Curriculum Development Persuasive

Introduction

          This paper develops a lesson plan (which is a writing noting the method of delivery, and the specific goals and timelines associated to the delivery of lesson content, MSD 2005) for an education program. The education program is intended for a particular target audience – teenage mothers.  According to Rip ‘n Roll, 2005, teen pregnancy is one of the most critical issues facing America today, and the costs of it are staggering – it robs teenagers, their children and THEIR children of their childhood.

The education program that is developed here covers postpartum care, including identifying learning needs and characteristics of the target audience, discussing outcome objectives, synthesis and evaluation levels, content to teach to teenage mothers, teaching methods and strategies, and evaluation methods.  It identifies and discusses educational and instructional methods and materials to be used.  Furthermore, it gives a rationale for using each of the teaching methods and evaluation methods.

1. What are the learning needs and characteristics for the target audience participating in this course?

     According to Eric Digest (2005), the demographic characteristics of teenaged parents reveal that a majority of them are in the 18 to 21 year range, live in poverty, have dropped out of school, and are unemployed and unmarried. The Digest also tells us that although some teenagers do resume their education after they become parents; their potential for high school graduation is often dependent upon their support network and life course adaptation, and so a lot of them do not end up completing their high school education at all.

Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has been declining in recent, it remains the highest in the developed world.  The Guttchmar Institute, 1999, tells us that 19% of all girls in the United States aged 15 to 19 are sexually active.   In addition, according to Planned Parenthood, 2005, approximately 97 per 1,000 girls in the same age bracket — equaling one million American teenagers — become pregnant each year. The majority of these pregnancies — 78 percent — are not intentional.  The Guttchmar Institute also says that nearly four in ten of these pregnancies end in abortion.  With these high statistics in mind, it is very important to provide proper education in this field – they need to be taught proper practices in all aspects of pregnancy and birth, and to realize the dangers of abortion.

After taking the above information into account, it becomes apparent to one that although the learning needs of this target group are high, there is not always the inclination or financial ability for teenage parents to further their studies, meaning that in all probability their own children will be raised with less advantages than their peers.  It also makes it all the more important for those who do further their education to be educated properly, so that they can pass on correct information to their peers and to their children.

2. What are the outcome objectives for this course?

Learner outcomes and objectives for the lesson are diverse. Postpartum maternal wound care, care and treatment of infection in both the mother and the baby, correct infant feeding procedures and foods which should be eaten by the mother, sterilization of instruments and water (many illnesses are contracted via contaminated water), immunization of infants, treating hemorrhaging after birth and educating about the risk of unsafe abortions are all things that it aims to teach the learners about.  The need to register births is also important and both medical staff and parents need to be trained in the importance of this.  Registration of births allows the country to correctly assess the amount of people it has living in it and to correctly plan for educational requirements, infrastructure requirements, etc.

In addition to the learners, it’s important that medical staff, or the educators of the course, have the right information. Correct methods and techniques must be passed onto nursing and medical staff so that they in turn can pass it onto mothers, both within the hospital environment and in organized community training drives.

Therefore, by the end of this course, the learner should be able to do all of the following:

Outline self-care principles of pregnancy and post partum, which Tiny Prints, 2005, tells us is the period after child birth, list common symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum, develop treatment strategies for these symptoms, know hygiene and sanitation procedures and know what is the correct diet to eat during pregnancy (Phoenix Publishing, 2005), as well as be aware of, recognize and treat post partum depression. According to Surgery Door, 2005, post partum depression occurs in approximately 1 out of 10 mothers.  Since this is such a high statistic, it is of vital importance to teach mothers of ALL groups about it.

The children of teenage mothers are often born at low birth weight, experience health and developmental problems, and are frequently poor, abused, and/or neglected (Planned Parenthood, 2005). These children may need more specialized care than the babies of adult mothers do, so it is vitally important that proper care procedures are taught to these young mothers.

3. Synthesis or evaluation levels one might use.

Synthesis is the ability to combine existing elements in order to create something original, and evaluation is the ability to make a judgment about the value of something by using a standard (Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, 2005). To test synthesis one could use questions in order to test the learner’s ability to put together parts to form a new whole, going along the following lines:  Find a way to explain …,  Propose a way to explain this…, use other words to explain this… speculate…, Devise…, Design…, Develop…, What alternative…, Suppose…, Create…, What would it be like…, Imagine…, What might you see….,etc. (Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, 2005).

     Once a problem has been synthesized, it must be evaluated in order to find conclusion to it.  The following line of questioning can be used as evaluation questions:  Was it wrong…, Will it work…, Does it solve the real problem…, Argue both sides…, Which do you like best…, Judge…, Rate…., etc.  These are evaluative questions which will make sure that the best answer has been obtained.

4. Content for teaching post partum care to Teenage Mothers

The course would run for eleven weeks and content outline would be as follows:

Safe methods of child delivery (first session), characteristics and potential complications of the three trimesters of pregnancy (second session), safe methods of abortion (third session), sanitation (fourth session), infection treatment (fifth session), wound care (sixth session), how to establish and maintain a safe and hygienic feeding routine (seventh session), treatment of infection and treatment of hemorrhaging, pregnancy and post partum self care strategies (eighth session), exercises to be used to prepare for delivery (ninth session), potential complications after birth and how to treat them, and teach about correct diet both during pregnancy and breastfeeding (tenth session), as well as which vitamin and mineral supplements should be taken, both by the mother and by the baby (consecutive sessions).  (Phoenix Publishing, 2005)

In addition, there is the recognition and treatment of postpartum, or post natal depression, (consecutive sessions) and revision (consecutive sessions).  The course would also cover things that may be relevant in particular to teenage mothers but not necessarily to adult mothers – how to rely on themselves without the help of the fathers, what to say to their OWN parents to enlist their support, etc.  (Mothers Too Soon, 2005).

One could also make information regarding counselors available, and recommend this to those candidates to whom it might apply.  Learners could be encouraged to bring their parents to the course, and discuss with them how best to support their teen – there are a lot of issues in which it would be beneficial for the parents to be involved, such as the financial issue, (Teenagers Today, 2005).  Teenage mothers who are unable to continue their high school education could be taught about the options that they have in furthering their own education – part time classes, correspondence classes, etc.

When planning the content and teaching methods to be employed in the delivery of this course, it has to be borne in mind that a great number of teenaged mothers have not completed high school.  Therefore, the course would have to be presented in a simplistic manner.  In addition, the very fact that they are teenagers means that to be effective the course needs to be presented in a dynamic, “colorful” way which will make an impression.

I would make a lot of use of audio visual aids; I would get outside speakers such as experts in midwifery and even new mothers and other women who have gone through the same experience.  I would present worksheets and do a lot of practical exercises.  Teenagers like clear, concise and effective communication – you could even make up a rap song to present to them!  I would also make use of digital imagery to show the teenagers what a fetus looks like at a certain stage, etc.  You can use digital images to illustrate concepts and show examples of what you are discussing, (Technical Advisory Service for Images, 2002)

Practical things such as a model would be vitally important and handouts such as free samples of disinfectant, disposable nappies, antibacterial cream, etc would be of great value, if the person is shown how to use them correctly.

5. Teaching Methods and Strategies

I would use the Knowles Learning Theory, although because my target audience is teenage mothers, I would have to adapt it to fit a teenage scenario as opposed to adults.  Knowles Learning Theory is based on four assumptions relating to the adult learner. These assumptions are concerned with self-concept, acquired experience, learning ability and benefits achieved by the immediate application of learning. (Pubmed, 2005).  This would mean that the teaching would be done based on the concept the learner holds of herself, the experience that the person has, the learning ability of the person and what types of benefits can be expected to be achieved.

An evaluation method is a procedure for collecting relevant data about the operation and usability of a system (Usabilitysa, 2005).

Obviously once the actual teaching has been done, it is very important to evaluate the teaching to see how effective it has been.

6. Evaluation Methods used to Teach Post Partum Care to teenage mothers

Evaluation assesses the effectiveness of an ongoing program in achieving its objectives (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 2005)

There are ways of evaluating your own teaching:

One way of doing this is to conduct evaluation of your own teaching together with the students:  Methods one could employ to do this include distributing early course evaluations, deciding and obtaining feedback on issues, inviting ongoing feedback from students, using classroom assessment techniques, etc.  This would allow the teacher to see how the course and the teaching methods are being seen in the eyes of the student, and to see how much information the students themselves have picked up from your teaching methods.  It would provide opportunity for classroom discussion and suggestions from the learners themselves.

A second way to do this is to conduct evaluation of teaching methods alone or with a teaching consultant (defined as people who are available to individual faculty members for assistance by the Centre for Teaching and Learning Services, 2005).

One can do this type of evaluation in the following ways:  Audio or videotaping the class, getting additional observations made by a consultant, documenting successes and efforts towards improvement in a teaching portfolio and reviewing course material.  This would allow one to gauge one’s success as time goes on and to obtain input from the consultant which would allow modifications and improvements to the course material.

Thirdly, one could ask a peer or a more experienced colleague to assist with evaluation, using the following ways to do this:  Invite the person to observe the class, review written materials and discuss the development of the teaching portfolio.  This would allow one to receive the input of someone else. (Carnegie Mellon, 2005).  Two minds are better than one and the second person may well pick up something or think of something that the first person might not.  One can then use the other person’s ideas to enhance the course.

Conclusion

 

   In the above paper we have seen that the selected target audience, teenage mothers, are in need of education in post partum care.  A workable lesson plan has been tailor-made to suit the needs this particular target audience.  The lesson plan was drawn up giving full detail of the curriculum of the course.  It breaks down and discusses all detail of the components of the course and gives rationale for each of these.

References

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Retrieved 23 January 2005 from the website http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/evaluation/glossary/glossary_e.htm

Carnegie Mellon, 2005, “Methods of Monitoring Your Teaching Effectiveness”, retrieved 20 January 2006 from the website http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/teacheffectmonitor.html

Centre for Teaching and Learning Services, 2005, “Consultations and Customized Workshops”, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/customized/

Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, “Blooms Taxonomy”, retrieved 23 January 2006, from the website http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/BloomsT/index.htm

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Mothers Too Soon, 2005, “Teaching And Discussion Guide”, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website https://www.teenpregnancy.org/store/pdf/mothers_discussionguide.pdf

MSD, 2005, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://www.msdnaacr.net/curriculum/glossary.aspx

Phoenix Publishing, 2005, “Course: Pregnancy, Post Partum, and the Maturing Woman”, retrieved 20 January 2006 from the website http://www.phoenixpub.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=5000-04&Category_Code=Courses

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PubMed, 2005, retrieved 20 January 2006 from the website http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7805010&dopt=Abstract

Rip ‘n Roll, 2005, “Babies Having Babies”, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://www.ripnroll.com/teenpregnancy.htm

Surgery Doors, 2005, “Post Natal Depression” retrieved 20 January 2006 from the website http://www.surgerydoor.co.uk/medcons/detail.asp?Recno=23069110

Technical Advisory Services for Images, 2002, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://www.tasi.ac.uk/advice/using/use-examples.html

Teenagers Today, 2005, “Mom, Dad, I’m Pregnant”, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://teenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/pregnant.htm

The Guttchmar Institute, 1999, “Teen Sex and Pregnancy”, retrieved 24 January 2006 from the website http://www.agi-usa.org/pubs/fb_teen_sex.html

Tiny Prints, 2005, “Labor Terms to Know”, retrieved 23 January 2006 from the website http://www.tinyprints.com/labor-birth-terms-to-know.htm