Curriculum Development: Overview of the Stages and Faculty Communication Processes

Overview of the Stages and Faculty Communication Processes: Curriculum Development. What Is Curriculum Development. Overview of the Stages of Curriculum Development. Faculty Communication Processes.

Curriculum Development: Overview of the Stages and Faculty Communication Processes

What Is Curriculum Development

Curriculum is the totality of formal and informal content that imparts the skills, attitudes, and values considered important in achieving specific educational goals. A curriculum needs to be flexible in order to accommodate changes in the environment that influence the content of the curriculum. For example, the use of Web-based technology is an area of competence that many faculty need to address.

Eventually, an accumulation of many small modifications upsets curricular integrity, and the entire curriculum has to be re-conceptualized and revised. All curriculum decisions should be made based on a review of the total curriculum. The concept of curriculum (in contrast to an accumulation of disparate courses) developed in the mid-1800s. In 1892, a college preparation curriculum in Chicago labeled various course subjects, specified content for each course at each level, and ordered a sequence of courses.

From the 1920s, a technical approach to creating curricula was in practice, reaching an apex in nursing with the influential models developed by Tyler (1950) and Taba (1962). Steps in the technical approach to curriculum development include

(1) define the goals; purposes, or objectives

(2) define experiences or activities related to the goals

(3) organize the experiences and activities

(4) evaluate the goals

In 1998, Wiggins and McTighe changed the order of the stages to what has been called a backward design. The steps in this design include:

(1) identify the desired results

(2) determine the acceptable evidence

(3) plan teaching experiences and instruction based on standards, as opposed to a curriculum based on activities

For example, a faculty member may decide that students need experiences with clients who have teaching needs, rather than simply assigning students to a clinical setting every week for 16 hours. This method starts from the end—the desired results based on goals or standards—and then derive the curriculum from performance, or the evidence of learning called for by the standard (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998).

In a study designed to compare results from a backward designed curriculum with those from a traditional curriculum, students from the backward designed curriculum outperformed traditional students in meeting outcome goals (Kelting-Gibson, 2005). This topic espouses a hybrid approach: it starts the curriculum development process with identification of desired outcomes, and continues by designing activities to achieve those outcomes. First, it is important to have an overview of the stages of curriculum development.

Overview of the Stages of Curriculum Development

“Curriculum development is a deliberate process, not an event that takes concentrated time, effort and faculty commitment” (Dillard & Laidig, 1998, p. 78). The process consists of a series of systematic, logical, dynamic, spiraled, and progressive stages (Torres & Stanton, 1982) that can be time-consuming and labor-intensive (Hull, St. Romain, Alexander, Schaff, & Jones, 2001 ). The stages of the curriculum development process as described in this topic are as follows:

1. Identify the characteristics desired of the graduate of the program. Review of the recent literature, discussion with service leaders and other members of the community, and consultation are several strategies that can be useful.
2. Concurrently, review the 5- to 10-year trends in the internal and external environment that might affect the characteristics desired of the graduate. An example of such a trend is the changing characteristics of potential students.
3. Revise and refine desired characteristics of the graduate accordingly.
4. Identify philosophical beliefs and values of the faculty that are relevant to the curriculum, taking into consideration the mission and goals of the parent institution. Clearly identify characteristics and needs of potential students.
5. Clarify the main concepts identified in the philosophy. Clearly define each concept based on faculty beliefs. This statement will be the basis for all subsequent curriculum work.
6. Link the concepts into coherent propositions that form a conceptual framework for the curriculum. This might be eclectic or based on an extant framework for nursing (eg, Orem, Roy, Neuman, Leddy).
7. Identify a structure for the curriculum that will accommodate general education, supporting (eg, anatomy and physiology, general psychology), and nursing courses. Also reconsider the existing organization of the faculty, which should be consistent with the philosophy (eg, a developmental organization, such as infants/children, adolescents, adults, elderly; or a health/illness continuum, such as health, chronic/long- term, acute).
8. Using the philosophy and program outcomes as guides, identify the vertical and horizontal strands of the evolving curriculum. Develop a matrix of these strands. For example, if leadership is one of the horizontal strands, an increasing complexity of leadership skills should be demonstrated as the student progresses vertically through the program.
9. Using the curriculum framework and the strand matrix as guides, determine names, placement, and objectives of courses.
10. Flesh out the course sequence with content, teaching/learning and evaluation activities. Ensure that all matrix strands are appropriately represented.
11. Identify an evaluation plan for the entire curriculum.

It is necessary for individual faculty members to be flexible. In addition, “curriculum must be flexible to accommodate work schedules; offer diversity in courses and programs; teach management of culturally diverse peoples, as well as delegation and negotiation skills; enhance verbal, written, and speaking communication skills; and enhance decision-making skills for the increasingly complex world” (Dillard & Laidig, 1998, p. 69).

Before detailing each of these steps, it is important to note that much of the success or failure of curriculum development is determined by the group communication processes of the faculty.

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Faculty Communication Processes

“The greater the amount of participation of the faculty, the greater the degree of success” (Torres & Stanton, 1982, p. 7). Depending on the size and organization of the faculty, curriculum development may be accomplished by a committee of the whole, or by smaller committees that are assigned to various tasks. The total effort needs to “belong” to the total faculty, with each member accepting ownership.

Otherwise, it is possible that disgruntled faculty will reject any curriculum change, and may even try to prevent successful implementation of the changes. There are a number of strategies that can enhance the smooth and productive efforts of the faculty. Many of these strategies will enhance the communication among faculty members during various stages of the process:

1. There should be clear delegation of assignments to various committees. One person should make final decisions about the role and functions of committees.
2. There need to be realistic goals and adequate support and resources for the work of the committees.
3. A timetable for the total curriculum process should be developed at the start of the process. The amount of time needed will depend on the extent of the change anticipated, the curriculum experience of at least some of the faculty, and the other demands on faculty time. At least a year, and perhaps twice that much, will probably be needed to complete the process thoroughly and defensibly.
4. Faculty need to be proactive, active, involved, and enthusiastic. Creativity is essential, so faculty members need to brainstorm and promote a free flow of ideas and information.
5. To the extent possible, faculty should listen and not argue. Seek first to understand and then to be understood.
6. Think win-win. Curriculum revision should not be a power play but a mutual and noncompetitive process.
7. Avoid negative synergy because it is debilitating. It includes talking about other people dishonestly, politicking, rivalry, masterminding, and second-guessing outcomes for self-gain. Negative synergy can be contagious if not confronted, and can ultimately derail the process. Instead, celebrate achievements, no matter how small.
8. Take care of yourself. The curriculum process is time-consuming and may be associated with increased stress and uncertainty. Try to remain calm and peaceful, and stay up-to-date on information about the revision.
9. Try to provide a documented rationale to support the changes that you think should be made. This will help to avoid emotional defense of the status quo.
10. Group process among the faculty may need development through strategies such as small group work with a consultant, critical incidents/role play, or storyboarding.
11. Recognize and respect each person’s unique contribution.

Bensusan (1997) developed an approach to learning that he labeled the escalator approach. This approach can be modified easily for faculty use in the curriculum development communication process. The steps of this approach include using imagination to brainstorm ideas and describe various perceptions about curriculum development; asking critical questions, giving constructive feedback, and verifying information; using creativity to ladder and frame ideas; and probing, refining, and recasting, considering various points of view and schools of thought. Furthermore, Goldenberg, Andrusyszyn , and Iwasiw (2004), suggest that curriculum development requires:

• Commitment of time, energy, and resources.
• Compatibility, which is the ability of the group to harmonize and function as a whole. This requires a focus on common ground and the curriculum as a whole rather than as individual courses.
• Communication. Consider having a facilitator to keep faculty on task and to referee conflicts. A gatekeeper can regulate communication and allow each person to be heard, set up the agenda, and summarize achievements. A harmonizer promotes group cohesion and diffuses tension (eg, rejection, defensiveness), and a housekeeper can record minutes, secure and prepare meeting rooms, and serve as timekeeper. These roles should be rotated among the faculty members.
• Contributions. Curriculum development work requires consensus, which is derived from communication, compromise, and negotiation.

In turn, potential obstacles associated with group work include premature decision-making, individual dominance, conflicts, and unhealthy competition.  Faculty members may resist curriculum revision because of:

• Fear of losing control of the curriculum.
• Misunderstanding due to lack of information or confusion about new vocabulary and jargon.
• Perception of lack of skill to progress with new demands on time and energies.
• Different views about what needs to be done.
• Lack of motivation to study the change.
• Lack of perception of a need to change (“if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”).
• Too many changes and too many demands related to the change process.
• Desire to be vindictive and make the leader look bad.
• Idea that “no one can tell me what to do.”
• Threat to change current internal social support systems if faculty “teams” in some courses change.
• Lack of resources.
• View that formal methods used to facilitate change are barriers rather than helps .
• Lack of rewards (Dillard & Laidig, 1998, p. 79).

Read More:

https://nurseseducator.com/curriculum-development-stages-and-activities-program-outcomes-students-and-philosophy/

https://nurseseducator.com/curriculum-development-curriculum-frame-level-and-course-objectives-course-content-and-outlines-teaching-learning-strategies-curriculum-evaluation/

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