Guidelines for curriculum and course development in higher education and training
Creators: name: Tractenberg, Rochelle
name: Lindvall, Jessica M.
name: Attwood, Teresa K.
name: Via, Allegra
Publisher: name: F1000 Research Limited
Year: 2020

description: Background: Curriculum is defined by the European Union education and training policy as the “inventory of activities related to the design, organisation and planning of an education or training action, including definition of learning objectives, content, methods (including assessment) and material, as well as arrangements for training teachers and trainers”. The design of curriculum or instruction should be formal and systematic. Once the purpose and context of a curriculum has been determined, the design process can begin, including its content, and assessment and evaluation mechanisms, which will determine its composition and duration. In general, the curriculum should specify the knowledge, skills and abilities – expressed in the Learning Outcomes (LOs) – that are proposed to be achieved; how learners will demonstrate their achievement; the lessons and/or assignments the instructors will use to support learner progression towards the LOs; the materials to be used; and the assessments for evaluating student learning and the effectiveness of the instruction. This presentation will describe Guidelines compiled to support the design and evaluation of successful curricula and instruction.<br><br>Methods: An informal, qualitative evaluation of the curriculum- and instructional-development literature was conducted, and an established five-phase curriculum-design model (suitable also for instructional design) was selected as exemplar:<br>1. Select or identify LOs;<br>2. Select or develop learning experiences that will help students achieve the LOs;<br>3. Select or identify content that is relevant to LOs;<br>4. Identify or develop assessments to ensure learner is progressing towards LOs;<br>5. Evaluate the effectiveness of the learning experiences for leading learners to the LOs.<br>The phases are iterative rather than strictly linear: the LOs specified at the outset thus influence later decisions, but later decisions may also reflect back to them. This provides opportunities to check for alignment of the output from each phase with the LOs. Once satisfied that all phases support achievement of the LOs, and the entire process has been evaluated and documented, the curriculum or instruction can be characterized, with concrete evidence, as successful. <br>Two key aspects of teaching and learning were also integrated into the design process: i) a well-established taxonomy of cognitive complexity; and ii) psychometric assessment criteria.<br><br>Outputs: Based on the literature, seven Guidelines were derived to support the design and evaluation of successful curriculum and instruction:<br>A. Identify and follow a formal paradigm for curriculum or instructional design.<br>B. Focus on LOs first, to inform all other decisions about the curriculum and instruction.<br> B1: Leverage LOs to explore and identify appropriate learning experiences.<br> B2: Leverage LOs to select content that is appropriate for the learning experiences and promotes the LOs.<br> B3: Assess learning based on achievement of LOs using formative and summative assessment, as appropriate.<br>C: Plan and execute an actionable evaluation of the curriculum and instruction.<br>D: Document and share the features of the curriculum or instruction – including criteria for their success – with learners.<br>Conclusions: Regardless of the framework chosen, using a formal paradigm will facilitate the development of a curriculum, or of any instructional endeavor, by leveraging what is already known about education and learning, and providing structure for decision-making (Guideline A). LOs provide the necessary context for decision-making – this is their primary role in curriculum and instructional design: when selecting or developing learning experiences, the key is to determine exactly what the specific learning experience can contribute to learning or how it will help move learners towards the LOs; LOs help to focus on relevant content, and to avoid material that is either non-essential/too broad or too narrow; in both curricula and short-form instruction, LOs clarify what specifically needs to be assessed and why (Guideline B). Ultimately, the design process must be evaluated to identify what works, and what needs remediation, for the instruction or curriculum to better support the achievement of LOs (Guideline C). Documenting this process, and sharing that documentation with instructors and learners, can support learning and the success of the curriculum or instruction (Guideline D). <br>Successful curricula and courses ensure that instruction supports learners as they develop from entry-level performance to the minimum qualification for completing the program or course, articulated in terms of specific LOs. This may prove challenging, but investment in the process is likely to pay substantial dividends to instructors and learners alike. Following these Guidelines cannot guarantee successful outcomes for every learner, but does create the optimal circumstances for success in both teaching and learning.