Curriculum Design and Development
Summary
TLDREric Alexander discusses the essentials of curricular design, emphasizing the importance of an educational plan that integrates multiple facets of learning. He reviews the history of curricular development, debates on its utility, and different learning viewpoints, including transmission, transaction, and transformation. Alexander outlines five practical steps for curriculum development, including defining objectives, creating a map, organizing content, right-sizing the curriculum, and continuous assessment and improvement. He concludes with an example of designing a medical clerkship curriculum, highlighting the need to consider organizational structures and dynamics.
Takeaways
- ๐ Curricular design involves creating an educational plan that optimizes learning by integrating multiple facets of the process over time.
- ๐ญ The concept of curricular design was influenced by the Industrial Revolution, leading to structured and efficient educational techniques.
- ๐ The Flexner report was pivotal in defining the modern approach to medical school curriculum, emphasizing a disciplined approach to teaching.
- ๐ There is an ongoing debate about the utility of curricular design, with arguments for guiding principles that improve teaching and arguments against over-formality that can stifle creativity.
- ๐ค Three viewpoints of learning affect curriculum design: transmission (facts and skills delivery), transaction (dialogue between student and curriculum), and transformation (personal change and growth).
- ๐จโ๐ซ Different educational philosophers like BF Skinner, Jean Piaget, and John Jacques Rousseau represent the transmission, transaction, and transformation viewpoints respectively.
- ๐ ๏ธ Two conceptual frameworks for curricular development are the social efficiency model, starting with behavioral objectives and moving to content, and the human development model, starting with learner needs and adapting instruction.
- ๐บ๏ธ Curricular mapping is a crucial step in the design process, helping to outline themes, assessments, and skills to be taught.
- ๐ข A curriculum must be right-sized and fit well within the organizational structure, considering competing demands and ensuring it aligns with the institution's goals and resources.
- ๐ Continuous assessment, evaluation, and improvement are vital for a curriculum to evolve and remain effective in facilitating learning.
- ๐ฅ An example of practical curriculum design is the medicine clerkship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, which emphasizes core knowledge objectives, presentation skills, and professionalism.
Q & A
What is the main focus of Eric Alexander's talk on curricular design?
-The main focus of Eric Alexander's talk is to review the background in history related to curricular design, define what a curriculum is, discuss different viewpoints of learning that affect curriculum creation, provide five guiding principles for curriculum development, and offer organizational frames for considering curriculum with current examples.
What are the three key elements that Eric suggests should be considered when designing a curriculum?
-The three key elements to consider when designing a curriculum are defining clear objectives, building a curricular map, and organizing and creating a blueprint for the curriculum.
How does Eric define a curriculum in the context of learning?
-Eric defines a curriculum as an educational plan that acknowledges learning is optimized when multiple facets of the learning process are synergized, organized, and integrated over time.
What is the historical context of curricular design mentioned by Eric?
-The historical context includes the impact of the Industrial Revolution on schooling, the publication of the Flexner report defining the modern approach to medical school curriculum, and the introduction of a disciplined approach to teaching by Tyler, embracing educational psychology and behaviorism.
What is the ongoing debate in curricular design that Eric refers to?
-The ongoing debate in curricular design is whether there should be more guiding principles and structured planning to improve teaching, or whether too much formality can constrain learning and stifle creativity and self-direction.
What are the three viewpoints of learning that Eric discusses?
-The three viewpoints of learning discussed are transmission, where learning is about transmitting facts and skills; transaction, where learning is a dialogue between the student and curriculum; and transformation, where learning is about personal change and growth.
What are the two conceptual frameworks for curricular development that Eric mentions?
-The two conceptual frameworks for curricular development mentioned are the social efficiency model, which starts with behavioral learning objectives and leads to content and instructional methods, and the human development model, which starts with the needs of the learner and their developmental stage.
How does Eric describe the process of building a curricular map?
-Building a curricular map involves brainstorming and organizing ideas, defining themes or enduring understandings, planning assessments, and considering standards-based essential skills. It helps in visualizing the curriculum structure and content.
What does Eric mean by 'right sizing' a curriculum?
-'Right sizing' a curriculum refers to ensuring that the curriculum fits well within the existing educational structure and is alert to other forces such as politics, human resources, and organizational symbolism that may impact its success.
Can you explain the five steps to curriculum development that Eric suggests?
-The five steps to curriculum development suggested by Eric are: 1) Define objectives or endpoints, 2) Build a curricular map, 3) Organize and create a blueprint, 4) Right size the curriculum and be alert to environmental forces, and 5) Assess, evaluate, and constantly improve the curriculum.
What is the practical example Eric uses to illustrate the curriculum development process?
-Eric uses the example of designing a curriculum for a medicine clerkship at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He walks through the process of defining objectives, building a curricular map, organizing the curriculum into blocks, right sizing it within the hospital structure, and assessing and improving it based on feedback.
Outlines
๐ Introduction to Curricular Design
Eric Alexander introduces the topic of curricular design, aiming to review its historical background, define the concept of a curriculum, and discuss different viewpoints on learning that influence curriculum creation. He outlines the goals of the session, which include providing five guiding principles for curriculum development and exploring organizational frameworks. The discussion begins with a thought-provoking question about teaching various skills, emphasizing that a curriculum is an educational plan that optimizes learning by integrating multiple aspects of the learning process over time.
๐ซ Historical Context and Debates in Curricular Design
This section delves into the history of curricular development, highlighting key moments such as the industrial revolution's impact on schooling and the publication of the Flexner report, which defined the modern medical school curriculum. It also touches on Ralph Tyler's disciplined approach to teaching influenced by educational psychology. The ongoing debate between the utility of curricular design and the potential constraints it imposes on learning is presented, with arguments for guiding principles to improve teaching and counterarguments that emphasize the importance of adaptability and creativity in education.
๐ค Philosophies of Learning and Conceptual Frameworks
The paragraph explores different philosophies of learning, such as the transmission, transaction, and transformational views, and their implications for curriculum design. It contrasts the views of BF Skinner, who supported a transmission model, with those of Jean Piaget and John Jacques Rousseau, who advocated for more interactive and transformative learning processes. The importance of aligning curriculum design with one of these perspectives is emphasized, along with the acknowledgment of various conceptual frameworks for curricular development, including the social efficiency model and the human development model.
๐ ๏ธ Steps to Developing a Curriculum
Eric outlines five practical steps for developing a curriculum: defining objectives, building a curricular map, organizing and creating a blueprint, right-sizing the curriculum to fit within the educational system, and assessing, evaluating, and improving the curriculum. He stresses the importance of considering the curriculum's fit within the larger organizational structure and being aware of external forces that may impact its success. The paragraph also introduces the concept of viewing the curriculum through various organizational 'frames' or lenses to ensure a comprehensive approach to curriculum development.
๐ฅ Practical Example: Designing a Medical Clerkship Curriculum
The final paragraph provides a practical example of designing a curriculum for a medical clerkship at Brigham and Women's Hospital. It walks through the process of defining objectives, creating a curricular map, organizing the curriculum into blocks, and ensuring it fits within the hospital's structure and educational goals. The importance of faculty development, student assessments, and continuous improvement is highlighted, emphasizing the dynamic and integrated nature of curriculum development within an organizational context.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กCurricular Design
๐กEducational Curriculum
๐กLearning Viewpoints
๐กGuiding Principles
๐กOrganizational Frames
๐กTransmission Theory
๐กTransaction Theory
๐กTransformational Process
๐กCurricular Map
๐กBlueprint
๐กAssessment and Evaluation
Highlights
Eric Alexander discusses the fundamental concept of a curriculum as an educational plan that synergizes, organizes, and integrates multiple facets of the learning process.
Curricular design has a historical background, with significant developments about 100 years ago during the Industrial Revolution, likening schooling to factory work.
The Flexner Report had a major impact on modern medical school curriculum design.
Tyler's introduction of a disciplined approach to teaching in the mid-20th century, emphasizing educational psychology and behavior understanding, was another major step forward.
Miller's Pyramid illustrates the progression of learning from knowing to doing, forming a basis for curricular design in the 1970s.
The ongoing debate in curricular design centers around the need for guiding principles versus the argument that formality can stifle creativity and self-direction.
Different viewpoints of learningโtransmission, transaction, and transformationโimpact how curricula are designed, with references to Skinner, Piaget, and Rousseau.
Conceptual frameworks for curricular development include the social efficiency model and the human development model, each with distinct approaches.
There is a need to consider diverse educational needs on local, regional, state, and national levels, as well as the goals and contexts of teaching, such as discovery versus topic-driven learning.
Five guiding principles for curriculum development: define objectives, build a curricular map, organize and create a blueprint, right-size the curriculum, and assess, evaluate, and improve.
A curriculum map helps outline themes, assessment methods, and essential skills, and can take various forms, such as outlines or visual figures.
The importance of creating a detailed blueprint that operationalizes the curriculum and ensures alignment with educational methods and evaluation techniques.
The significance of considering organizational frames (structural, human resources, political, and symbolic) to ensure a good fit and successful curriculum launch.
Continuous assessment, evaluation, and improvement are essential to keep a curriculum effective and evolving.
Practical examples, such as the medicine clerkship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, illustrate the application of these principles and the importance of defining objectives, creating curricular maps, and engaging faculty.
Transcripts
[Music]
I'm Eric Alexander and I'd like to talk
about curricular design the goals in the
next 15 minutes or so are to review the
background in history as it relates to
curricular design I'm gonna define what
it means to be a curriculum we'll talk
about different viewpoints of learning
that affect how you create a curriculum
but we'll try and be very practical and
we'll end by giving you five guiding
principles for curriculum development
and some organizational frames in which
you should consider your curriculum and
land with some current examples so I'll
start with this I want you to think
through this problem how would you teach
someone to tie their shoe or this how
would you teach someone to sing or
perhaps the hardest question how would
you train someone to be a doctor and the
answers that you have conveyed are
really a plan but the plan is more than
that it really is an educational
curriculum fundamentally a curriculum is
an educational plan that acknowledges
that learning is optimized only when
multiple facets of the learning process
are synergized organized and integrated
over time a curriculum is more than just
good teaching it's more than just having
clear objectives or ensuring that a
skill is mastered a curriculum is really
how the pieces are put together before
we talk about the practical process of
defining and designing a curriculum I
want to talk to you about the history of
curricular development and there were a
few defining moments about 100 years ago
Baban first thought about schooling and
realized that's similar to factory work
coming out of the Industrial Revolution
schooling itself could be reduced to a
structured and efficient technique and
this had major impact also on the
publication of the Flexner report a
Flexner report of course defined the
modern approach to medical school
curriculum about 20 or 30 years later
another big step forward came when Tyler
introduced a disciplined approach to
teaching largely embracing the
educational psychology and the process
and understanding of behaviors and you
may be most familiar here with the
concept of Miller's pyramid
that we've really all come to embrace
that as an student moves forward
they are moving from knowing to knowing
how to showing to finally doing this
really formalized itself than in the
1970s with the field of study that we
now refer to as curricular design but as
soon as this was created there then
followed the debate on the utility of
this process and what is the debate well
on one side it is this concept that we
acknowledge there are guiding principles
that will improve our teaching and the
bigger the deliverable of teaching the
more design that may be needed a plan
really will be helpful but others will
logically argue that you really don't
want to constrain learning that systems
are different needs are different at the
core each of us as learners are
different and that formality at times is
the enemy of creativity and self
direction and that curricular design can
simply lead to too much formality in the
process this ongoing debate has been in
existence for decades and may not ever
end but allows you to put your hands
around the thought process as we move
forward now as we think about designing
a curriculum I'll ask you this
intriguing question what is your view of
learning do you feel that learning at
its core is a transmission it is the
function of schooling simply to be
viewed as transmitting facts skills and
other values to students and the goal is
simply for the student to master
knowledge or is learning really more of
a transaction that at the core the
student is a rational and capable
individual they can intelligently
problem-solve and so education at its
core is a dialogue between the student
and the curriculum in which student
reconstructs the knowledge through a
dialogical process that you really have
to put it in perspective or do you view
learning as a transformational process
this really is all about how the person
the learner changes there's an
interdependence and movement towards
harmony as the teacher and the learner
work together but the students
ultimately must really want to learn
what they desire if you follow the first
concept and believe in the transmission
theory then you really follow BF Skinner
the long term chair of Harvard
department of psychology who championed
this model if you are believer that
education is more of a transaction that
really falls under Jean Piaget who did a
great deal of work and led
the concept and area of child psychology
for decades and if you believe education
is more of a transformational process
and then you are similar to John Jacques
Rousseau who really led the concept of
thought and behavior and education of
following the French Revolution none of
these is correct and none of them is
wrong they are all simply different
viewpoints but they must allow you to
frame your design of a curriculum within
one of these perspectives and equally as
important just so you've heard it once
there are also conceptual frameworks too
curricular development and I will share
two of them with you there is the social
efficiency model the concept here that
you start with behavioral learning
objectives you then move on and
determine the content decisions that
must be made and finally that leads then
to what you teach and the instructional
methods but another equally reasonable
framework is the human development model
this one really starts with the needs of
the learner and their developmental
stage and really understanding the
learner then would allow you to modify
your instructional method to match that
learning style and finally at the end
you progress to content the first is a
little bit that we know what's best and
how it should be taught it's a very
top-down approach but the second is a
blended model the needs of the students
come first learning how to learn is just
as important as the knowledge itself
it's much more bottom-up and making this
even more complex we should acknowledge
that there's a lot of diversity in
education and as we think about
developing any curriculum we can think
that there's diverse needs on a local
regional state or national level there's
a big difference in how you would think
about your own teaching session versus
planning a clerkship or perhaps a four
year curriculum or if you were teaching
kindergarten or you were teaching
professional school and also what is
your goal when you're teaching is it to
discover or is it a topic driven
learning process how are we assessing
the student and what is your role in the
educational process all of these factors
will create equal diversity and
complexity to how you think about a
curriculum
[Music]
but to bring all of this together when
we ask the question what is a curriculum
well it's a system it's a plan it's a
process to facilitate teaching and
learning but it's embedded within your
viewpoint of the learning process in
your conceptual framework for curriculum
design but what's critical here is that
we all acknowledge there is a logic to
how any system of learning and teaching
is created even if we disagree on the
viewpoint or framework you bring to the
process at the end of the whole of the
process is better than the sum of its
part and therefore we should all agree
that curricular planning is critical and
improves the educational process now I'd
like to move from the background into
being more practical and as you think
about designing a curriculum I want to
talk you through five commonly accepted
steps to developing this process and of
course they will be adapted to your own
philosophy of learning and your
framework so first you need to define
your objectives
what are your end points what is it that
you want the goal here really is going
to drive how you think about developing
your curriculum you really do need to be
thoughtful you really need to be
realistic but you do need to define that
end point because at the end of the day
being faithful to the end point will
drive a successful curriculum the next
step is to build a curricular map
knowing where you're going and how
you're going to get there is just as
important as knowing the end point and
you may ask what is a curricular map and
there are many different ways to build
one I show you here simply one that is
an outline or blue skying of different
ideas this was a curriculum map for a
high school unit in here they just
decided to create columns the first was
that they would define the themes that
they wanted to teach what are the
enduring understandings they wanted the
students to know then they talked about
really more assessment how students will
demonstrate their learning and then what
are some standards-based essential
skills etc etc and this allowed them to
really begin to brainstorm and blueSky
the process but you could build a
curricular map that looks more like a
figure this one as you see is a
curricular map related to a writing
course in the grade 12 of high school
and they decided that there would be
some big figures here and kind of over
arching themes that would exist
throughout the course but they could
then really bring down their map to four
big issues the first is that would be
teaching methods there would be writing
activities and then there would be
content standards and then they
essentially filled them out here below
or perhaps most related to the medical
community this is aligning your courses
with educational methods and evaluation
methods so this group was looking to
develop a clerkship for family medicine
and really began by thinking first about
their different courses and then really
thinking about their eleven educational
methods and finally their eight
evaluation methods then for this
clerkship in family medicine they were
able to think for each patient case
presentation that they would align
course experiences evaluation methods
etc a very structured approach each of
these is a very reasonable approach to
curricular mapping the third step then
is to organize and create a blueprint
this is really how it all comes together
now you know where you're going
you've really brainstormed and mapped
out what you need to teach and put
together and this is where you become
the chief operating officer and I will
emphasize to you what I think is a very
important point that the devil really is
in the details as you move on to your
fourth point I'm gonna stress quite a
bit the importance of right sizing your
curriculum and also ensuring a good fit
in the system it's really critical that
you consider the other forces that may
impact your success because I would
argue that the most common reason for
incomplete success is that your
curriculum does not live in a vacuum we
each live within a hospital or another
teaching structure or a separate entity
that has competing demands in your
curriculum must be aware of that and I'd
like to take a little bit of a tangent
to talk further about this concept of
other forces I think one of the best
ways to think about the other forces
that can impact your curriculum is to
return to a book that was written by
leave Ullman and Terry deal that is
referred to as reframing organisations
and they made an argument that as a
leader you should view your organization
and therefore your curriculum through
various lenses realizing that you and
your curriculum exist within a social
construct well what is a lens or they
will refer to it as a frame this is a
set of concepts metaphors and values
which provide us
a folding for organizing experience in
the real world nobody uses only one
frame or one lens at a time all are
important and I'll walk you through
these different lenses or frames first
is the concept that you should view your
curriculum within this entity we refer
to as a structural frame the origins of
this are really more in sociology but in
management science that each of us have
goals in an organization roles and
relationships that we are actually
linked together via a hierarchical tree
and so there are responsibilities there
are rules there are policies there are
procedures but if you don't consider
this when you launch your curriculum the
problem will arise when the structure
does not fit the situation if you are
right here but don't really report up to
notify your supervisor about your
curriculum this can lead to trouble
Boman and deal would also argue that you
should really learn and consider the
human resources frame when you launch a
curriculum because organizations are
more than just a structure they're
really an extended family that we all
have needs feelings prejudices skills
and limitations as a psychological
framework to it but if you launch your
curriculum and you don't take note of
this you will find that the challenge
then will be to tailor the organization
to people find a way for individuals to
get the job done while feeling good
about what they're doing a simple thank
you
a simple showing up to introduce a
speaker as part of your broad curriculum
can go a long way to making them feel
valued a third frame according to Bowman
India will be to make sure you are aware
of the politics of course its origins
are in political science but
organizations are not just structures or
related in terms of the human entity but
they are also at times contests or as
the two authors would discuss jungles
there are differing interests competing
for power and therefore there can be
conflict and competitive nature and so
you have to bargain you have to
negotiate and if you don't the problem
will arise when power begins to be
concentrated in the wrong place so
always be alert to the politics in your
organization and how your curriculum
fits in to that and symbolically take
into consideration that we actually all
value the symbolism of what we are
within a hospital and our organization
so you need to play your part and
symbolically also appreciate what others
are doing for your curriculum
so when I say right size and ensure a
good fit this is really what I'm talking
about
I think there's a real value here in
asking yourself where might I go wrong
with regards to the structural frame or
lens or perhaps the human resource frame
or lens or the political frame or
symbolically what am I missing if you do
that I think you ensure that a much
better fit and a successful launch and
the fifth step to a curriculum as it is
developed is to make sure that you
assess you evaluate and you constantly
improve a curriculum itself is rarely
static it is always evolving so my five
steps that I would recommend to you when
you're thinking about a curriculum
define your objectives or your endpoints
then build a curricular map organize and
create a blueprint as you really think
about operationalizing the process right
size your curriculum and be alert to
those environmental and other political
forces and then always assess evaluate
and improve so I'm gonna end with just a
very practical example and there are
many that we could choose from but I'm
going to speak about designing a
curriculum for the medicine clerkship at
the Brigham and Women's Hospital as I
mentioned to you the five steps I
considered the first is what were my
objectives and my goals in this
curriculum well I would say to myself
you know there are at least twenty kind
of core internal medicine knowledge
objectives if you will the core
knowledge that students do need to learn
during this clerkship but I really also
value their ability to work on their
presentation skills and effective
communication I'm gonna acknowledge that
this is really a difficult objective but
I do value clinical reasoning and that
that will be something we emphasize so
it's not something they have to be
experts on by the end of that 12-week
period but I always expect
professionalism so that's kind of an
expectation I want the students to
emerge from the 12 weeks really able to
own the basic skills and knowledge to
doctor even if there's a lot still left
to learn they can begin the process of
putting it together but by the way I
don't worry about technical skills
procedures etc that's not part of this
12-week effort now the second piece I
told you about was designing and
building a curricular map and I just
kind of scribbled this here just so you
could see I chose again more of a blue
sky organizational process I said first
we'll have to think about the timing you
know maybe I'll have two months on the
inpatient block one month on the
torie block and they do have to be
consecutive here but I want weekends off
that made me just think about that you
know then I thought about locations that
I need everyone to be at least for one
month at the Brigham but I wonder if I
could use the cardiology service or
oncology as a place then I need a second
month at my two other institution
students can be at the VA hospital or
Faulkner etc I discussed all of my
assessments here and then I really began
to think who would I use for my faculty
is there a core faculty or perhaps how
do I use my many other faculty members
that I would consider non core and of
course I just decided I can't lose sight
here of this concept I really need a
curricular map to understand all the
process he said I'm going to be teaching
over the course of 12 weeks so that was
my blue skying process and then we moved
into the blueprint a little more this is
one way we started really getting into
the details is well we then organized
into three four week blocks and they
each have specific dates as you can see
here and then we began looking at who's
at the Brigham for their four weeks
who's at the Faulkner Hospital the West
Roxbury or the ambulatory month and then
we put each person's name so you see
Paul listed here but then he's down for
the second month in ambulatory and then
he's finally out at the VA and so the
blue here represents one class the red
the different one but it's really
getting into the details now I was alert
as I talked you about right sizing and
fitting into a structure that you know I
have a lot of students moving around
there's a lot going on in 12 weeks so
from a structural framework I made sure
I talked to my vice chair and they
always know what's going on and how this
relates to the residency and I do a lot
with primary care from a human resource
frame I made sure I valued everyone who
taught in my clerkship I do a lot of
faculty development times we'll try and
do that over a little bit of dinner as
well it just really adds to the value I
think that the educators feel and
whenever they do come from off-site we
make sure we cover their parking or
occasionally try and feed them if it's a
lunchtime hour now symbolically in my
clerkship I always try and do a group
picture amongst the students I think
they like that and we'll remember that
it gives them a real home I always try
and show up at every teaching session
even if it's just for an introduction
and when we talk about politics I
realize that there's a lot of competing
demands and I always want to put this in
perspective and of course the final step
was assessing evaluating and improving
we do this all the time students
evaluate confidentially we also received
some Ray
for the clerkship from the medical
school centrally and we give feedback
directly to our faculty a via some
internal reviews I'm going to conclude
with this again as we've walked through
the last 15 minutes I think what's
important here is understanding a
curriculum is a system it's a plan it's
a process to facilitate teaching and
learning but it's embedded within your
viewpoint of the learning process in
your conceptual framework for curriculum
development but we should all walk away
from this realizing that a curriculum
and curriculum development helps
learning there's a lot of broad thinking
and developing a curriculum there's a
lot of integrations it's an operations
process and again don't forget that
curriculum live within an organizational
structure that you should analyze your
curriculum through many different lenses
and frames
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