Curriculum Project

 

If you are trying to decide whether to do a Curriculum Project, here is an example of a good one.

 

Read on if you have already decided to do one.

You may not realize that you will be making value judgments because you will be deciding

 

WHAT SHOULD BE LEARNED

[cue ominous diminished chords and go ahead and scroll down before the animated gif drives you nuts]

 

You may already have an idea of what your project will be about.  You know what students should learn within the context of your idea.

 

First, answer this question:

Why should they learn that?

After you have answered that question, run it through these filters:

Does it have both local and global content?

Is it suitable for classroom use in terms of ease of use, applicability?

Does it encourage both group and cooperative learning as well as individual growth?

Does it encourage students to question, reflect, and use critical thinking?

Will it allow the students to continue learning?

Is it relevant to the needs of the student?

 

 

There are many curriculum development resources.  I encourage you to do some reading.  Here are the very basics:

I.

Identification of a need

Students I have observed do not know/cannot do _________________________________

and they NEED to learn this because _______________________________________.

 

II.

Formulation of objectives

These are the things they should know and be able to do

1.  ____________________

2.  ____________________

3.  ____________________

4.  ____________________

 

III.

Curriculum design

  ________________________________ (who) will be able to know and do these things (above) by _______________________ (when).

The sequence of instruction will be ____________________________________ (outline of organization of learning experiences).

 

IV.

Content

These are the materials and specific activities that I will use to make the learning happen: _________________________________________.

This is the order I will use them: ________________________________________________.

 

V.

Assessment

This is how I will know if the learning has happened.

There should be a separate assessment for each objective.

 

 

This is a very basic outline of the process.  This is a good place to begin.  Good luck!

 

Created and maintained by Vicky V. Johnson