Curriculum Design

The total plan that arranges the four components into the curriculum, i.e. objectives, content, learning experience and evaluation. Criteria for selecting the curriculum design
It is not an easy task to select the curriculum design. Each design depends upon the following criteria: * Purpose and goals of education to be achieved sources of objectives to be utilized * Characteristics of learners to be identified

* Nature of the learning process to be used
* Types of society for which design is meant
* Nature of knowledge to be provided
The curriculum design whichever is selected influence the following:

What strategies will be used for teaching?
What role to be played by the teacher?
What role is to be played by the students?
What instructional material is required?
What evaluation devices are to be used?
It should not be understood that there is a particular curriculum design which will be suitable for all. If anyone adheres to a single curriculum design, he actually deprives the students learning opportunities. Types of curriculum design

Several curriculum design pattern can be if identified although few operate in pure form .most draw several designs and fuse them into a plan for a particular situation. Common organizing elements for all curriculum design include: 1. Determination of what is important following a study of the learner for whom plan is devised, the social requirement and goals, and the knowledge require to fulfill this needsand goals.this establishses context for the curriculum. 2. Board goal are formulated followed by the more specific objectives .required skills, understanding, attitudes and affects, and abilities are then determined. 3. Appropriate learning experiences and are designed and systematized into a logical and hieratical pattern. 4. Evaluation procedures and technique are determined for both student progress and curriculum validity. Some curriculum design pattern will be examined as follows:

1. The subject –centered design
a. Subject design
b. Academic discipline design
c. Board field design
2. Teacher centered design
3. Learner centered curriculum design
a. activity/experience design
b. humanistic design
4. Problem centered design
a. Thematic designs
B.Problem design

The Subject-Centered Design
This model focuses on the content of the curriculum. The subject centered design corresponds mostly to the textbook written for the specific subject. A curriculum can also be organized around subject center by focusing on certain processes, strategies, or life- sklls, such as problem solving, decision making, or teamwork. The approach prescribes different and separate subjects into one broad field. The characteristics of the subject- matter, and the procedures, conceptual structures or relationship which are found within or among the subject- matter, dictate the kinds of activities that will be selected. Curriculum makers who are developing a curriculum organized around a given subject area; will look at the fact, concepts, and skills relater to, or encompassed by, the subject area, and plan activities that will lead learners from their prior experience into mastery of the elements of the subject area. This approach considers the following:

* The primary focus is the subject matter.
* Each subject is separated.
* Mastery of the subject matter is the central task.
* Standards are set for the amount of subject matter covered and for learner mastery of content. * The breadth of the subject centered curriculum is determined by the number of subjects taught. Each subject has
three characteristics: * A unique body of content

* Its own intellectual discipline ( e.g., scientific method, historical method, etc.)
* Its own pattern for organizing the content.
* A textbook is the primary instructional tool.
* Learning sequence are usually in step- by-step pattern. * Objectives are derived from the important generalizations found in the field of study and the intellectual processes inherent in that field. * The emphasis is on bits and pices of information which are detached from life. * The library is used primarily in content – oriented ways with a focus on selection and use of specific materials in a single content area. * Interrelations between various subjects are not stressed. * Questions focus on “ What” rather than “ how” or “why.”. Advantages

* It makes a subject more comprehensible
* It improves memory since it allows learners to place detail into a structural pattern. * An understanding of fundamental principles and ideas facilitates a transfer of training to similar principles.