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Curricullum Design and Development Committee
Curriculum Design and Development Committee (CDDC) of every Faculty of the University does curricular planning and implement strategies, develops innovative academic programmes as per speciality of the University and need, identifies emerging areas of academic engagement, decides whether academic programmes and courses are narrowly focused or adequately diversed revises of curriculum on periodic basis and follows feedback mechanism on curricular aspects.
Members
1.) |
Faculty Dean : Chairperson |
2.) |
All School Deans under the faculty |
3.) |
All Head of the Departments of the Schools under respective Faculties |
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Components of an Effective Curriculum Development Process
A. Planning
1. Convening a Curriculum Design and Development Committee (CDDC)
The Committee, consisting primarily of faculty members, who represent the various Universities, educational Institutions and students, becomes the driving force for curriculum development and its change after every three years. Dean of the faculty, who is an effective, knowledgeable and respected chairperson leads such a committee with School Deans as members during the development phases of the process as well as the implementation phases.
2. Identifying Key Issues and Trends in the Specific Content Area
The first step in curriculum development process involves research that reviews recent issues and trends of the discipline, both within the nation and across the globe. The research allows curriculum committee to identify key issues and trends that supports the needs.
Research often begins with a committee's reading and discussing timely, seminal and content specific reports. Committee examines, what is currently being taught in the curriculum and then it examines national and world standards in the discipline. In addition, the committee becomes familiar with newly available instructional materials, particularly those that may eventually be adopted to help implement the new curriculum. Committee members also broaden their perspective and gather information by visiting other Universities, Schools and Research Institutions which are recognized leaders in education and research.
As a result of this process, committee members identify following issues and trends that need to be addressed as the curriculum development process:
- meeting the needs of all students
- learning theory and other cognitive psychology findings on how students learn
- what determines developmental readiness or developmental appropriateness
- the current expectations of the field
- the knowledge of and readiness for change on the part of teachers
- the availability of resources
- the role and availability of information and technology resources
- scheduling issues
- methods and purposes of assessments and
- professional development.
3. Assessing Need and Issues.
At SHUATS, curriculum development has been viewed as a process by meeting the need of the students, which leads to improvement of his/her learning. Regardless of the theory, curriculum developers of the University gather as much information as possible. This information includes the desired outcomes or expectations of a high quality program, the role of assessment, the current status of student achievement and actual program content. The information also considers the concerns and attitudes of faculty members, educational administrators, parents and students. The data include samples of assessments, lessons from teachers, assignments, academic performance, textbooks currently used, student perception and feedback.
Armed with a common set of understandings that arise from the identification of issues and trends, the committee is wise to conduct a needs assessment to best ascertain the perceptions, concerns and desires of each of the stakeholders in the process. By examining this data carefully, it reveals key issues that should influence the curriculum design. For example:
- teachers may be dissatisfied with older content and techniques in light of recent research
- test scores may be declining or lower than expected in some or all areas
- teachers may not have materials or may not know how to use materials to enhance understandings
- teachers may want to make far greater use of technology to enhance learning
- teachers may wish to relate the content of the program more closely to contemporary problems and issues
- teachers may be looking for ways to increase the amount of interdisciplinary work in which students are engaged
- students may express a need for different and enriched curricular opportunities
Whatever the particular circumstances, an effective curriculum development process usually entails a structured needs assessment to gather information and guide the curriculum development process.
The information, commonly gathered through surveys, structured discussions and test data, most frequently includes:
- teacher analysis of the present curriculum to identify strengths, weaknesses, omissions and/or problems;
- sample lessons that illustrate curriculum implementation;
- sample assessments that illustrate the implementation of the curriculum;
- identification of what teachers at each grade level perceive to be the most serious issues within the curriculum;
- a detailed analysis of state and local test data, including CMT and CAPT scores, grade-level criterion-referenced test data and course final examination results;
- suggestions for change and improvement generated by meetings with teachers, guidance counselors and administrators; and
- parent and other community members concerns and expectations for the program obtained through surveys and invitational meetings.
The data collected from the needs assessment in conjunction with information obtained from research and various resources become the basis upon which the entire written curriculum is developed.
B. Articulating and Developing
1. Articulating a K-12 Program Philosophy
These fundamental questions guide the overarching philosophy of the program.
- "Why learn (specific discipline)?"
- "Upon what guiding principles program/course is built?"
- "What are core beliefs about teaching and learning in (specific discipline)?"
- "What are the essential questions?"
- "How assessment will be use to improve the program/course and student learning?"
As such, the program/course philosophy provides a unifying framework that justifies and gives direction to discipline based instruction.
After having studied curriculum trends and assessed the current programs/course, CDDC constructs a draft philosophy. Such a philosophy or set of beliefs are more than just "what we think should be happening," but rather "what our curriculum is actually striving to reflect."
C. Implementation
1. Putting the New Program into Practice
The process envisioned here entails a much more in-depth and systematic approach to both development and implementation. Instead of assuming that the process ends with the publication of a new guide, CDDC continues to oversee the implementation, updating and evaluation of the curriculum.
It is important to remember that any innovation introduced into a system - including a new curriculum -requires time and support to be fully implemented. First, teachers need time and opportunities to become
aware of the new curriculum and its overall design, particularly how it differs from the past. Then teachers need time and opportunities to become
familiar with the new curriculum - often school or grade level sessions that focus on those specific parts of the curriculum for which individuals are responsible. Next, teachers need at least two years to
pilot the new curriculum and new materials in their classrooms. It is not unusual for this period to take up to two years before the new curriculum is fully
implemented and comfortably integrated into day-to-day practice. It is critical that the curriculum development committee, resource teachers and principals are aware of this process and are available to nurture it.
D. Evaluating
1. Updating the New Program
In this age of word processing and loose-leaf bound curriculum guides, it is easier than ever to update the guides and keep them as living, changing documents. One of the most common methods of periodically updating a curriculum guide is through grade-level meetings designed to share materials, activities, units, assessments and even student work that support the achievement of the curriculum goals that were unknown or unavailable when the guide was first developed. These approaches are invaluable professional development opportunities wherein teachers assume ownership of the curriculum they are responsible for implementing. In this way, the guide becomes a growing resource for more effective program implementation. Resource teachers are particularly effective vehicles for the preparation and distribution of these updates.
2. Determining the Success of the New Program
The curriculum development cycle ends and then begins again with a careful evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of the program. Using surveys, focused discussions and meetings like those described in section 3, a curriculum development committee needs to periodically gather data on perceptions of program strengths, weaknesses, needs, preferences for textbooks and other materials, and topics or objectives that do not seem to be working effectively. This information should be gathered from data that represents overall student performance that is linked closely to daily instruction. Teams of teachers responsible for the specific discipline could accomplish this by sharing samples of assessments, performance tasks, student work, lessons and instructional practices related to the curricular.
The data from these surveys and meetings must then be combined with a careful analysis of more numerical data on the program such as:
- ongoing grade-level and course criterion-referenced exam data;
- teacher developed assessments, performance assessments, student portfolios;
- CMT results (overall, over time and by objective);
- CAPT results (overall, over time and by objective);
- course enrollments (particularly by level in middle and high schools); and
- SAT and AP results.
This detailed review and analysis of quantitative and qualitative information on the program's impact and on people's perceptions of its strengths and weaknesses forms the foundation for the next round of curriculum development and improvement.