curriculum

1. Curriculum Elements
Curriculum elements are distinct but related parts of the whole curriculum intent (aims, goals and objectives)
content, learning activities and evaluation.
1) Learning Aims, Goals and Objectives
Aims serve the crucial function of guiding education but they cannot be directly observed and evaluated.
Aims are general and open statements made at philosophical level and they provide direction to more
specific action designed to achieve future product or behavior. Educational aims are orientations but not
quantifiable outcomes. Aims are often stated in broad terms to gain the support of a maximum number.
Aims, because of their open- ended nature, will never be completely achieved. E.g. Becoming world
mindedness. Aims:
 Are broadly phrased statements
 Are long term
 Generally apply to systems rather than individual centers
A learning goal is defined as a statement that expresses the changes that ought to take place in learners, without
criteria of achievement and or degree of performance. It states categorically the expected performance or
change in each learner in a session. Most facilitators use learning objectives as general objectives. Here are
some examples:
• The learners will show an understanding of how they can make traditional compost.
• The learners will demonstrate an understanding of the environmental impact of natural resources.
• The learners will recognize various forms of prevention from Malaria.
Learning objectives (specific objectives) on the other hand are derived from learning goals. They are statements
of performance to be demonstrated by adult learners in a single session; phrased in measurable and observable
terms. They are sometimes referred to as behavioral objectives, performance objectives or competency
objectives. Learning objectives are statements of what the facilitator intends to do to enable learners achieve
certain things in a given time and environment. They can also be a manifestation of topics or concepts to be
covered in a course to bring about change in learner’s behavior.
Specific objectives are precise statements that describe what a student will be able to do at the end of certain
instructional process. They are intended outcomes of instruction stated in terms of specific and observable
student performance. Specific objectives use action verbs such as tell, write, solve, discriminate, and use etc. to
indicate the intended terminal behavior of students.
The rationale to state learning objectives is;
 To make them precise about what she/ he wants to accomplish
 To enable them communicate to learners what they must achieve
 To enable them easily evaluate procedure
 To make accountability possible
 To make the learners aware of what they are expected to learn in a given session
Here are some examples of learning objectives:
• At the end of the lesson adult learners will be able to identify and explain the main causes of air pollution
• At the end of the lesson adult learners will be able to describe the processes of water pollution.

2. Classification of Learning Objectives
There are three types (domains) namely cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Cognitive domain involves
knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. It includes the recall or recognition of specific facts,
procedural patterns and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills.
Affective domain includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values,
appreciation, enthusiasms, motivation and attitudes.
Psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination and uses the motor-skill areas. Development
of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures and or
techniques in execution.
1) Cognitive Domain
There are six major categories of cognitive instructional objectives, listed from the simplest to the most
complex behavior. The categories are thought of as degrees of difficulty, i.e. the assumption that the first,
simple ones have to be mastered before the next, complex ones can take place.
a. Knowledge: Recalling data or information
b. Comprehension: Understanding the meaning, translation, interpolation and or interpretation of
instructions and problems. Stating a problem in one's own words.
c. Application: Using a concept in a new situation. Applying what was learned in the classroom into
novel situations in the work place.
d. Analysis: Separating materials or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure
may be understood. Distinguishing between facts and inferences
e. Synthesis: Building a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Putting parts together to form a
whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure
f. Evaluation: Making judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
2) Affective Instructional Objectives
This domain emphasizes the interests, values and appreciation of the individual. Five major categories of
instructional objectives in the affective domain also proceed from the simplest behavior to the most complex.
a. Receiving: Awareness, willingness to hear, selected attention
b. Responding: Learner active participation; attending and reacting to particular phenomena; learning
outcomes emphasizing compliance to respond or satisfaction in responding (motivation).
c. Valuing: The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior;
ranging from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment.
d. Organizing: Organizing values into priorities by contrasting different values, resolving conflicts
between them, and creating a unique value system.
e. Characterizing: Has a value system that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive,
consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner.
3) Psychomotor Domain
This involves behavior that emphasizes physical and muscular skills or body movements. The psychomotor
skills are also listed from lower to higher order behavior beginning with simple behavior such as reflex
movements
a. Imitation level (least complex)
b. Manipulation
c. Precision
d. Articulation
e. Naturalization

3. Criteria for Formulating Objectives
 Matching: By this criterion it means that objectives should relate to the goals and the aims from
which they are derived from.
 Worth: By this criterion it means that attaining an objective should have value or significance to
the learner at present and in the future.
 Wording: By this criterion it means that objectives should not reveal different meanings to
different readers, especially at a lesson plan level. In other words, objectives should mean the same
thing to different readers. -Example: The learner should define (but not understand)
 Appropriateness: By this criterion it means that objectives must base on the needs of the learners
or the type of learning outcome they need to achieve.
 Periodic Revision: By this criterion it means that no objective can be treated as permanent, which
means objectives require periodic revision in accordance with changes of the different social
realities.
2) CONTENT
Content refers to the facts, principles, concepts, ideas, etc. to be learned. Generally; curriculum content entails
knowledge, processes and values that students must learn.
Sources of Curriculum Content
The determinants or foundations of curriculum are those basic forces that influence the content and
organization; they include studies of the nature and value of knowledge (philosophy), studies of life and culture
(sociology) and studies of learners and learning theory (psychology). The following are some of important
sources of curriculum content:
• Learners
• Society
• Experts
• Philosophy of learning
• Psychology of learning
• Political ideology of the country
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE CONTENT
Consistency with Social Realities: If the curriculum is to be a useful prescription for learning, its content
and the outcomes it pursues need to be in tune with the social and cultural realities of the times. Applied to
the selection of content, this criterion further selects from the scientifically valid and fundamental
knowledge that which is also significant. If education is to serve an unpredictable future, it is especially
important to cultivate the type of mental processes, which strengthen the capacity to transfer knowledge to
new situations, the creative approaches to problem solving, and the methods of discovery and
inventiveness.

4. Balance of Breadth and Depth
Curriculum should represent an appropriate balance of breadth and depth. Yet depth of understanding and a
breadth of coverage are two contradictory principles. One cannot practice both to an extreme. According to
a second view, depth means understanding fully and clearly certain basic principles, ideas, or concepts, as
well as their application. To achieve depth of understanding, one needs to explore ideas fully enough and in
sufficient detail to comprehend their full meaning, to relate them to other ideas, and to apply them to new
problems and situations.
Learnability and Adaptability to Experiences of learners
Curriculum content should be learnable and adaptable to the learners’ experiences. For effective learning the
abilities of learners must be taken into account at every point of the selection and organization. So learnability is
the adjustment of content and learning experiences to abilities of the learner.
Appropriateness to the Needs and Interests of the learners
Applicability: Any curricular elements should prepare students for practice

5. 3) Learning Activities
The third set of the elements in curriculum development constitutes the learning experiences that a curriculum
should entail. This is manifested in the facilitators and adult learners’ decisions about the instructional strategies
and methods linking to curriculum experiences. These learning methods put the goals and use of the content
into action in order to produce intended outcomes. They convert the written curriculum to classroom learning.
Whatever methods that the facilitator and learners decide to utilize to implement a curriculum, there are some
assumptions guiding the selection and use of teaching strategies. These include:
 Learning methods are means to achieve the end, not ends themselves.
 There is no single best learning method
 Learning methods should stimulate the learner’s desire to develop the cognitive, affective, psychomotor,
social and spiritual domain of the individual
 The choice of methods should consider the learning styles of the adult learners.
 Every method should lead to the development of the learning outcome in three domains
 Flexibility should be a consideration in the use of any method.
4) Evaluation
Evaluation is the fourth curriculum element; and in adult learning it refers to making judgments about learners’
performance and behaviors. The information obtained from the evaluation is used to enhance learning and at the
same time the curriculum.
Need and Need Diagnosis for Curriculum Development
Need is a gap between the present status of an individual and the desirable objective.
Present Status Need Desired end
Learner
needs
Identifying letters Reading a word.
societal
needs
40 % surplus producer 80% of the community
should be surplus producer
Definition of Diagnosis of Needs
Diagnosis of needs refers to the identification of the gap that exist between the current state of affairs and
the desired change both for learners and society, and subject matter. It is instrumental to make the
curriculum relevant to the needs of the time and of the adult learners. Diagnosis of needs is the first task in
curriculum development. And it is one of the most frequently used ways for formulating/justifying
curriculum goals and objectives.
Sources of Information for NeedDiagnosis
i) Community members: would tell what they aspire for their community. They can also suggest
problems and realities of life that exist in the society
ii) Politically influential Individuals and Pressure groups: This group includes committee within
government office, teacher organizations, religious or political groups, writers with special interest.

6. iii) Adult learners: The curriculum is designed with the ultimate purpose of bringing about changes of
behavior on the learners. Thus, needs of the learners should be given a central importance in the curriculum.
To this end, adult learners need to be consulted about the needs and interests in planning curriculum.
iv) Adult Educators and Experts: Adult educators know very well about the needs, interests and
difficulties of their learners. They are also the ones who implement the developed curriculum. Therefore, to
develop curriculum which is relevant to the needs, concerns, interests, etc of learners, they should be
consulted during curriculum development
v) Academic specialists: They are subject specialists who are experts with higher level of training &
experiences in various disciplines. Therefore, consulting these people will save the planner from including
obsolete objectives and the different means in their innovation.
vi) Employers: Different institutions & organizations that employ graduates of the educational
institutions have a strong interest in the type & nature of what the students learn in schools. Thus,
consulting them would help to incorporate their training needs into the school curriculum.