Curriculum Transaction

Introduction
In the earlier two units, the processes 'of curriculum planning and curriculum
development were covered in depth. Transaction of the curricular content, after its
development, is the most crucial issue in the entire process of curriculum management.
Contemporary view of curriculum transaction process is that it is a systematic process
in which every component, i.e., teacher, students, material and the learning environment
is crucial in bringing about the desired goal. The implementation or the action plan is
the next focus.

All action plan addresses the following:

• What are we as teachers going to teach?

• How much matter should we include in a particular course?
• How are the topics and sub-topics going to be arranged?
• Are we going to follow a definite rule, procedure while transacting these topics?
• Have we allotted sufficient and definite time for each of these topics and sub
topics?
• What methodology and media are we going to use?
• What will be the impact?
• How will the progress be monitored periodically?
• What evaluation procedure will we evolve to assess the success of this
programme?

• Are there any alternative strategies for presenting these topics?

In this unit, we will focus on the process of curriculum transaction.

Learning outcomes
After going through this unit, you will be able to

• analyse curricular contents prescribed to you as the teacher at the higher education
level;

• design lesson plans / units for teaching in a real classroom situation;

• use various modes of presentation to transact assigned curricular contents;
• evolve the appropriate instructional strategy;
• understand the interaction
the eva luation procedures
between inputs, instructional
(outputs), and
strategies (processes) and Curriculum Transaction

• get a feci of your role as a classroom

transaction process.
practitioner in the overall curriculum

Organising curricular contents

COlII'se organisation: In Indian universities, teachers are usually given different courses
to teach and this leads to a situation where integration of the courses is not ensured.
When more than one teacher takes up the responsibility and a single course is
distributed amongst them, it requires efforts towards integration of the topics dealt by
different teachers.

Establishing the objectives ofthe course guides this process. The first step in analyzing
content is to establ ish the objectives that you want to ach ieve through the course. For
exam pie, "iustructiona I objectives' for the course 'educational technology' is that
students will become skillful in using appropriate technology (like OHP, radio, TV,
Computers in their teaching-learning activities, or administration activities in the field
of education.

Self-assessment

I. Estublish the course objectives of one of the courses that YOII teach presently.

Organising a course also requires identification of the main concepts in the course and
arraugment in a suitable sequence. In a well-structured and sequenced course, the
learner is in a better position to recognize the order behind the plan, determine how
the various parts fit into a whole; and how each part is related to the other parts. In
course contents, there are three mean ingful and logical parts - facts, concepts and
generalizations.

Facts
Paul de Eggen, a specialist in information processing models of instruction defines facts
as types of content that are singular in occurrence, have occurred in the past or exist
in the present, have no predictive value and gathered through the process of observation.

Concepts
Concepts are abstract ideas formed after observing; for e.g., a child forms the concept
of a dog first as a moving thing on four legs. As she is introduced to more facts about
a dog vis-a-vis a 'cat' or a 'cow' or a 'donkey', she refines her concept of a dog. Hence,
to form concepts, learners pay attention to likenesses, ignore differences, and place
similar objects in the same category.

A concept has some essential attributes. For instance, 'a dog' is a four - legged animal,
which is usually kept as a pet and it barks at strangers. 'A cat' is also a four-legged
pet animal but it 'meows'. So 'a cat' is not 'a dog' even though it is also a pet because
it does not bark at strangers.

The highest-level concept is a mental construct that is timeless, universal and

abstract. Though the examples of a concept may vary in content, the general
descriptors of the concept wi 11be the same. Symmetry, as a concept, has many different
examples that vary in content, but the descriptors of symmetry can be found across
disciplines, as in art, nature or music (Erickson, 1995:66». , , , .' 31
Planning and Management Generalisations
of Curr iculum
Statements, that generally link two or more concepts, are known as genendizations.
Generalisations are formed when a certain fact is observed as taking place in a certain
manner. For example, 'a spherical object rolls when pushed', th is general ization is
formed when the fact is observed many times that a ball-shaped object, no matter what
its size is, rolls when pushed. So. a generalization has predictive power and can be
proved by making factual observations.

To organize content of instruction in the most effective manner. the teacher must ask
himself/herself the following questions:

• What are the objectives of this course?

• Which of the assim ilated facts seem the most relevant and accurate?
• Which of these concepts are the students familiar with and which of them need
to be explained to help the students understand the concept?
• How do students learn to infer and predict through generalisations?
• How do they learn to test the reliability of the data they acquire?

Once the analysis of content is over, a teacher takes a decision on the presentation of
content. David Ausubel, a learning psychologist proposed a good and useful system
of presenting content. He points out, firstly, that new learning is built on prior learning,
and secondly, that any stage oflearning and understanding is built on previous, more
general levels. Therefore, presentation always moves from 'known to unknown' and
every concept should be presented with its sub-concepts, which are inter - related. He
also spoke about presenting the students a framework of the lesson before it begins
called the 'advance-organiser' so that students can peg their ideas on it as the lesson
proceeds.

Self-assessment

2. From any course you teach identify a fact.

3. From any course you teach. identify a concept and write down its essential
attributes .

../. From allY course you teach. identify a concept of generalization .

.................................................................................................................................

... , .

Aspects of designing units

In a particular course, we often find that the whole course has been organized into
meaningful and manageable parts that span an instructional period of several weeks.
These parts are called units of study. Again, each unit is further divided into certain
topics and this is generally centred round a broad concept, or a cluster of related
concepts, facts and generalizations. There are three aspects to design a unit for
presentation - scope, focus and sequence.
 Curriculum Transaction
Scope
Briefly, scope is the breadth and range of contents
Since all the conceivable content and information related to a course cannot be covered
within the specified units or time available, choices must be made as to the actual
breadth and depth of each un it to be covered in a specified course.
The choice has to be made on two considerations. Firstly, the relative importance of
facts, concepts and generalizations that should be taught in terms of the continuum of
the overall curriculum. Secondly, the relative importance of the content that must be
taught in respect of the needs of society, age, interests, abilities of learners. Hence one
should al ways teach content that is needed to make more complex concepts meaningful
and relevant to other courses in the overall curriculum.

Self-assessment

5. /11one ofthe courses that you teach, select (/ unit ofstudy and write its scope based
on two dimensions discussed in the sect ion.

Focus
Focus determines what will be emphasized in the content. The focus should be decided
right at the curriculum planning stage itself.
For example, a Statistics teacher who teaches at the postgraduate level gives the title
"Diagrammatic Representation" to a course. After that, helshe lists out the major
concepts that might go into this course such as Bar Diagrams, Two Dimensional
Diagrams, Pictures, Statistical Maps, Cartograms, etc. Each of these major concepts
could potentially form the basis of or serve as a major part of, the unit of study within
the course. Thus, the teacher who, decides to explain how the statistical data can be
interpreted through various diagrams, can put the components of the unit into a
framework that will accommodate general and the specific contents.

Simple Bar
Sub-Divided
Bar Bar
Diagrams % Bar
Multiple Bar
Split Bar

2Dimensional L.----~I
Rectangles
Diagrams Circles/Pies

Diagrammatic
Pictures
Representation By Dotsl
Points
Statistical By Colours/
Maps or Shades
Cartograms By Cross-
Hatching

Figure I Organizing of the course 'Diagrammatic Representation' (Statistics)

Planning and Management The above scheme can be used to plan what each unit can serve and also as an excellent
or Curriculum organizer for students. Hence, this scheme should be put up on the board at the
commencement of the unit of study, as this will help the teacher and the students track
the progress through concepts and activities on which the unit is built. Thus, 'Focus'
is an essential part of the un it design.

Self-assessment
6. Make a diagrammatic representation of the 'Focus' of one ofthe subjects you are
or will be teaching.

Sequence
Sequence generally specifies the order in which the contents will be arranged. There
needs to be logic concerning the order. Subjects can be arranged thematically or
chronologically.

The fundamentals in sequencing content are:

• Learning takes place serially, i.e., from simple to complex.

• New learning should be based on previous learning. Start with the familiar first.
Even while doing this, it is important to provide the connections between what
the student already knows and the new parts to be learned. The logical order
between the two should be clearly established.

• The teacher must explore the potential of introducing an interdisciplinary approach

- integration of subject matter to different fields of studies. Expert studies have
revealed that an interdisciplinary approach has more educative value and the
student learns that the same facts and principles from many fields hold good. For
example, the theme 'political beliefs' of a society determine its 'sociological
profile' and this can be explored while sequencing units in both Political Science
and Sociology courses.

In correlating subject matter, the curriculum planner has to identify the related
subject matters of two different disciplines and fuse them into a harmonious theme.

Self-assessment
7. Examine any of the courses that you teach to identify a theme that could link it with
other courses that students study.

Concept-based instructional design

Another method of organizing content is a concept-based instructional design. Learning
is the making of meaning, meaning is making connections and the connections are the
concepts. As we move into a knowledge economy, the information base for any
curriculum will continually and rapidly change. How will teachers and trainers manage
and organize this information so it makes sense to learners, and ensure that they are
not overwhelmed by a plethora of unconnected and fragmented facts? We have been
investigating a concept-based approach as the organizer for curriculum design and
delivery.
In the following figure, Erickson, (1995:73), compares the value of concepts and topics Curriculum Transaction
as curricular organizers.

Topical organizers Conceptual organiser

• Frame a set of isolated facts • Provide a mental schema

common examples
for categorizing

• Maintain lower level of thinking • Lead to higher levels of thinking

• Hold learning to the fact or activity level • Aid in the development"
general izations
of higher order

• Have short-term
or set of facts
use to cover an event,

• Increase the overload curriculum • Reduce the overload curriculum by framing

the most salient, or critical example of the
concepts

Figure 2 Concepts and topics as curricular organisers

The following examples of a concept-based approach come from a project which

investigated the teaching and learning of key competencies in vocational education and
training. A key purpose for this approach was to facilitate the transfer of learning by
creating conceptual organizers that act as a cognitive bridge from one context to another.
The purpose was to foster both elevated (high road) and direct (low road) transfer.

Example 1
The first diagram is a graphical representation of a selection of concepts from the
Orientation 10 Learning curriculum in Women's Education. Women's Education is
within the Vocational Preparation Program.
It shows that the main concept is Lifelong Learning and the two sub-concepts are
Flexibility and Construction. Topics in the curriculum were arranged under these sub-
concepts. Lesson plans for the topics were then organized with the concepts as the
central theme.

LIFELONG, 'LEARNINGI'
. ..: ~.

-"
Flexibility' Construction

Reading Research
Memory Referencing
Time Management Essay
Learning Styles Writing
I Filing
I I I
Right/Left Brain 4MAT I Multiple Intelligences Bibliography
I
VAK-Visual, Auditory, Kinesthene

Figure 2 Concept-based Curriculum Design: Women's Education

The starting point

The curriculum cOI}tent was not altered, but rearranged by identifying the
main concepts. Content was then organized to connect with the most appropriate
concept.
Planning and Management The teachers who designed this course, explain the difference between concepts and
of Curriculum topics. Concepts are like the edge pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Without them the puzzle
doesn't hold together. Topics connected to a concept are like individual puzzle pieces
and unless they fit into the bigger framework, they can seem like meaningless segments.

Detailed teaching plans developed around the main concepts

When concepts are used as part of design, we are creating a framework into which
the puzzle pieces fit, making common sense to the learner. This promote connections
between the personal experience of learners and the new information being introduced
- learning happens at deeper levels, connections are made with real life and transfer
is more likely to happen.

Example 2
This is another diagrammatic representation of a concept-based design, this time for a
Management Development module in Community Services and Health. The diagram
below is an example of a session plan design around the sub-concept of learning as a
management competency.

• Issues Past experiences

• questions ofleaming
• priorities environments
Dolphin
Groups: story
• Review
Development
Information
of group norms
on courses

In groups:
Images
• Brainstorm
successful • facilitators
leaming CSMD • leamers
strategies Discovery • Leaming as
exercise a management
competency
Complete and
• Approaches to
score LTM
leaming
Small group • Learning Organisations
discussion • Leaming Styles and
cycles
• Video

Figure 3

This session plan is structured using concept-based model. The session begins with
personal experience, moves to information dissemination, then to practical application
and finally to feedback and integration.
Concepts as the core - the design process
Step 1: We take the existing curriculum document and without altering the content,
extract from the document what we believe are the main concepts - the big ideas /
main themes.
Step 2: The content topics in the curriculum are then organized to connect with the
most appropriate concept.
Step 3: Detailed teaching plans are then developed around the main concepts.
A concept-based framework provides a consistent and systematic linkage between the
curriculum document, die instructional design process and the delivery.(Erickson, 1995).
Case Study Curriculum Transaction

Orientation to learning
This case study describes an application of the concept-based model. The lecturers who
designed it negotiated with a lecturer in Women's Education to redesign a subject called
'Orientation to learning'. The most fulfilling aspect of applying the model - say the
lecturers, are the student responses. One student response follows.

Hello everyone. I'm going to share with you my experience of learning using the concept-
based instructional design. In my school years I was taught in an environment where I
was sat at the same desk for the entire year. My teachers sat at their desk in front of the
class seemingly watching my every move. I was told what to do and exactly how to do it
- the teacher's way. If I couldn't do it the teacher's way - it was wrong. Discovering this
method of learning has made me aware of the lack of recognition of each individual's
approach to learning - the fact that everyone has different needs when it comes to learning
and problem solving. Essay writing was forever a mystery to me. At school I was told -
an essay has a beginning, middle and an end. To me the beginning was the first word -
the middle was the rest of the words - and the end was the full stop. On day the lecturers
broke the class into small groups, gave each group a packet of plastic drinking straws and
told us to build a tower as high as we could. We were given an amount of time to plan
this amazing feat. Now in just one lesson - I learnt that in essay writing - the heart of
the essay - and the end is - tying it all together. I also learnt that if you don't plan your
tower well it would never get off the ground. I have discovered that my learning strengths
are seeing how some things work - hands on experience. I have difficulty with learning
through discussion and lecture - so these are areas that I can work on and develop. If at
school I could have learnt in a way that best suited me - I would not have rebelled because
I was always wrong - I would not have become bored and disrupted the class - I would
not have hated school - and skipped more days that I attended. I really wanted to learn -
but I couldn't learn - the teachers' way -the only way.

To summarize, analysis, organization, design and presentation of content based on the

objective of the course determines the component of the Input in the instruction system.
The other components of this system ate Process and Output.

Input
For a teaching-learning situation to be effective, it must be focused on a particular
topic, theme, issue or problem. The central idea of these needs must be clarified
and arrived at to build the components of curriculum around them. For example,
if the central theme is "Preservation of Environment", questions such as what
knowledge, skills, attitudes or behaviour do students need to acquire to preserve the
environment will be key and tactical considerations. Then it will be what facts,
principles, ideas and understandings are related to the theme. Finally, it will be a focus
on the activities that will promote the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to
preservation of environment and the availability of information resources for the
students.

Answers or considerations to all these questions are primarily linked to instructional

objectives. Specific and immediate outcome of a teaching-learning situation is linked
to instructional objectives. Therefore, planning of inputs for a course or programme
is completely based on the requirements and understanding of the instructional
objectives and subject matter. Instructional objectives have three major purposes. Firstly,
they clarify to teacher and student, what is to be accomplished. Secondly, they serve
as the guide for design of suitable and relevant contents, activities and resources.
Thirdly, they also provide guidance in student evaluation.
Planning and Management Identification of curricular input involves several issues, such as
of Curriculum
• Determine the objective of the course.
• Make sure that the content is relevant to learning objective and the knowledge is
relevant and complete.
• Inclusion of those contents that are considered necessary to accomplish
objectives.
• Checking contents to make sure they are up to date and commensurate with the
latest accepted thinking in the subject or field concerned.
• Content must relate to the lives, environment, mental development and experiences
of the learners.
It is essential to present the structure of the content in an organised, balanced and
sequential manner. Taking into account difficulty levels is the best way to ensure this.

Instructional strategy
In the area of curriculum strategy, we have till now looked at the area of content
organization. The next area is that of selecting the methodology/ strategy of curriculum
transaction. The components that determine the strategy are:
• Instructional objectives
• Methodology ofteaching

Criteria for selection of inputs for instructional strategies

Instructional objectives are the ability of the teacher to keep most teaching actions
directly relevant to the specific objective most of the time.

• Learning Outcome

An Instructional Objective is a
statement that has essentially two parts

• Student Behaviour

In selecting the specific targets (objectives) for a lesson ensure that learning
outcome is
• clearly stated and
• the student behavior is described in concrete terms. For example, students will
learn to compare and contrast advantages and disadvantages of Bar diagrams vs
Pie Charts by specifying the rationale for their use in different situations. In this
example, the learning outcome is 'comparing and contrasting and the student
behavior is 'specifying rationale for their use in different situations'.

Activity
Write an instructional objective containing its two essential components.

Methodology of teaching: Nature and structure of subject matter decides the

inputs to be selected - inquiry approach or imparting of information. The decision is
dependent On (i) what is being taught and (ii) how it is to be taught. The question of
what is being taught has been dealt in the previous section. The question of 'how' is
determined by:
 Curriculum Transaction
(a) Students
An important consideration for selecting instructional strategy is their suitability to
students. Some essential beliefs about students that are crucial for effective teaching-
learning activities are:
• The student is the focus and everything teachers do in the classroom is with his/
her specialized knowledge of the way a student learns and helps him/her forward.
We need to believe we are teaching humans not subjects.
• Self-esteem is critical to successful learning. Teachers who underestimate the
ability of their students and talk down to them or others who overestimate them
and talk over their heads will never get the desired results.
• Students learn from each other as much, if not more, than they learn from their
teachers'. The synergy of group work provides demonstrably better solutions.
• Teacher expectations play a large part in student learning outcomes. If teachers
expect students to perform well, they generally do.
• Experiential learning lasts longer. An old Chinese saying is "I hear and} forget,
I see and I remember, I do and I understand". A learning experience that involves
all the five senses deepens understanding and potential for recall. Training the mind
to reflect on experience, providing opportunity to contextualise and internalize the
learning further strengthens the learning.
There appear to be seven types of intelligences in students. Howard Gardner has
identified seven:
I. Linguistic intelligence - operates through language as for example in poets and writers.
2. Logical/mathematical intelligence - the ability to think deductively based on logical
assumptions.
3. Spatial intelligence - the ability to form a mental model of a spatial world and
to be able to manoeuvre and operate using that model. Sailors, engineers, surgeons,
sculptors are examples of highly developed spatial intelligence in use.
4. Kinaesthetic intelligence - is the ability to solve problems or fashion products
using one's whole body or parts of the body. Dancers, athletes, surgeons and crafts
people all exhibit highly developed kinaesthetic intelligence.
5. Musical intelligence - is best manifest in musicians such as A.R. Rehman, Mozart,
Kumar Gandharva, M.S. Subhalaxmi and countless others.
6. Emotional intelligence ~ the ability to know oneself and to use that knowledge to
operate effectively in life. This is the ability to motivate oneself and persist in
the face of frustration, to delay gratification, to control impulses and to keep
distress from swamping the ability to think.
7. Inter-personal intelligence - is the ability to understand other people: what
motivates them, how they work and how to work co-operatively with them.
8. Naturalistic intelligence - Naturalistic intelligence is the ability to understand,
relate to, categorize, classify, comprehend, and explain the things encountered in
the world of nature. People such as farmers, ranchers, hunters, gardeners, and
animal handlers may exhibit developed naturalistic intelligence.

Knowing the students helps the teacher to determine various ways of presenting the
content and corresponding activities to teach and test understanding, which are
differentiated to meet different needs.

(b) Community
The role of the community in curriculum development has been adequately discussed
in the first unit of this Block. Knowledge of community needs, beliefs, values and more
can help us teachers in classroom inputs.
Planning and Management (c) Teacher
of Curriculum
Instructional strategy adopted in a classroom is highly dependent on two factors: (a:)
the teacher's personal style of teaching, and (b) the model of teaching the teacher adopts.
For example, if a teacher follows an inductive style of teaching, he/she may not like
to follow the deductive style. The Inductive teaching style uses specific observations
to draw general conclusions. The Deductive style is the process of using general
statements to come to conclusions about specific information or situations. Hence, a
teacher should analyse the particular style of teaching and the model that he/she finds
most suitable for his/her particular style. A teacher should be much more open-minded
and expand his/her efficiency by developing more than a single model of teaching.
To conclude, Oliva (1988), has suggested some guidelines for evolving the teaching -
learning strategies as follows:
• A strategy must be right for the learners. It must meet their needs and interests.
• A strategy must be right for the teacher and suited to his/her capacity.
• A strategy must be right for the subject matter.
• A strategy must be right for the time available.
• Reference material must be available if students are required to carry out research
projects.
• A strategy must be right for the facilities available. (For example, dividing a class
into small groups for a discussion may be impractical, if the room is too small).
• A strategy must be right for the objectives. It should be chosen in such a way
that it fulfills the instructional objectives.

impartial needs identification assessment

& accreditation
appropriate
open
criteria -,
guidance & analysis
/'
/
entry point I action
plans
/ /' targets

/
prior learningl LEARNER personal
achievement SUPPORT tutoring

LEARNING individual learner LEARNING

RESOURCES SYSTEMS

Open <, RoAsl

Learning/ / \ \Ubraryl Learning / \ \ <, formative
materials / \ Resource Bases \ \ profiling
modularization I
/ \ flexible
Workshops/Centres \ Core Skillsl I \
Information timetable
Entitlement Curriculum \
Technology variety of
learning methods
Source: Nash, et. al. (1991).

Figure 3 Key features of flexible learning in post-16 institutions

Activity
Two different teaching-learning situations are presented in this section:
" . Situation A: Mrs Sharma teaches Economics to the 1st year students in the
undergraduate course. Her students are always complaining that they find it difficult
to comprehend what she teaches. They are bored and resort to noisy disruptive behavior. Curriculum Transaction
Her classes do not generate interest and the students are unable to concentrate because
of the monotony. There is no sequencing in her teaching from one period to the next.
She rarely makes an effort to enhance the attention of her students.
Situation B: Or. Chandrakant also teaches Economics at the undergraduate level. His
students pay a lot of attention to what he teaches. They are always involved in
interesting assignments he has devised for them to work on. His concern about his
students is visible as he spends considerable time assessing their motivational levels.
He pays heed to the sitting arrangements of the class before he commences a topic.
He gives his students a Iist of activities that keep them engrossed. He encourages queries
and listens to them with concentration and patience before replying to them.
Q. It appears that the teacher in Situation B is more successful in his teaching. Identify
the different components in his class that has contributed to its success in
comparison to Situation A.

Models of teaching
As a teacher. you must follow a set of teaching strategies that help to get the best out
of your students and makes the class more lively and effective. A model of teaching
is a general ized set of behavior that emphasizes a particular instructional input or a
set of inputs.
Bruce Joyce and Marsha Weil (1980) have defined it as" A model for teaching is a
plan or pattern that can be used to shape curriculum (long-term course of studies), to
design instructional materials, and to guide instruction to the classroom and other
settings". Olive, another famous curriculum analyst says "Each model consists of a
rationale, a series of steps (actions, behaviors) to be taken by the teacher and the learner,
a description of necessary support systems, and a method for evaluating the learner's
progress. Some models are designed to help students grow self-awareness or creativity,
some foster the development of self-discipline or responsible participation in a group;
some models stimulate inductive reasoning or theory-building; and other provide for
mastery of subject matter".
In day-to-day teaching experiences we come across a number of teaching models such as
exposition teaching, group discussion, role-playing, demonstration, stimulation, discovery,
learning laboratories, programmed instruction, tutoring, problem solving and mediated
instruction. Joyce and Weil (1986) identified twenty models of teaching and have grouped
these under four broad categories: (i) information-processing models
(ii) personal models (iii) social models and (iv) behavioral models. Details on these models
have already been covered in MES-I 03 (Unit 9 and 10 of Block 3) of this programme.
A pertinent question is, therefore, is it essential on one's part to know a variety of
modeling for successful teaching? The answer is, perhaps, yes. All models may not
be equally effective for all types of instructional situations and purposes, and hence it
is important to know the potential and attributes of several models for selection and
use so that the most effective one can be chosen, as per the need of the context.

Selecting media

Media can make the teaching-learning process much easier and more effective. Slides,
tapes, television shows, films, CD Roms and other wide variety of training devices are
most commonly used depending on the resources available. The decision on what type
of media is to be used depends on the kind of learning activities. For example, some
media are more effective for verbal information than for psychomotor skills. Slides are
more suitable for information whereas movies are for teaching psychomotor skills.
There are more details on media in MES-l 02/Block 2, Unit 9.
Planning and Management To summarise, once the input has been determined, selecting the "Process" is determined by
of Curriculum
• Identifying the instructional objective of the lesson.
• Selecting the appropriate methodology based on content, characteristics of learners,
needs of the community and teaching style.
• Selecting the appropriate media.
The last component of curricular strategy is understanding the outcome of teaching
and learning. This component is the output of the Input and the Process.

Output

The output of a teaching learning process is determining whether learning has taken
place. This area of curriculum strategy is known as 'assessment' - a scientific way
of measuring learning outcome. While identifying measuring devices for specific
teaching-learning situations, we must keep two things in our mind - (i) the measuring
devices we select must be appropriate for the objectives that they are intended for and
(ii) a wide variety of measuring devices can be used in the process.
As a teacher, while assessing the students' performance or the learning outcome, we
need to concentrate on cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. For this,
numerous types of tests are available or, if necessary, we can develop new tests in the
form of actual performances (essay, or one or more objective tests, viz., multiple choice,
alternate response, completion, matching or re-arrangement etc). Each test has its own
advantages and disadvantages. However, if properly planned, these can form good ways
of measuring performance. We will now discuss, in a nutshell, the three domains
mentioned above.
i) Cognitive Domain: The cognitive domain contains six levels: knowledge,
comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. This was suggested by
[Link] and is known as Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive behaviour.

LEVEL 1: KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is defined as the ability to recall. It is the lowest rung of the hierarchical
ladder. All that is required of the learner is information.

LEVEL 2: C011PREHENSION
Com prehension is the lowest level of understanding. The learner can make use of the
information he acquires on the first level by interpreting in his own words, by translation
from one form of symbolism to another (verbal to mathematical).

LEVEL 3: APPLICATION
The ability to apply an abstract concept, whether a hypothesis, a principle or a law to
a new situation calls for a higher level of understanding of the information.

LEVEL 4: ANALYSIS
Requires the ability to break down information into its separate parts so as to
understand the relation the parts. Analysis is a higher level of understanding than
comprehension because it is concerned with content and form while the latter is
concerned with content alone.

LEVEL 5: SYNTHESIS
Synthesis is the bringing together of many parts of knowledge to form a unique whole.
Synthesis in many ways is a form of creativity. Its value lies in the unique production
offered by the learner.
LEVEL G: EVALUATION Curriculum Transaction

Evaluation is the ability to make judgements on the basis of given criteria.

A Teacher uses this taxonomy when
• Selecting Objectives
• Asking Questions
• Planning Activities
• Giving Tests

Tabular summary of cognitive domain with examples

Knowledge: Recall of data, without Examples: Recite a poem, Quote prices from
necessarily understanding, using or changing memory to a customer. Knows the safety rules.
it
Keywords: defines, describes, identifies,
knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines,
recalls, recognizes, reproduces, select, states.
Comprehension: Understand the meaning, Examples: Rewrites the story in your own
translation, interpolation words. Explain in one's own words the steps
for refining the iron ore. Translates an equation
into a computer spreadsheet.
Keywords: comprehends, converts, defends,
distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends,
generalizes, gives examples, infers, interprets,
paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes,
translates.
Application: Use a concept in a new situation Examples: Use the log tables to do a
or unprornpted use of an abstraction. Applies trigonometry problem. Use a manual to
what was learned in the classroom into novel calculate an employee's vacation time.
situations in the work place.
Keywords: applies,changes, computes,
constructs, demonstrates, discovers,
manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts,
predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows,
solves, uses.
Analysis: Separates material or concepts into Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment
component parts so that its organizational by using logical deduction. Recognize logical
structure may be understood. Distinguishes fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information
between facts and inferences. from a department and selects the required
tasks for training.
Keywords: analyzes, breaks down, compares,
contrasts, diagrams, deconstruets,
differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes,
identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates,
selects, separates.
Synthesis: Builds a structure or pattern from Examples: Write a company operations or
diverse elements. Put parts together to form a process manual. Design a machine to perform
whole, with emphasis on creating a new a specific task. Integrates training from several
meaning or structure. sources to solve a problem. Revise and process
to improve the outcome.
Keywords: categorizes, combines, compiles,
composes, creates, devises, designs, explains,
generates, modifies, organizes, plans,
rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganize,
revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes.
Planning anti Management
of Curriculum Evaluation: Enables to make judgements on Example: literary criticism of a poem or a
the basis of given criteria. The abil ty to judge novel.
the value of material (statement, novel, poem,
Keywords appraise, ascertain, choose,
research report) for a given purpose. The
compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, decide,
.judgements are to be based on definite criteria.
defend, describe, discriminate, explain,
These may be internal criteria (organization) or
interpret, justify, relate, resolve, summarize,
external criteria (relevance to the purpose) and
support, validate, write (a review)
the student may determine the criteria to be
given them.

Activity
Practice labeling each of the sentences below at the correct level of Bloom's Taxonomy
of the Cognitive Domain:
I. Using a questionnaire, survey the awareness level on HIV-AIDS in the college
campus
2. Using copies of the constitutions of America and India, compare the two
documents.
3. What could be a different ending to the story of the Thirty Crow?
4. Write a question for each level of the taxonomy.
5. Why is it important for children to learn tables? Justify your answer.
6. Develop a proposal clearly stating the hypothesis and research method you will
select to proceed.

ii) Affective Domain: Assessment of a student's affective domain is not easy because
it is associated with his/her attitudes, values and feelings that cannot be gauged easily.
Personal feelings and beliefs of the student can remain undisclosed. Achievement of
Instructional Objectives in the affective domain is difficult to measure compared to the
Cognitive and Psychomotor domains. Bloom's Taxonomy of affective domain contains
five levels: receiving, responding, valuing, organization and characterisation by value.
LEVEL I: RECEIVING: is the willingness to receive or to attend to particular
phenomena or stimuli in the domain of feelings or emotions. Receiving has been actively
attending. Responding indicates the desire that a student has become sufficiently divided
into three subcategories: awareness, willingness to receive, and controlled or selected
attention.
LEVEL 2: RESPONDING: refers to active participation on the part of the student.
The student is sufficiently motivated not to just be willing to attend, but is involved in
or committed to a subject, activity, emotion etc., so as to seek it out and gain satisfaction
from working with it or engaging in it.
LEVEL 3: VALUING is when the student sees worth or value in the subject, activity,
assignment, etc. An important element of behavior characterized by valuing is that it
is motivated, not by the desire to comply or obey, but by the individual's commitment
to the underlying value guiding the behavior. Learning outcomes in this area are
concerned with behavior that is consistent and stable enough to make the value clearly
identifiable.
LEVEL 4: ORGANISA TlON is the bringing together a complex combination of values,
possible disparate values, resolving conflicts between them, and beginning to build an
internally consistent value system. The individual sees how the value relates to those
already held or to new ones that are coming to be held. The integration of values is
less
than harmonious; it is a kind of dynamic equilibrium that is dependent upon salient
events at a specific point in time.
LEVEL 5: CHARACTERISATION BY VALUE: Internalization of values has a place Curriculum Transaction
in the individual's value hierarchy. The Values have controlled one's behavior for a
sufficiently long period of time to develop a characteristic "life style." The behavior
is pervasive, consistent, and predictable.

iii) Psychomotor Domain: The psychomotor domain includes physical movement,

coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires
practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or
techniques in execution.

The best way to evaluate this domain is a student's actual performance in the classroom.
As teachers, certain evaluative or judgemental skills must be used when students are
asked to demonstrate certain perceptual motor skills. These skills may be associated
with factors like speed, originality and quality. Criteria for judgement must be
communicated to the students in advance. There are seven major categories listed in
the Psychomotor Domain.

Tabular summary of Psychomotor Domain with examples

Perception: The ability to use sensory cues to Examples: Detects non-verbal communication
guide motor activity. This ranges from sensory cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it
stimulation, through cue selection, to is thrown and then moving to the correct
translation. location to catch the ball. Adjusts heat to stove
to correct temperature by smell and taste of
food. Adjusts the speed of the car by sensing
the traffic flow on the road.

Keywords: chooses, describes, detects,

differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates,
relates, selects.

Set: Readiness to act. It includes mental, Examples: Knows and acts upon a sequence
physical, and emotional sets. These three sets of steps in a manufacturing process. Recognise
are dispositions that predetermine a person's one's abilities and limitations. Shows desire to
response to different situations (sometimes learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This
called mindsets). subdivision of Psychomotor is closely related
with the "Responding to phenomena"
subdivision of the Affective domain.

Keywords: begins, displays, explains, moves,

proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.

Guided response: The early stages in learning Examples: Performs a mathematical equation
a complex skill that includes imitation and trail as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build
and error. Adequacy of performance is a model. Responds hand-signals of traffic
achieved by practicing. police while driving.

Keywords: copies, traces, follows, react,

reproduce, responds.

Mechanism: This is the intermediate stage in Examples: Use a personal computer. Repair a
learning a complex skill. Learned responses leaking faucet. Drive a car.
have become habitual and the movements can
be performed with some confidence and Keywords: assembles, calibrates, constructs,
proficiency. dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds,
heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes,
organizes, sketches.

Complex overt response: The skillfull Examples: Maneuvers a car into a tight
performance of motor acts that involve parallel parking spot. Operates a computer
complex movement patterns. Proficiency is quickly and accurately. Displays competence
indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly while playing the piano.
coordinated performance, requiring a minimum Keywords: assembles, builds, calibrates,
of energy. This category includes performing constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes,
Planning and Management
without hesitation, and automatic performance. grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends,
of Curriculum
For example, players are often utter sounds of mixes, organizes, sketches. NOTE: The key
satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a words are the same as Mechanism, but will
tennis ball or throw a football, because they have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the
can tell by the feel of the act what the result performance is quicker, better, more accurate,
will produce. etc.

Adaptation: Skills are well developed and the Examples; Responds effectively to unexpected
individual can modify movement patterns to fit experiences. Modifies instruction to meet the
special requirements. needs of the learners

Keywords: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges,

reorganizes, revises, varies.

Origination: Creating new movement patterns Examples: Constructs a new theory. Develops
to fit a particular situation or specific problem. a new and comprehensive training
Learning outcomes emphasize creativity based programming. Creates a new gymnastic
upon highly developed skills. routine.

Keywords: arranges, builds, combines,

composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiate,
makes, originates.

Teacher as a curriculum practitioner

Teaching is like cooking in a way. It is a deliberative activity in the sense that, through
conscious deliberation or reflection, we can always improve the process. There is no
single formula to become a "good teacher". A good teacher is never satisfied with only
the teaching; rather he/she is always concerned about its appropriateness and success.
The quality ofteaching depends partly on your own judgement, your students' changing
needs and the process or instructional strategies employed by you. Certain
generalisations on teacher performance can be made under the following headings:

Management efficiency
Teachers are in charge of the classroom and managerial skills are necessary to keep
the class focused on what is being taught, maintaining discipline consistently and in a
fair manner and to ensure the reliability and validity of evaluation. The all-round.
development of the students is also the responsibility of the teacher.

Congenial learning environment

Adequate workspace and a pleasant environment for learning undoubtedly motivate the
students and this in turn helps in the students' achievements. There are many Things
we can do to create a pleasant setting for the students to learn, by using variety of
media and the activities to be done at the post lesson session; physical condition in
terms of seating arrangements, lighting, ventilation, etc.; and by making the
announcements particularly on administrative or personal matters, without affecting the
normal academ ic atmosphere of the class.

Human relations
Most of us generally think that our job in the classroom is just to teach, without giving
any attention to the other conditions for teaching. Lashley (1981) has suggested four
different generalizations about classroom management behavior. Firstly, the effective
teacher develops and implements a workable set of classroom rules. Secondly, a good
teacher structures and monitors the classroom in a manner that minimizes disruptive
behavior. Thirdly, an efficient teacher quickly defines and, quickly and consistently,
46 ~ responds to inappropriate behavior. Lastly, an effective teacher couches the response
to in appropriate behavior in a tone that does not denigrate the students at whom the Curriculum Transaction
response is directed.
Most importantly, the teacher establishes a state of need (or desire) within the student
that activates him/her to do something to satisfy that need (desire). This may simply
be called motivation in the classroom.
Motivation is affected by five variables:

• FEELING TONE
a. The physical and psychological classroom environment (rapport) created by
the teacher.
b. It includes the teacher's tone of voice, use of humour, using student's names
and ideas. verbal reprimands, etc.
c. It may be POSITIVE ( most powerful encouragement), NEGA TrYE (needed
at times to correct m isbehaviour and redirect learning) or NEUTRAL (least
effective, attitude of not caring.

• LEVEL OF CONCERN
a. The degree to which tension or anxiety is brought into the classroom by the
teacher, can affect the level of student motivation. If these are too high, the
student develops a mental block and cannot concentrate on the task. If
adequate, it helps the student to focus on the task. If too little, the student
has little motivation to perform.
b. Teachers raise the level of concern by setting specific expectations, requiring
completion of tasks, setting high standards for grading and making it clear
that all students are expected to respond/participate.

• INTEREST in students is created when the lesson has conceptual meaning to him/
her. Novel approaches, vivid visual and verbal images and experiences cause the
students' minds to "hook on" to the lesson.

• SUCCESS
a. Motivates students to keep trying to aim higher.
b. A consistent and long-term pattern of failures breeds further failure.
c. To promote success. the teacher should help the students to set a reasonable
target for themselves, break learning into small segments, and provide positive
feedback on what is correct.

• KNOWLEDGE OF RESULTS
a. Immediate and specific feedback motivates students.
b. It may be verbal, answers to quizzes, answers written on board, correction
by students etc.
Self-learning: Promoting self-learning through setting tasks which will be evaluated.
Some examples of such tasks are: making models, maintaining diaries of observations,
simulating experiences, conducting interviews, researching a topic in the library, etc.
Instructional planning
Instructional plans must be constantly remodeled and redesigned, depending on the
students' levels, readiness for group work, length of the content and the time period
available for instruction and evaluation, for effective learning to take place. The teacher
must be vigilant to ensure that his/her plans bring about the maximum amount of
learning in the given context of the classroom. Please refer to Unit 10 Block 3 for a
detailed section on Action Research.
Planning and Management L.W. Aderson (1982) suggested highlights on instructional planning that effective
of Curriculum teachers must possess:
• Know their students
• Assign appropriate tasks to their students
• Orient their students to the learning task
• Monitor the learning progress of their students
• Relate teaching and testing, to testing what they teach
• Promote students' involvement and engage them in the learning process
• Provide continuity to their students so that their learning tasks and objectives are
built on one another, and
• Correct students' errors and clear doubts.
Set a learning model: The teacher himself/herself must model the process of good
learning. This includes keeping up with recent trends and research in your subject and
sharing the process of learning you have used with the students.

Summary
Curriculum transaction is a crucial stage in the overall curriculum development process,
especially in the higher education stage.
• The fundamental issue of how to integrate the content inputs with teaching-learning
processes has been covered. For this, a need has been identified to analyse
curricular contents with reference to three important components of instructional
content i.e., facts, concepts and generalizations. When facts are linked with direct
observation of an event, it is concept that emerges due to the classification of
factual data, and when these are expressed as statements, they become
general izations.
• Once content has been designed, the next step is to divide it into manageable units.
Three essential components of content are (i)scope which refers to the breadth
and range of contents to be covered, (ii)focus, which lays emphasis on the contents,
and (iii)sequence, which refers to the order of arranging the content input.
• Once units are designed for presentation, some suitable modes of presentation have
been explained. We have also identified some important criteria for selection of
inputs for instructional strategies.
• We have discussed certain models of teaching and on how to select the different
media useful for teaching.
• The input-process-output model on which the entire curriculum transaction process
leans has been briefly presented.
• We have highlighted the role of the teacher as a curriculum practitioner and
brought out certain facets that will help improve the quality of teaching.

Suggested readings
Reference: Erickson, H. Lynn. (1995) Stirring the Head, Heart and Soul: Redefining
Curriculum and Instruction. California: Corwin Press Inc.

Website
[Link] div li rs ilbest_prac/htm/undrstnd/undtheo/thconcorl
[Link].