Curriculum Design in Adult Education
Report
When we were considering our curriculum design the initial models we considered were Product and Process.
Product Model (taken from Neary, 2002)
Aims to design curriculum based on the achievement of aims and outcomes, and designs and encourages learning experiences based on the needs of the decided out comes of the course.
Advantages: Clear and precise aims and outcomes provide a defined structure for delivery for teachers and learners. These curricula are easily defined by ability and assessment level, and provide specific outcomes to assess learners by.
Disadvantages: For the lowest and highest levels of ability, the specific aims and outcomes of the product curricula can become pointless or difficult to define. A prescribed curriculum can discourage creativity can be seen to encourage ‘teaching to the exam’ rather than rounded learning.
Process Model (taken from Neary, 2002)
The curricula take the focus away from aims and outcomes and onto activities and development of both the teacher and student. The idea behind the process curricula is to cultivate an environment in which learning can take place, in which learning can take place, in which a learner can take ownership of the learning.
Advantages: Emphasis on activity and ownership of learning given to the learners. This enforced by the emphasis on learning skills and relevant information.
Disadvantages: There is need for some prescribed outcomes in a curriculum to allow for assessment and progression, especially in relation to gaining in funding. The lack of structure may not work in many areas of teaching and learning.
With this in mind we planned our curriculum to be Process with some elements of Product.
The recommendations of the validating panel.
1) A different structure might promote a better flow of topics
The structure of the course was designed to be quite fluid, allowing learners to pick up the modules at any point during their attendance on the course. I
When we were considering our curriculum design the initial models we considered were Product and Process.
Product Model (taken from Neary, 2002)
Aims to design curriculum based on the achievement of aims and outcomes, and designs and encourages learning experiences based on the needs of the decided out comes of the course.
Advantages: Clear and precise aims and outcomes provide a defined structure for delivery for teachers and learners. These curricula are easily defined by ability and assessment level, and provide specific outcomes to assess learners by.
Disadvantages: For the lowest and highest levels of ability, the specific aims and outcomes of the product curricula can become pointless or difficult to define. A prescribed curriculum can discourage creativity can be seen to encourage ‘teaching to the exam’ rather than rounded learning.
Process Model (taken from Neary, 2002)
The curricula take the focus away from aims and outcomes and onto activities and development of both the teacher and student. The idea behind the process curricula is to cultivate an environment in which learning can take place, in which learning can take place, in which a learner can take ownership of the learning.
Advantages: Emphasis on activity and ownership of learning given to the learners. This enforced by the emphasis on learning skills and relevant information.
Disadvantages: There is need for some prescribed outcomes in a curriculum to allow for assessment and progression, especially in relation to gaining in funding. The lack of structure may not work in many areas of teaching and learning.
With this in mind we planned our curriculum to be Process with some elements of Product.
The recommendations of the validating panel.
1) A different structure might promote a better flow of topics
The structure of the course was designed to be quite fluid, allowing learners to pick up the modules at any point during their attendance on the course. I