasticity and variety: It should not
be rigid but should be changing to suit the
changing needs of the pupils and the society.
It should be flexible and broad based.

7. Criteria of Selection of content and Organization of
Content Curriculum for different stages:
The students at the school level could be
broadly classified into three categories.
• The first group contains pupil’s upto the
age of about nine or ten.
• The second stage would contain pupils
between the ages of ten or eleven and
fourteen.
• The third stage would contain pupils above
fourteen years of age.

8. • The first group is the elementary stage.
• At this stage the students are immature
and hence the course should contain an
elementary knowledge of all the
branches of science.
• The course should be confined to the
study of nature in all its phase of
common objects.

9. The aims of teaching science at this stage are,
• To encourage them to observe things around
them, test their observation by experimentation
and thereby stimulating their spirit of scientific
enquiry.
• Arousing interest in nature and in the physical
and social environment.
• To introduce them to the important incidents in
the lives of some great scientists.
• To develop habits of healthful living etc.
So the curriculum should be framed on the basis of
these aims.

10. • The second stage is the secondary or the
middle stage.
• In this stage pupils would like to do
experiments by themselves.
• They are highly inquisitive to know about
things in a more elaborate way.
• Hence the formal study of more exact
sciences like physics, chemistry and
computer science should be introduced.

11. • The third stage is the High or Higher
Secondary stage.
• At this stage Science is taught with two well-
defined purposes.
– One is to give a general idea of the oneness of
science and its impact on society.
– Second is to form the basis for higher studies of
specialization and vocationalisation.

12. Organizing the selected content
• The content selected has to be organized in
such a way that the pupils will have the required
previous knowledge.
• It should be psychologically arranged to suit the
mental level of the pupils.
• At the same time care should be taken to see
that repetition does not occur.
– We can arrange the content either by topics called
Topica, arrangement or by concentric or spiral method
/ approach.
– Process approach
– Integrated approach

13. Development of a computer
science curriculum
1. Formulation of objectives
2. Selection of the contents or topics
3. Organisation of the contents
4. Providing guidelines for the
implementation of curriculum.
5. Suggesting techniques and method for
evaluation.