Back to Basics on Curriculum Design, Paving the Way for Your learners

Elizabeth Bennert, MA 

Associate Director

Postgraduate Medical Education: Harvard Medical School

 

Jennifer Livengood, PhD 

Instructional Designer

Postgraduate Medical Education: Harvard Medical School

Irritation!

Tell us of an unsatisfactory educational experience. What did you find irritating?

 

This experience could have been:

Online

Live

Formal or informal

Impromptu

On-the-job

In the community

Basic Learning Needs

Needs

How to Address Need

Time to process content

Chance to use what you already know

Learn what is useful

Having a choice or control 

Care about the content

Chance to test your knowledge

Chunk out the content

Acknowledge prior content

Focus on mastery

Provide control

Real-world examples

Practice activities

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content 

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content 

Course Description and Summary

  • Foundation
  • Purpose of the curriculum, not the structure
  • Learners determine if the program fits 

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content

Course Outcomes

  • Outcomes are not objectives
  • Outcomes do not describe program structure or assignments
  • Outcomes are actionable or task-based
  • Outcomes become the modules of the program
  • Outcomes provide expectations

Outcome? ... Objective?

Outcomes

Objectives

Examine food quality at fast-food restaurants

Summative

 

Big Picture

Formative

 

Discreet

Determine the best flavor profile at the top ten grossing fast-food restaurants

Outcome? ... Objective?

Outcomes

Objectives

Examine food quality at fast-food restaurants

Summative

 

Big Picture

Formative

 

Discreet

Determine the best flavor profile at the top ten grossing fast-food restaurants

Actionable

 

SMART

Outcome? ... Objective?

Identify the three types of plate boundaries

Critique the current Netflix-produced television series and movies in the past year.

Evaluate current online video streaming services

Examine the role of plate tectonics in the shaping of the planet

Analyze the functions of a personal computer

Describe the functions of the motherboard, video card, processor, hard drive, and memory cards

Objective

Outcome

Evaluate current online video streaming services

Examine the role of plate tectonics in the shaping of the planet

Analyze the functions of a personal computer

Critique the current Netflix-produced television series and movies in the past year.

Identify the three types of plate boundaries

Describe the functions of the motherboard, video card, processor, hard drive, and memory cards

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content

Summative Assessment

  • Based on outcomes
  • Demonstrate knowledge gained
  • Assessments should map back to a specific outcome
  • Learner proves mastery

Summative Assessment

Formative

Assessment

Formative

Assessment

Course Timeline

Outcomes

Objectives

Objectives

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content 

Task Analysis

  • Based on outcomes
  • Steps needed to master the outcome
  • Foundation for building objectives
  • Basis for creating learning content

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content

Objectives

  • Signposts for learners
  • Actionable verbs
  • Assessable
  • Based off the tasks you just created
  • Helps focus learning content and leaves out the "nice to know" information

Outcome? ... Objective?

Outcomes

Objectives

Examine food quality at fast-food restaurants

Summative

 

Big Picture

Formative


Discreet

Determine the best flavor profile at the top ten grossing fast-food restaurants

Actionable

 

SMART

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content

Summative Assessment

  • Based on outcomes
  • Demonstrate knowledge gained
  • Assessments should map back to a specific outcome
  • Learner proves mastery

Summative Assessment

Formative

Assessment

Formative

Assessment

Course Timeline

Outcomes

Objectives

Objectives

Formative Assessment

  • Use the objectives to create the Formative Assessment
  • Low-stakes assessment - it's not the final summative evaluation
  • Learner can gauge personal progress
  • Learner can find areas of opportunity or focus

Course Development Process

Course Description and Summary

Summative Assessment

Course Outcomes

Task Analysis

Objectives

Formative Assessment

Learning Content

Learning Content

  • The "need to know" information
  • Covers what is needed for formative assessments 
  • Includes knowledge-checks, progress checks,  no-stakes assessments, and practice activities, when possible
  • Include real-world examples like cases and stories

Alignment

  • Curriculum structure that is organized and purposefully designed
  • Free of academic gaps and repetition
  • Aligned across lessons, courses, and subject areas
  • Aligned curriculum assists in finding areas of opportunity to add to your program

Curriculum Map

Course Description

In this course, methods of needs assessment and developing, assessing, and evaluating training organizations are the focus. Emphasis is also placed on teaching and learning strategies. Types of educational programs are available to industries are discussed.

  • Explain the training process and employee development
  • Examine the relationship between strategy and T & D
  • M1.01: Identify the key roles of training professionals
  • M1.02: Describe the forces influencing the workplace and learning
  • M1.03: Discuss the changing role of training

Course Outcomes

Learning Objectives

Practice Activities

Learning Content

Assessments

Your Existing Curriculum

  • Assemble a curriculum map 
    • program sequence
    • objectives
    • learning experiences
    • assessments
  • Analyze for repetitions, gaps, "nice to knows" and use the outcomes and task analysis for the basis
  • Update the map to address any gaps or other changes that need to be made
  • Align prerequisite knowledge and skills

Your Existing Curriculum

  • Develop lesson plans and strategies that emphasize context and allow for practice
  • Identify additional resources if needed
  • After each run of the curriculum, assess data for effectiveness

Questions to Keep in Mind

  • Why do I need to know this?
  • How does it apply to me?
  • How will I use this in my life?
  • Why should I care?

Takeaways

  • View the content as a learner
  • Start with the end in mind
  • There is such a thing as too much 
  • Allow for practice
  • Tell stories

Copy of Back to Basics on Curriculum Design, Paving the Way for Your learners

By jlivengo

Copy of Back to Basics on Curriculum Design, Paving the Way for Your learners

Developing curriculum can seem daunting at times, especially if you want to encapsulate best practices. However, there is a way to craft scaffolded, interactive, and thoughtful content in a rather painless fashion. This presentation will focus on a step-by-step process for program design that is jargon-free and geared toward supporting learner success. Anyone who works within the scope of program development may attend this session. It is applicable to those who are just starting to develop a program, as well as those who have existing courses. The steps we cover can be applied to a long formal program, as well as a simple one hour lesson.

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