Ed.D. Demonstration Course: EDU 710 - Curriculum Design
Section outline
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EDU710 Curriculum Design
Dr. Hayo ReindersProfessor Hayo Reinders
Introduction
This course is intended to familiarize students with the issues and procedures involved in developing a language curriculum and to enable them to design their own curriculum for a specific group of learners.
Course Aims
Upon completion of this course you will be able to:
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Explain to other teachers and researchers the concepts and processes of curriculum development in language teaching
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Distinguish between the different elements of the curriculum development process
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Critically evaluate a language curriculum
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Describe and identify difficulties and offer solutions in the implementation of a curriculum
Outline of Course
We cover eight broad areas in this course:
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History and definitions of curriculum development
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Situation and needs analysis
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From needs to goals and objectives
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From goals and objectives to content (syllabus)
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Adopting, adapting and creating course content
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The role of the teacher and the learner in curriculum development
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From policy to implementation
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Monitoring and evaluation
Language Curriculum Design
Required Texts
Language Curriculum Design
Author: Nation, P. & J. Macalister
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2010
ISBN-10: 0415806062
ISBN-13: 978-0415806060Description
Crystal-clear and comprehensive yet concise, this text describes the steps involved in the curriculum design process, elaborates and justifies these steps, and provides opportunities for practicing and applying them. The description of the steps is done at a general level so that they can be applied in a wide range of particular circumstances. The process comes to life through plentiful examples of actual applications of the steps. Each chapter includes:-
examples from the authors’ experience and from published research
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tasks that encourage readers to relate the steps to their own experience
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case studies and suggestions for further reading that put readers in touch with others’ experience
Curriculum, or course, design is largely a 'how-to-do-it' activity that involves the integration of knowledge from many of the areas in the field of Applied Linguistics, such as language acquisition research, teaching methodology, assessment, language description, and materials production. Combining sound research/theory with state-of-the-art practice, Language Curriculum Design is widely applicable for ESL/EFL language education courses around the world.
Plus additional readings as indicated below.
Assessment
Each week you are required to complete a number of assignment tasks.
Assignment 1
A few years ago, foreign language instruction in the United Kingdom was extensively reviewed and major changes resulted. For this assignment you will first read the key report, called the ‘Languages Review’, published in 2007 by the Department for Education and Skills, and then respond to the scenario and questions below.
You are Head of Languages at a secondary school in a medium sized town in the UK and you receive the Languages Review. On reading it you realise this will have a number of implications for the way languages are taught in your school. Your Head of School has asked you to write a report, proposing a course of action in response to the Review. You will need to address a number of questions, such as
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how do the recommendations in the Review affect the curriculum?
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how does it affect your students’ needs?
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Along with recommendations for:
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Changes (if any) to the curriculum and the rationale for these changes.
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Any follow up consultations, reviews and research you think should be undertaken, and what these should accomplish.
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Your report should be between 1000-1250 words long. You should use the terminology used in the course up to this point. You can make some assumptions in your report about the school, e.g. about the number of students, the number of languages, etc.
Due at the end of Week 4.
Assignment 2
Option 1 Review an existing course in an institution you are familiar with, taking into account the principles and issues we have examined during the course. Your review should be 3,000-4,000 words long, excluding samples taken from the course.
Option 2 Develop a course outline for the following scenario:
You work in a department in large university in New Zealand. Many of the students in the institution come from so-called ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds. All of the students in your department share one or more of the following characteristics:
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NZ citizens or permanent residents
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English is not the home language
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First in their family to study at university
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Low grades in high school
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Mature, returning students
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In part-time employment
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Considerable family commitments
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Limited uptake of ‘support services’, especially if these are seen as time-consuming
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Their needs are therefore quite different from most international students who come from EFL backgrounds. Nonetheless, their English needs are considerable as many have little or no experience with academic language use, and little or no support at home with this. There is a danger that support classes could be seen as stigmatising.
Due one week after the final lecture.
Real-Time Online Class
At the end of each week the class meets online in real time. Classes are 90 minutes long; the first hour is professor-led discussion and the last 30 minutes is student-led discussion. Participation is mandatory and counts toward your grade.
Real time online class time: Fridays from 5:00pm - 6:30pm - California time.
Please consult www.timezoneconverter.com for the correct time for your area.
Study Guide
This course has been designed to be completed in an intensive format over a nine-week period. The following break-down is a suggestion only, but one that you’re advised to adhere to as closely as possible if you are to keep up with the demanding schedule of the course.
Weekly Program
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Look briefly through the set readings, the tutorial questions, and the assignment for the week's work. (15 minutes)
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Complete the set reading, making notes on the tutorial questions as you do. ( 4 hours)
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Discuss the tutorial questions / tasks with other students via the online discussion forum. ( 3 hours)
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Take part in one of the interactive tutorials. (1.5 hours)
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Review of the transcript of the real-time online class and making notes (1 hr)
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Further reading and note taking on the topic using the Anaheim library resources (8 hrs)
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Ongoing work on assessment 1 or 2 ( 2 hrs 15 mins)
Grading Structure
Assignment Weighting Assignment 1 40% Assignment 2 40% Online Class Participation
Discussion Forum Participation20% Total 100%
Grading System
The academic credit used by Anaheim University is the semester hour equated to the requirements of independent study. All courses constitute four semester hours equaling approximately 180 hours of work per course (reading, consultation, supplementary requirements, papers and examinations).
GRADE POINT DEFINITION A 100.00 - 93.00 4.0 Excellent A- 92.99 - 90.00 3.67 B+ 89.99 - 87.00 3.33 Good B 86.99 - 83.00 3.0 B- 82.99 - 80.00 2.67 C+ 79.99 - 77.00 2.33 Fair C 76.99 - 73.00 2.0 C- 72.99 - 70.00 1.67 D+ 69.99 - 67.00 1.33 Poor D 66.99 - 63.00 1.0 D- 62.99 - 60.00 0.67 F 59.99 - 0.00 0.0 Failing
E-classroom Etiquette
Since this is an internet-based course, there are several “rules” that are necessary to discuss in order to keep the focus on the topic and the course moving toward its desired objectives.
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There will be NO personal attacks, sarcasm, or other activities that might affect the conduct of the class. Any such action will mean immediate dismissal from the course.
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Students will be expected to participate in all class discussions.
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To help each other, please cut your response messages to include only the message you are replying to. Anything before that message should be deleted.
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Use of Title and Names. Since this is an e-learning class environment, experience has taught us that a degree of formality is necessary to keep the class moving in the desired direction. One way to keep classroom decorum is the use of titles and names in the e-class environment. Please specify how you wish to be addressed during the e-class environment.
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