Module Components

• Overview
• Assignments

Topics

• Curriculum Overview
• Curriculum Development
• Organizing Curriculum
• Syllabus/Lesson Development

NURS 787 - Theoretical Foundations of Teaching and Learning Course

Module 6: Introduction to Curriculum and Frameworks

Curriculum Overview

Learning is organized in a curriculum but what is curriculum?

Here are several definitions with different perspectives.

Origin of the Definition	Definition
Journal of Curriculum and Supervision	The term curriculum is reserved for an institution's entire educational program. It is the locus of corporate responsibility for learning that engages faculty, trustees, administration, and students. The curriculum encompasses all the sectors of the institution involved with the process of teaching and learning.
Vanderbilt University Iris Center	Curriculum can be defined as a school’s plan of instruction: how, when, and what students will be taught, what content will be covered, and what students ought to have learned after they’ve completed a specific course or grade.
Center for Research on Learning and Teaching University of Michigan	The curriculum is an “academic plan,” which should include: the purpose of the curriculum (i.e., goals for student learning), content, sequence (the order of the learning experience), instructional methods, instructional resources, evaluation approaches, and how adjustments to the plan will be made based on experience or assessment data.
University of Delaware	Curriculum is the "floor plan" or blueprint for what is going to be taught/learned/experienced…

 

As we can see, there are various approaches to and ideas about what a curriculum is.  Some educators even define other “underlying” curricula, which run parallel or sometimes even counter to, the defined curriculum. 

For example, Cuban (1992) describes an intended curriculum, or the official curriculum that faculty hope students will learn, and the achieved curriculum, which includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) of what students actually learn and remember.  Gaberson (2018), an expert on nursing clinical education describes the espoused or “paper” curriculum, which is the official curriculum, and the curriculum-in-use, which is what clinical instructors actually do in an active setting when they must make decisions about what is best within the context of the learning environment.

Here is a look at one school’s view of the progression and relationships of a single course to an entire curriculum.

Course
What:	Basic building block of a curriculum and fundamental unit of professional practice for academics. Can be subdivided into modules or units.
Who:	The domain of individual faculty members. Students' role is reactive. Departmental interest is usually tacit.
How:	Course reviews best conducted by three-person team from within the department, concentrating on description.
Pattern
What:	Groups of courses related by internal affinities of knowledge, technique, or methodology. Commonality of content in such sets of courses the hallmark.
Who:	Faculty members from involved departments plus department heads. Deans hold role of observer/monitor.
How:	Interdepartmental communities review plans and practice for coherence and redundancy.
Constellation
What:	Courses related by common goals or objectives, oriented toward similar outcomes.
Who:	Deans and/or program directors hold the initiative. Faculty in committees or task forces make decisions. Chief academic officer has supporting role. Aims must be clear to students.
How:	Standing committees or commissions have oversight. Specialized staff support might be needed.
Program
What:	An arrangement of courses and learning options that leads to publicly recognized certificates or credentials.
Who:	Deans hold a primary interest. External bodies, usually professional associations or licensing boards, participate.
How:	External reviews play a major role. Consultants, advisory committees, and self-studies are significant.
Curriculum
What:	An institution's entire educational program.
Who:	Chief academic officer in charge of initiatives. Deans and faculty responsible for operations. Board of trustees has oversight. State could have a formal responsibility.
How:	Comprehensive, process-oriented academic plan requiring various working papers and position documents.