Running Head: PIDP 3210 Curriculum Development Assignment 4 - Rationale
PIDP 3210 Curriculum Development Assignment 4
Rationale for Assignments 1 - 3
Andrew Macklin
September 2012
VCC
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PIDP 3210 Curriculum Development Assignment 4 - Rationale
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Assignment 4 - Rationale for Assignments 1, 2 & 3.
In the questions below I hope to address why choices were made, not just based on my own subject matter expertise, but as to how choices would be made for any course, even without actual knowledge of all the smaller parts.
In a real world situation, more people will be involved in order to determine the duration, content, assessments
and so forth, meaning that the alignment here is not that realistic - in most cases many parties would review and
participate.
Assignment #1.1 - Course Outcomes Map
1. Describe the purposes / needs that your course addresses: Why is this course needed? What is needed in
the course in terms of content and/or delivery?
“WordPress – from the basics to the wide beyond” - This course is needed because WordPress has become the
most popular blogging tool, and virtually taken over the Content Management System market. It is aimed at people who have been creating sites in other methods who need to learn this skill in a speedy and accurate fashion,
rather than via research, trial & error; as well as people wanting to enter into the web design market and need to
learn these skills, in an informed and technically accurate fashion, with an understanding of the importance of
project planning and structure; and people wanting to create or maintain their own personal sites/blogs who will
be able to use the skills to speedily do tasks which self-learning could miss, as it often does. They will also gain
hands on assistance, and re-assurance where confidence may be lacking. It provides a very cost effective method
of creating and running a website, without costly software, or costly development, making it a sensible solution
in a tight economy.
Content and delivery:
The course will be general, approaching the usage of the topic from 2 vantage points – as blogging tool and for
website creation. It will not be specific to a specific industry (in group training, custom 1-on-1 can be more subject dependent in order to retain relevance to the adult learner). Content would include: setting up a WordPress
site (peripheral knowledge re: domain/hosting/cost and free alternatives); understanding the basics in order to
plan the result and use the correct option to get the required results (knowledge/competency based element). Research and problem solving themes and plug-ins. Practical applications - both to pre-determined topics and to
self-determined scenarios. Delivery will require computer based demonstrations, on-line research and readings,
theoretical testing, practical applications via projects, and discussion.
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2. Why have you chosen either the CBE approach or the OBE approach?
I chose Outcomes Based Education. I am in a tertiary training institution which is career based. However, the
students are - in some cases - able to choose what areas of specialization they are interested in (say ‘Photoshop
for photography’ rather than ‘General Photoshop’). There is, however, always a core knowledge which has to be
gained in order to grasp specialized areas. By nature groups training is less flexible than customized one-on-one.
Being a creative field, one does do projects and tests, but - as in OBE - assessment is continual - improvements
are made via experience, so any section is open to re-assessment. I always find assessment to be double in meaning - both in terms of marks and evaluations, as well as re-assessment of the course. A technical fields requires a
constant re-assessment of the curriculum itself to remain up to date. Finally, as the course bridges creative and
technical thinking, it requires critical thinking - creative rather than memorized - to be able to solve certain
problems, especially abstract one such as ‘design for XYZ’, and make value judgements. I do find the context
plays a role though - customized training would allow more flexibility for prior recognition, open time frames
etc - whereas a group must function within certain generalized constraints.
OBE is more creative and fluid - and so is the course I am presenting. Though a specific competency is expected/
required it goes further, to a point of creatively applying this competency to problem solve for future projects
and their unexpected contingencies. The need to make decisions, problem solve and think in a flexible, creative
fashion make this the sensible choice.
Assignment #1.2 - Course Outcomes Guide
3. Why these skills? Why these concepts / issues? How do they move a student toward accomplishment of the
outcomes? What themes are represented? Why have you chosen these particular assessment tasks?
The skills are based on standard usage and requirements of the topic, based upon existing guidelines and usage from the software vendor. The themes and skills are closely linked, where the main course themes cover the
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3 core abilities required and create natural components/sections in the course itself. The concepts and issues
address the skills in a practical method, by moving from gaining knowledge to analyzing situations and applying the concepts. The students will learn from the topics covered, in the various methods, and then apply them
in different situations based upon their own practical application. The assessment tasks realistically represent
real world situations as the learners will be creating websites in different forms for different ‘client’ requirements.
They will be able to use these assessments as a mini-version of future projects. The assessments measure the
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‘how’ and ‘what’ of the course skills - students show their competency (how they do the assessment tasks) to the
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level of the required outcome.
Assignment #2 - Course Outline
4. Describe reasons for your choice of Course Outline format.
The course outcomes guide developed the content in an easy to manage fashion, and is perfect for internal use
and for on-line usage. The physical Course Outline format provided to the learner is in brochure format as it provides a easy to print, display, promote and store document. While print documentation is necessary and popular,
a different version for web usage should also be considered. The brochure allows one to share all the necessary
content in a friendly, and easy to follow fashion, also allowing one to review internal documentation. A limited
space forces one to be succinct, which I feel is very important.
5. Provide reasons for your choices related to Course Formats, Activities, Schedule, and Assessment / Evaluation activities.
Course format was specified by this course to be 30 hours, so timing was not in my control, but seemed to work
out well for the requirements. The schedule of morning/afternoon sessions for 1 week duration makes the course
suited to people wanting to complete the training in a short period of time, which often happens. Personally, it
would also be offered in other schedule options - such as one-on-one for 2 afternoons/evenings per week. This
would depend on who and how they are offering the course, and flexibility is key to where I train. Activities were
chosen as they accurately cover the topics in the only sensible fashion. Assessment is based on students proving
they have the skills the course covers. (See questions 1.2 & 7 as well.)
6. Why is curriculum integration and alignment important? How would you illustrate this for your curriculum; e.g. include your responses to p. 164 or p. 166.
“Curriculum integration can be described as an approach to teaching
and learning that is based on both philosophy and practicality. It can
generally be defined as a curriculum approach that purposefully
draws together knowledge, skills, attitudes and values from within or
across subject areas to develop a more powerful understanding of
key ideas. Curriculum integration occurs when components of the
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curriculum are connected and related in meaningful ways by both
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the students and teachers.”
Integration allows for flexibility - by reviewing and seeing connections the content can connect in meaningful threads. It enables one to “view the big picture and the detailed, subject-specific picture at the same time.
Explore expectations through a wide-angle lens across subjects to identify…and to determine how these are
complementary. Simultaneously, use a zoom lens to identify subject-specific expectations to include in daily les4
sons.” For this course the lesson plan mirrors the course schedule, which will make sense to the students who
have received a schedule and expect the lesson to correspond.
The lesson plan and course schedule both are focussed on achieving the outcomes specified in the (simplified)
map.
Assignment # 3 - Planning one lesson event
7. Provide reasons for your choices related to the Instructor and Learner Activities, Timing, Resources, and
other key elements of your lesson.
Lesson # 1 - Morning Session
Instructor will present an introductory overview, ensuring learners know what the main topic is and what the
topics to cover for the session will include. Learners will participate in discussion so as to get to know and share
with each other. Resources would be relevant to the subject matter, and timing ensure that things are managed
so they are neither too brief nor dragged out. Instructor will review terminology and examples to ensure all
participants understand the required vocabulary and the students will follow along on-line to build research
skills. Resources and duration as above. Instructor will demonstrate methods of performing different basic tasks,
allowing the learners to follow on and get an introduction to the software, the learners will then have time to
practise these skills to foster retention. A test will further reinforce these concepts. - the process would be “see do - think” based.
8. Describe how the activities of this lesson / workshop will ensure / promote a positive learning environment
Introductions to the topics (and wrap up at the end) will ensure participants know where they - and the course is going. People will be able to share their experiences in order to recognise their prior learning/existing skills.
PIDP 3210 Curriculum Development Assignment 4 - Rationale
By researching terminology on-line, people will be able to see that knowledge is freely available and accessible.
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Students will be able to ask questions and receive feedback.
In summation, by repetition of information I feel that all of the parts tie together. By diagrammatically drawing out requirements, by considering internal and external usage of documentation, and by revising sections
to match between documents one may spend a great deal of time, but ultimately ensure nothing important is
missed nor that discrepancies occur.
References:
All references are from website, so authors and dates are not always available.
1. http://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start
2. http://www.thecolloquium.com/Page5CoreModel.htm
3. Primary Programs Framework – Curriculum Integration: Making Connections - Alberta Education, 2007
http://www. education.alberta.ca/media/656618/curr.pdf
4. Research Monograph # 28 - The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, 2010
5. http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/for-teachers/teachers-playground/tips-for-teachers/564-create-a-positive-learning-environment
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