Curriculum Design & Development Flashcards

A GED curriculum designer is applying Wiggins and McTighe's Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. Which sequencing correctly reflects Stage 1 before Stage 2 before Stage 3?

Answer: Identify desired results → Determine acceptable evidence → Plan learning experiences

UbD is a 'backward design' model: Stage 1 establishes what enduring understandings and learning goals are desired; Stage 2 determines what evidence (assessments) would prove those goals were met; Stage 3 then plans the instructional activities. Beginning with assessment before instruction is the hallmark distinction of this framework.

When vertically aligning a GED mathematics curriculum, a designer notices that fraction division is taught in one unit and ratio reasoning is taught independently three units later with no explicit connection made. This is BEST described as a failure of:

Answer: Articulation

Articulation refers to the intentional connecting of related concepts across units or grade levels so that students see the relationships between ideas. Scope refers to the breadth of content covered; sequence refers to the order of instruction; balance refers to appropriate emphasis across content areas. The problem here is not the order or breadth, but the missing conceptual bridge between two related mathematical ideas.

A GED program evaluator uses Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Model to assess a new curriculum. Level 3 data would MOST likely be collected through which method?

Answer: Employer or proctor observations of learner behavior outside the classroom

Kirkpatrick's Level 3 measures 'Behavior' — the degree to which participants apply what they learned when they are back in their real-world context (e.g., a testing environment or workplace). Level 1 measures Reaction (satisfaction surveys), Level 2 measures Learning (knowledge/skill gains via tests), and Level 4 measures Results (broader outcomes like pass rates). Observations of on-the-job or applied behavior define Level 3.

A curriculum team is debating whether to use a 'spiral curriculum' or a 'mastery learning' model for a GED science unit on cell biology. Which statement MOST accurately captures a fundamental tension between these two approaches?

Answer: Mastery learning requires learners to achieve a set criterion before moving forward, which can conflict with the spiral model's assumption that re-exposure over time deepens understanding without gating progress

The core tension is that mastery learning gates forward progress on demonstrated proficiency (typically 80–90% criterion), ensuring no learner advances with gaps. The spiral curriculum, by contrast, intentionally reintroduces concepts at greater depth across multiple encounters without requiring full mastery at each pass. These philosophies can conflict when designers must decide whether to hold students at a concept or allow forward movement with planned re-exposure.

Under Tyler's Rationale for curriculum development, which source is specifically responsible for informing the curriculum about 'the nature of knowledge and the disciplines'?

Answer: Subject matter specialists

Tyler's Rationale identifies three primary sources for educational objectives: (1) studies of the learners themselves, (2) studies of contemporary life outside the school, and (3) suggestions from subject matter specialists. The subject-matter specialist source informs curriculum developers about the structure, methods, and key concepts of each academic discipline. Philosophical and psychological screens are then used to filter and refine objectives derived from these three sources.

A GED curriculum designer is conducting a needs assessment and discovers a significant discrepancy between current learner performance and desired performance outcomes. According to Kaufman's Organizational Elements Model (OEM), this discrepancy would MOST directly correspond to which element?

Answer: Outputs

In Kaufman's OEM, Outputs represent the results produced by an instructional program that are measurable at the organizational level (e.g., learner performance on assessments). A gap between current and desired Output levels is the classic target of needs assessment at that level. Inputs are the raw resources (learners, materials, time); Processes are the instructional activities and methods; and Outcomes (sometimes called Mega in Kaufman's model) are societal-level impacts beyond the organization.