ACT Curriculum Development & Design 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which curriculum design approach organizes content around broad themes that cut across multiple subject areas?
- Linear design
- Interdisciplinary design (Correct answer)
- Subject-centered design
- Scope and sequence design
Correct answer: Interdisciplinary design
Interdisciplinary design integrates content from multiple subjects around unifying themes or concepts.
Question 2: In backward design, what is the FIRST step a curriculum developer should complete?
- Plan instructional activities
- Select appropriate textbooks
- Identify desired learning outcomes (Correct answer)
- Determine assessment methods
Correct answer: Identify desired learning outcomes
Backward design (Wiggins & McTighe) begins by identifying desired results before planning assessments or instruction.
Question 3: A curriculum map is BEST used to:
- Assign grades to student work
- Track what content is taught and when across a school year (Correct answer)
- Evaluate teacher performance
- Select standardized test formats
Correct answer: Track what content is taught and when across a school year
Curriculum maps document the sequence and timing of content, skills, and assessments across a course or grade level.
Question 4: Which of the following BEST describes 'vertical alignment' in curriculum design?
- Aligning content across subjects in the same grade
- Ensuring consistency of standards between districts
- Ensuring skills and content build progressively across grade levels (Correct answer)
- Matching lesson plans to state testing schedules
Correct answer: Ensuring skills and content build progressively across grade levels
Vertical alignment ensures that curriculum content and skills scaffold logically from one grade to the next.
Question 5: A curriculum that emphasizes student choice, real-world projects, and self-directed inquiry MOST closely reflects which educational philosophy?
- Essentialism
- Perennialism
- Progressivism (Correct answer)
- Behaviorism
Correct answer: Progressivism
Progressivism, associated with Dewey, emphasizes experiential learning, student agency, and relevance to real life.
Question 6: When writing curriculum objectives, the acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and:
- Rigorous
- Resourced
- Reviewed
- Time-bound (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Time-bound
SMART objectives are Time-bound, meaning they include a defined timeframe for achievement.
Question 7: Which type of curriculum refers to what students actually learn as a result of instruction, which may differ from the intended curriculum?
- Null curriculum
- Enacted curriculum
- Received curriculum (Correct answer)
- Hidden curriculum
Correct answer: Received curriculum
The received curriculum is what students actually internalize and learn, which can differ from what was planned or taught.
ACT Curriculum Development & Design 2
Which curriculum design approach organizes content around broad themes that cut across multiple subject areas?