Curriculum Design Application - Essay Example

Curriculum Design Application Learning is a common practice that may be described as a product and process of numerous surveys of models such as cognitivist, social, behaviorist, situational or humanist models. Cognitively, learning may be discussed as an appropriation factor that seeks to offer a comprehensive coverage of the reflective judgment model as applied in the necessitation of learning and thinking processes, particularly in the facilitation of adult learning (Caverly et al., 2000). However, the effective attainment of such an aspect will entail the adoption of curriculum design program that centers on reflective judgment model. This is because this model aids in the increase of the quality and quantity of education also providing a rationale for which adult learners may be able to engage in service-learning reviews and assessments. The achievement of the development of the curriculum design program shall entail the analysis of six key foundational areas; being, the philosophical perspective and student cognitive model, student learning outcomes, program goals and objectives, structures and organizational overview, activities or services, and the student learning assessment and program evaluation methodology. Finally, this curriculum design study shall engage on a discussion on the provision of funding for the program and its utilization. Philosophical perspective and student cognitive model Philosophically, the literacy of adults depends on the incorporation of evidence-based practice and achievement of accountability due to increased higher education acquisition rate. Virtually, by us defining adult literacy, we would relate to the organized educational experience that would meet the needs of the parents of school-going children and the community in general; thus, fulfilling the objectives of learning. However, the attainment of these objectives, it would be necessary for the cognitive model of reflective judgment to be incorporated in a manner that would include reflection activities so as to connect the experience of students in learning with the wider discipline of education and the content of the course being examined. For instance, as identified by Sticht (2005) who is an international consultant on matters related to adult education, overtime there has been a decline in the monitoring of experience gained from an education overtime, which disappointingly extends to adulthood, and further causes reading complications among patients admitted to intensive care units. Therefore, the policies that are designed towards enhancing education and creation of awareness among adults should take into consideration the decision judgments and interpretive arguments of an enhanced and reasonable arguments in education (Gibbons, 2002). In this regard, reflective judgment model as a tool towards the attainment of higher education goals should be designed with the objective of equipping learners on how they can grapple with the intricacies of the matters that they seek to understand. Subsequently, the model should be able to make students learn how they can make judgments and take responsibility for the same judgments made without fearing the complexities. In relation to these highlighted points, it is expected that the designed curriculum should be capable of pointing out the respective roles to be played by reflective model of judgment to learning, especially in relation to understanding of the evolution of thinking from a pre-reflective stage to quasi-reflective stage and to reflective thinking stage. Focusing on the Perry’s theory of development, as a student cognitive model, it is appreciated that since this theory discusses matters in relation to how students learn, it will be appropriately incorporated into the design given that it accurately postulates that adults may be unable to learn certain aspects before reaching a particular development level. Any attempts to teach materials not yet discovered are likely to lead to problems of memorization thus, cause frustration in learning (Gibbons, 2002). According to chapter three of Fry’s handbook for postsecondary reading and learning, such cases can be best analyzed through an understanding of the two key essential learning elements. First, the student population for those incoming should be known with certainty. This is so as to enable the cognitive planning of services to be offered during the program in the establishment of the Learning Assistance Center. Second, compulsory counseling and strong administrative support should be incorporated so as to enhance the maintenance of the program’s development goals. The Learning Assistance Center will be education goal-oriented, systematic in its structuring of learning packages to be used in tutoring, be course related and provide course credits that are developmental. Students learning outcomes Upon establishing of a philosophical perspective, it is imperative that the learning expectations be outlined clearly in the module. For this case of curriculum design program, the learners are expected to undergo all the stages of sophisticated thinking and learning developmental stages so as to emerge with a bettered grade performance. Still focusing on the analysis by Sticht (2005), the elimination of the instability in the proficiency scores will depend on the investments that are made on the literacy of adults. Considering Piaget’s theory of learning, adults enrolled in this program shall be encouraged to perceive the received information as an incorporation of the mental structures of data and the newly perceived information. Any new data that would make sense in the program to the existing mental structure shall be required to match the existing structure. However, this transition to formal operations may not be an easy thing considering the recognition of the importance of knowledge. Subsequently, it would be expected that the attainment of accommodation would result from acceptance of an amount of disequilibrium in the educational program. Thus, when operated within the context of the specified program, the building of the basic duality in learning shall be meaningfully used to make substantive decisions for the improvement of actual results. An assessment into this program considering its objectives and goals being assessed from a broader perspective notes that for the statements to achieve more specific outcomes, the measures that can best describe those outcomes need to be recognized (Flippo & Caverly, 2008). Subsequently, it is expected that external and indirect measures such as attitudinal surveys will help supplement and provide contexts for the assessment of the outcomes achieved from the implementation of the learning program. Therefore, the inclusion of students’ learning assessment reports will be necessary for the making of actual decisions for the facilitation of the program. As an outcome in measuring critical thinking in this program, the application of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) shall provide for a measure of the program’s critical thinking based on subscales such as recognition of assumptions, inference, interpretation and evaluation of arguments, and deduction of basic facts (Caverly et al., 2000). Program goals and objectives The main aim of establishing this program would be to enhance adult literacy among the adults or parents of school going children between the ages of 9 years to 17 years in the US. This is largely aimed at enhancing the acquisition of reading skills of the adults already enrolled in Adult Learning Centers thus, enabling the attainment of enhanced reading even for the same adults when faced with the same in hospitals intensive care units (ICUs). The attainment of this goal takes into consideration the fact that this program shall employ an adjunct course model that shall comprise of basic teaching practice skills. These will be effectively used in meeting the remedial needs of the adult students who in this case have been involved into the mandate of being counseled and offered support (Gibbons, 2002). Structures and organizational overview The structure for adult learning can entail appropriate structures such as through distance learning, in which it is anticipated that the program will advantage them in the perspective that they may not be comfortable with the rigorous college life that usually applies to normal routine college education. A learning center should, therefore, be able to apply the appropriate teaching techniques so as to address the needs of this group of learners who obviously have little to show for in terms of comprehending the college education systems. As such, the centers should be organized in a manner that would easily allow them to enhance developmental activities among the adult student population. In this manner, the colleges in the US particularly Southern California should be able to adopt a variety of techniques and teaching strategies towards their students. Activities/Services The curriculum design for this program suggests that the classes for the adult students be organized in a manner that recognizes stages in learning that a person has attained. For instance, starters into the program should not be mingled with those who have stayed for a while into the program. Subsequently, a complete curriculum should include laboratory sessions for the students so as to acquaint them with practical knowledge regarding all matters that they perceive important to them. In this case, the center should incorporate a system that would allow for the realization of community outreach programs for the students so that it becomes efficiently possible to manage the effectiveness of the program (Flippo & Caverly, 2008). Student learning assessment and program evaluation methodology To effectively achieve the presented goals for the program, the study specifies that the program should be organized in an effective manner that allows for the inclusion of methodologies such as students’ placements into institutions affiliated to the center for work experience so as to be acquainted with the real matters pertaining to learning. Additionally, this program acknowledges that it would be essential if students are engaged in other activities such as the use of computers in and out of learning classrooms in order to enable them to be acquainted with computer literacy skills and also avoid the instance in which learners are faced aspect of having to reject the exclusivity of external knowledge in their learning process (Flippo & Caverly, 2008). References Caverly, D. C., Orlando, V. P., & Mullen, J. A. L. (2000). Textbook study reading. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Flippo, R. F., & Caverly, D. C. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of college reading and study strategy research. Routledge. Gibbons, M. (2002). The Self-Directed Learning Handbook: Challenging Adolescent Students to Excel. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Syicht, T. (2005), Have We "Flat-Lined" After Thirty Years of Intensive Care for Reading? International Consultant in Adult Education. Valley View Blvd. Read More