Approaches to Curriculum Design
prepared by
Saad Alhejaili
Supervised by
Dr. Antar Solhy
Models of Curriculum Design
This book is based on a model of curriculum design
which is represented by the curriculum design diagram.
This diagram is intended to be easy-to remember, so
that teachers can use it whenever they face curriculum
design issues or are reading articles on curriculum
design. How adequate is the model? One way to
answer this question is to compare it with other models
to see where they overlap and where they don’t
Return
1- Content and sequencing in the Language Curriculum Design
model matches two parts of the Graves (2000) model – organizing
the course and conceptualizing content.
2- Monitoring and assessment and evaluation in the Language
Curriculum Design model are included in one part of the Graves
(2000) model –designing an assessment plan. In her book Graves
distinguishes evaluation from assessment, but deals with both in
the same chapter.
The main factors to be considered in
curriculum design
The practical aspects of
curriculum design
Table 9.2 compares the Language Curriculum Design model and
Murdoch’s model. We can see in Table 9.2,
1- Four parts of Murdoch’s model fit into environment analysis.
2- Two parts of his model fit into needs analysis (lacks and
necessities)
3- three parts into content and sequencing.
Part of what is included in content and sequencing overlaps
with format and presentation, that is, the choice of suitable
textbooks.
4- Principles, monitoring and assessment, and evaluation are
not included in Murdoch’s model. These are possible
weaknesses of his model. However, in his discussion of his
model, it is clear that he intends that principles should be
considered when dealing with several of the parts of his model.
This book has taken the approach that curriculum design is
best viewed as a process like writing where the curriculum
design could begin at any of several places – needs analysis,
materials writing, selection of principles, goals,etc. Some
models of curriculum design see it occurring as a series of
steps in fixed order.
Tessmer and Wedman (1990) describe this view as a
“waterfall”model, where one stage of curriculum design, for
example environment analysis, is done thoroughly, and then
the next stage of needs analysis is done thoroughly, and so
on in much the same way as the flow of water fills one
container in a stepped-down series and then flows over to
fill the next. If this does happen, it is probably rare
Some constraints that make it almost impossible for a waterfall
model to occur.
For example, in many English courses the teacher does not
know who the learners will be until the first day of class. Needs
analysis before the course begins is thus virtually impossible.
The teacher needs to come prepared for the first class and so
deciding on the content and format and presentation of the
material may be a first step. The decisions made for the first
day may have to be revised after meeting the learners.
Other constraints faced by curriculum designers include having
very limited time to prepare the course, having to prepare a
course for a largely unknown environment, having to design a
course which can be marketed and used in a very wide range of
environments, and having to prepare courses that will be
taught by other teachers.
There are two main factors to consider when applying
a
model of curriculum design:
(1) what is the starting point for the curriculum design
process, that is, what is already available?,
(2) how will we move through the process of curriculum
design as shown in the curriculum design model? Let us
now look at these two factors in detail.
Starting Points
Curriculum design begins either with no existing resources or
some existing resources. The design of a completely new course
may start from nothing except the knowledge of the curriculum
designer. Most courses however have something more concrete to
start from
1
Curriculum designers and teachers can start from nothing and
gather and write the material. This most often happens because
of copyright issues with courses that are likely to be published, or
where there is no existing course. The curriculum designer or
teacher is thus responsible for all parts of the curriculum design
process.
2
Curriculum designers and teachers can draw on a bank of existing
materials from which they select the most appropriate material
for the course. Such a bank could include (1) copies of activities
prepared by themselves or other teachers for other courses or for
previous deliveries of the course, (2) published supplementary
materials such as graded readers, grammar activity books, and
conversation texts, speed reading courses and so on, (3) clippings
from newspapers or magazines, recordings from the radio or TV,
or photocopied material from texts or course books. The
curriculum designer or teacher chooses the bits and puts them
together to make a course. The curriculum designer or teacher
thus takes most responsibility for content and sequencing, and
goals.
3
Some curriculum statements and some course books
deliberately provide only some of the material needed
for a complete course. Curriculum statements usually
provide the content and sequencing, goals, and
assessment parts of the course, and leave it to the
teacher to decide on the materials to use to deal with
format and presentation
The advantages of this split responsibility
for different parts of the curriculum
design process are as follows:
(a) The course can be made more suitable for the
environment in which it is taught. This environment includes the
resources available, the skill and teaching style of the teachers,
and the time available
(b) Adjustments can be easily made to suit a range of needs.
(c) The teacher is seen as a professional who has to make
important curriculum design decisions, and who has the
flexibility and skill to bring the material and learners together in
the most suitable way
(d) The material produced by the curriculum designer can be
used over a very wide range of differing teaching situations
4
The teacher chooses a published course book and uses that as the
only material or the main material for the course. This starting
point is the easiest if a usable course book is available. A usable
book is one where at least half of the material in the book can be
used in the course. This makes it worth buying the book and gives
the curriculum designer time to work on extra material.
What may eventually happen is that the original course
book or course materials are no longer used and the
teacher works with the materials that were developed
in response to the inadequacies of the original course
This approach to a course has many advantages.
Firstly, it allows a course to be initially taught without getting
involved in an elaborate, poorly informed curriculum design
process. The course is simply taught from the course book.
Secondly, it allows for careful work to be done on aspects of the
course that really deserve attention. This work can be done without
the worry of neglecting the other, adequate parts of the course
Thirdly, it allows the teacher/curriculum designer to develop
curriculum design skills in a safe, gradual way. Instead of having to
have control of the whole curriculum design process, expertise in
parts of it can be developed, applied and then supplemented.
The Process of Curriculum Design
We will look at the ways of going through the process of curriculum
design – the waterfall model, the focused opportunistic approach,
and the layers of necessity approach.
A “waterfall” model
Macalister and Sou (2006) draw on a "waterfall” model in their
description of a course’s design. The output of one stage
becomes the input of the next. Table 9.3 lists a sequence of
steps that could be followed in this way in a variety of orders.
The waterfall model is most likely to be applied in the design of the
commercial course book, or in a well-funded curriculum design
project. Both of these situations provide time and resources for
systematic curriculum design, so that designers can do needs
analysis, consider the environment and principles, and prepare a
syllabus and lessons in advance of the actual teaching
The major reason for taking this approach is time pressure.
The learners have to be taught and there is not time to do a
lot of data gathering or planning. Because teaching most
immediately involves format and presentation, this is usually
done first. That is, the course is taught using whatever
material is available or can be made. During the teaching, the
teacher may do some kinds of needs analysis to work out if
the lessons need some adjustment. Assessment will also
need to be developed as the course is taught. After the first
teaching of the course, the teacher might consider content
and sequencing on the basis of experience and make some
changes so that the second delivery of the course is a bit
more organized
In Tessmer and Wedman’s model, curriculum design is seen
initially as a choice between various layers. Each layer is complete
in itself and includes the major parts of the curriculum design
process – environment analysis, determining needs and goals,
deciding on the instructional strategy (format and presentation),
developing the materials, and evaluating and revising. But each
layer differs in the detail and thoroughness with which each of
these parts of curriculum design are carried out. The curriculum
designer has to decide what layer of curriculum design will be
chosen.
If the time and resources available are very limited for
example, the curriculum designer might choose the least detailed
layer. This layer would involve all the following steps
1 Decide on the most severe environmental constraint on the
course and how it will affect the curriculum design.
2 Decide on the most urgent necessity that learners have to meet
at the end of the course.
3 Make a short list of items to cover.
4 Decide on a simple lesson format that will make use of available
material.
5 Gather the material for the course.
6 Decide on a simple form of assessment.
If more time and resources were available then a layer could be chosen
which involved a more detailed set of steps like those in Table9.1
Deciding on an Approach
We have looked at a range of starting points and
different paths through the curriculum design process.
Choosing which path to take will depend on the starting
point, the time available for course preparation, the
availability of needs analysis information, the availability
of a usable course book, and the skill of the curriculum
designer
Thank you