Curriculum, Instruction and

Assessment

FUNCTIONS AND COMPONENTS

OF THE CURRICULUM

PROFESSOR: Dr. Grace C. Bangansan

STUDENT: Angelica S. Quinlog
STUDENT ID NO. : 194511006
WHAT IS CURRICULUM?

Curriculum refers to the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn,
which includes the learning standards they are expected to meet; the units and
lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the
books, materials, videos, presentations and readings used in a course; and the tests,
assessments, and other methods used to evaluate student learning.

FUNCTIONS OF THE CURRICULUM

5 COMPLEMENTARY FUNCTIONS
1. General Education
It is that part of the curriculum that is designed to provide for a common
universe of discourse, understanding and competence for the purpose of
developing thinking, socially responsible citizens of free society
It provides foundation for advancement into a major field of specialization.
2. Specialized Education
It is that aspect of curriculum designed for the major field or professional
program of studies
3. Exploratory Education
This function provides knowledge beyond those general specialized
education. This comes in forms of electives, cognates, minor or allied
subjects.
Elementary level: activities and projects extending from within the common
core of studies
Highshool/college: may impel the students towards a scientific career or away
from such career.
4. Enrichment Education
Intended to supplement and deepen one’s educative experience beyond
those connected with general education, specialized education and
exploratory education.
Elementary level: activities growing out of the common learning
5. Specialized Enrichment Education
In secondary and college, this function is typically met through free electives.

OTHER FUNCTIONS:
 Development of Individuals
Each individual has got his own Peculiar abilities, as the curriculum consists of
curricular and co-curricular activities, it plays important role in mental, moral, social,
emotional and physical development. The curricular activities help in the intellectual
growth while co-curricular activities help in around development of the learners in
order to produce balanced personalities.

 Producing Responsible Citizens

Responsible and useful citizens can be produced by a well-organized educational
program. Curriculum plays a pivot role in providing knowledge about rights and
responsibilities of the citizens and helping them in the development of desirable and
useful skills to be applied in daily life.
  To Develop Basic Skills
Basic skills like, reading, writing, speaking and understanding in certain language
can be developed properly by applying suitable curriculum.

 Preservation and Transmission of Cultural Heritage

The function of each society is to preserve its culture and to transmit it to its next
generation. This function can be performed in a suitable way by the curriculum. The
curriculum preserves the culture in literature and with the help of suitable teaching
learning situation it is transmitted to the next generation. Beside the above
mentioned functions of curriculum can also help by:

 Making the people broad minded.

 Providing knowledge about the world.
 Developing and building up some attitudes towards life.
 Engaging the people in some useful tasks. - producing subject specialists.
 Producing scientists, educationists or specialized people for various field
improving social, cultural and economical conditions.
 Improving physical and mental health of the people.

FOUR MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM

1. AIMS, GOALS and OBJECTIVES
- What is to be done?
- These spell out what is to be done, what is planned for the students. It tries
to capture what goals are to be achieved, the vision, the philosophy, the mission
statement and objectives. Further, it clearly defines the purpose and what the
curriculum is to be acted upon and try what to drive at.

The difference between aims, goals and objectives:

Aims are general statements that provide direction or intent to educational
action. Aims are usually written in amorphous terms using words like: learn,
know, understand, appreciate, and these are not directly measurable. Aims
may serve as organizing principles of educational direction for more than one
grade. Indeed these organizing principles may encompass the continuum of
educational direction for entire programs, subject areas or the district.
(Students will understand and become proficient at identifying the different
types of spoken English.)
Goals are statements of educational intention which are more specific than
aims. Goals too may encompass an entire program, subject area, or multiple
grade levels. They may be in either amorphous language or in more specific
behavioral terms.
(Students will be able to identify and use American slang terms and phrases.)
Objectives are usually specific statements of educational intention which
delineate either general or specific outcomes.There are advantages and
disadvantages to different types of objectives.
Cognitive: Students will identify and list 5 slang terms
they have heard from their peers.
Affective: Student will choose 3 of the most offensive
slang terms from a list developed by the entire
class.
 Psychomotor: Students will create expressive gestures to
go with their favorite slang terms.

The Philippine educational system is divided in three educational levels:

• Primary
• Secondary
• Tertiary
Based on the Philippine Constitution of 1987, all associate shall aim to:
 Inculcate patriotism and nationalism
 Foster love of humanity
 Promote respect for human rights
 Appreciate the role of national heroes in the historical development
of the country
 Teach the right and duties of citizenship
 Strengthen ethical and spiritual values
 Develop moral character and personal discipline
 Encourage critical and creative thinking
 Broaden scientific and technological knowledge and promote
vocational efficiency.

Aims of Elementary Education (Education Act of 1982)

 Provide knowledge and develop skills, attitudes, values essential to personal
development and necessary for living in and contributing to developing and
changing society.
 Provide learning experiences which increase a child’s awareness of and
responsiveness to the changes in the society.
 Promote and intensify knowledge, identification with and love for nation and
the people to which he belongs.
 Promote experiences which develop orientation to the world of work and
prepare the learner to engage in honest and gainful work.

Aims of Secondary Education

 Continue to promote the objectives of elementary education.
 Discover and enhance the different aptitudes and interest of students in order
to equip them with skills for productive endeavor and or to prepare for tertiary
schooling.

Aims of Tertiary Education

The different courses should aim to:
 Educate the youth to become active and productive members of society
 Meet and match industry demand with competent and globally competitive
workforce.
 Provide general education programs which will promote national identity,
cultural consciousness, moral integrity and spiritual vigor.
 Train the nation’s manpower in the skills required for national development.
 Develop the professions that will provide leaderships for the nation.
  Advance knowledge through research and apply new knowledge for
improving the quality of human life and respond effectively to changing
society.

VISION, MISSION AND GOALS

VISION
- a clear concept of what the institution would like to become in the
future.
- the guiding post around which all educational efforts including
curricula should be directed.
EXAMPLE:
THE DEPED VISION
We dream of Filipinos
who passionately love their country
and whose values and competencies
enable them to realize their full potential
and contribute meaningfully to building the nation.

As a learner-centered public institution,

the Department of Education
continuously improves itself
to better serve its stakeholders.
MISSION
- spells out how it intends to carry out its Vision.
- targets to produce the kind of persons the students will become
after having been educated over a certain period of time.

EXAMPLE:
THE DEPED MISSION
To protect and promote the right of every Filipino to quality, equitable, culture-
based, and complete basic education where:
Students learn in a child-friendly, gender-sensitive, safe, and motivating
environment.
Teachers facilitate learning and constantly nurture every learner.
Administrators and staff, as stewards of the institution, ensure an enabling and
supportive environment for effective learning to happen.
Family, community, and other stakeholders are actively engaged and share
responsibility for developing life-long learners.

GOALS
-broad statements or intents to be accomplished
EXAMPLE:
To develop professional, highly competent, responsible, self-renewing and
ethical teachers who will serve the community and who will be effective catalysts
of change in response to the quest of global competitiveness.
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Benjamin Bloom and Robert Mager defined educational objectives in two ways:
 Explicit formulations of the ways in which students are expected to be
changed by the educative process, and
 Intent communicated by statement describing a proposed change in learners.

THREE DOMAINS OF OBJECTIVES:

 COGNITIVE DOMAIN (Bloom,et al. 1956)
Domain of thought process
 AFFECTIVE DOMAIN (Krathwohl, 1964)
Domain of valuing, attitude and appreciation
 PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN (Simpson, 1972)
Domain of the use of psychomotor attributes

2. SUBJECT MATTER/CONTENT
- What subject matter is to be included?
 what is to be taught and learnt, scope of the subject-matter and its
sequence.
 compendium of facts, principles, concepts, generalization and theories.
 In here, it contains information to be learned in school. It is an element
or a medium through which the objectives are accomplished.
 Curriculum content simply means the totality of what is to be taught in a
school system (broad subjects).

Subject -centered view of curriculum

The fund of human knowledge represents the repository of accumulated
discoveries and inventions of man down the centuries, due to man’s
exploration of the world

Learner-centered view of curriculum

Relates knowledge to the individual's personal and social world and how he or
she defines reality.

Broad Subject Areas in Basic Education

 Mathematics
Includes numeric and computational skills, geometry and
measurement, algebra, logic and reasoning
 Science
Includes all branches of the natural sciences, exploration and discovery
dealing with natural phenomena and the use of scientific method of
investigation
 Communication Arts
Includes skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, effective use
of language in daily living
 Social Studies
 Include basic elements of Geography, History, Sociology, Anthropology,
Economics, Civics, Political Science and Psychology.
 Vocational Education
Includes psychomotor and manipulative skills in basic crafts and
trades, design, work ethic and appreciation of manual productive work
 Physical Education
Includes health and physical fitness, individual and team sports,
spectatorship and wise use of leisure
 Music
Includes basic music theory, practice in listening, singing, playing
musical instruments and music preparation.

CRITERIA USED FOR THE SELECTION OF SUBJECT MATTER

Self-sufficiency
 Helping the learners attain maximum self- sufficiency in learning but
in the most economical manner.
 Economy means less teaching effort and educational resources,
less learners’ effort but more results and effective learning
outcomes (Scheffler, 1970)
Significance
 When content or subject matter will contribute to basic ideas,
concepts, principles and generalization to achieve overall aim of the
curriculum, then it is significant
Validity
 Authenticity of the subject matter
 Subject matter should be verified or checked at regular intervals, to
determine if the content that was originally valid continues to be.
 Teaching the content that we ought to teach according to national
standards explicit in the Basic Education Curriculum
Interest
 Students’ interest should be considered and adjusted taking into
consideration maturity, prior experiences, educational and social value
of their interest among others.
Utility
 Will it benefit them in 'real life' and/or professional practice?
 It is not meant only to be memorized for test and grade purposes. What
is learned has a function even after examinations are over.
Learnability
 Subject matter should be within the range of experiences/schema of
the learners.
 Optimal placement and appropriate organization and sequencing of
contents are necessary in presenting the content so that it can easily
be learned.
Feasibility
 Content selection should be considered within the context of the
existing reality in schools, in society and government.
  Consider time, resources available, expertise of the teacher, and the
nature of the learners.
Other considerations:
 Frequently and commonly used in daily life
 Valuable in meeting the needs and the competencies of a future career
 Suited to the maturity levels and abilities of students
 Related with other subject areas
 Important in the transfer of learning

PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZING THE DIFFERENT LEARNING CONTENTS

(Palma, 1992)
Balance
Curriculum content should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth of a
particular learning area or discipline.
Articulation
Levels of subject matter should be smoothly connected to the next so as to
avoid glaring gaps and wasteful overlaps in the content.
Sequence
There should be logical arrangement of the subject matter .
Integration
Help learners get a holistic or unified view on reality and outlook in life as
there will be seen horizontal connections in subject areas that are similar so
that learning will be related to one another.
Continuity
The constant repetition, review and reinforcement of learning wherein there is
continuity of application of the new knowledge, skills, attitudes or values so
that these will be used in daily living.

3. LEARNING EXPERIENCES
 What the students experience?
 Instructional strategies and methods will link to curriculum experiences,
the core and heart of the curriculum.
 The instructional strategies and methods will put into action the goals and
use of the content in order to produce an outcome.
 Teaching strategies convert the written curriculum to instruction.
 Among these are time-tested methods, inquiry approaches, constructivist
and other emerging strategies that complement new theories in teaching
and learning.
 Educational activities like field trips, conducting experiments, interacting
with computer programs and other experiential learning will also form part
of the repertoire of teaching.

Guidelines for the Selection and Use of Curriculum:

 Teaching methods are means to achieve the end. They are used to
translate the objectives into action.
  There is no single best teaching method. Its effectiveness will depend on
the learning objectives, the learners and skill of the teacher.
 Teaching methods should stimulate the learners desire to develop the
cognitive, affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the
individual.
 In the choice of the teaching methods, learning styles of the students
should be considered
 Every method should lend to the development of the learning outcomes in
the three domains: cognitive, affective and the psychomotor.
 Flexibility should be a consideration in the use of the teaching methods.

4. EVALUATION APPROACHES
• According to Worthen and Sanders, (1987) all curricula to be effective
must have the element of the evaluation.
• Curriculum evaluation here may refer to the formal determination of the
quality, effectiveness or value of the program, process, and product of the
curriculum.
• What method and instruments will be used to assess the results of the
curriculum?
• Tuckman (1985) defines evaluation as meeting the goals and matching
them with the intended outcomes.
• From the definitions, several models of evaluation came up.
The most widely used is Stufflebeam’s CIPP (Content, Input, Product,
Process) Model. In CIPP, the process is continuous and is very important
to curriculum managers like principals, supervisors, department head,
deans and even teachers.
 Context – refers to the environment of the curriculum.
- assess needs and problems in the context for decision
makers to determine the goals and objectives of the
program/curriculum.
 Input – refers to the ingredients of the curriculum which include the
goals, instructional strategies, the learners, the teachers,
the contents and all the materials needed.
- assess alternative means based on the inputs for the
achievement of objectives to help decision makers to choose
options for optimal means.
 Process – refers to the ways and means of how the
curriculum has been implemented.
- monitors the processes both to ensure that
the means are actually being implemented and make
necessary modifications.
 Product – indicates if the curriculum accomplishes its goals.
- compares actual ends with intended ends and
leads to a series of recycling decisions.
Steps on the Suggested Plan of Action for the Process of Curriculum
Evaluation:
1. Focus on one particular component of the curriculum.
2. Collect or gather the information
3. Organize the information. This step will require coding, organizing, storing,
and retrieving data for interpretation.
4. Analyze interpretation
5. Report the information.
6. Recycle the information for continuous feedback, modification and
adjustments to be made.

Interrelationship of the Components of a Curriculum

REFERENCES:
http://olga-syscurriculum.blogspot.com/2011/05/basic-principles-in-organizing-learning.html

https://www.slideshare.net/ruthaa/selection-and-organization-of-content

https://simplyeducate.me/2015/02/07/7-criteria-for-the-selection-of-subject-matter-or-content-
of-the-curriculum/

https://hyattractions.wordpress.com/2016/12/07/the-meaning-of-curriculum-content-and-
learning-experiences/

http://www.flinders.edu.au/teaching/teaching-strategies/curriculum-development/topic-
curriculum-development/detailed-topic-design/selecting-content.cfm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIPP_evaluation_model

https://www.mindmeister.com/684359828/steps-in-curriculum-evaluation

https://thesecondprinciple.com/instructional-design/writing-curriculum/
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/functions-of-the-primary-school-curriculum-
education-essay.php

http://www.shareyouressays.com/knowledge/5-major-components-of-a-curriculum/100348

https://www.slideshare.net/josephestroga/components-of-curriculum

http://olga-syscurriculum.blogspot.com/2011/05/4-components-of-curriculum-cayadong.html

https://irecusa.org/workforce-education/training-resources/best-practices-the-series/best-
practices-2-curriculum-program-development/key-components-of-a-curriculum/

http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_b/popups/mod06t01s01.html

…
REFLECTION:

Curriculum plays an important role in an educational system. It is somehow a

blueprint which leads the teacher and the learner to reach the desired objectives. As
a result, authorities have to design it in such a way that it could lead the teacher and
the learner meets the desired learning outcomes. (Cayadong, Lindo ) Overall
curriculum is the sum of all the experiences of the learners which has undertaken in
the guidance of a school.

Based on the data that I’ve gathered there are many functions of curriculum.
These are divided into five complementary functions. These are general, specialized,
exploratory, enrichment and specialized enrichment education. These allow me to
know how each major fields of education has been divided to reach a certain goal.
Aside from those complimentary functions I believe the following functions are vital
reason on how important curriculum is; the following functions are: Curriculum
develop individuals, Producing responsible citizens, to develop basic skills and
preservation and transmission of cultural heritage.

How the curriculum has been made matter as each individual has got his own
peculiar abilities, talents, interests, knowledge, attitudes, ideals, appreciations, skills
and understandings. All learners do not learn equally well. But the type of curriculum,
the design of curriculum, and the methods applied and the techniques followed can
offer opportunities to the learners to benefit from them according to their own
capabilities. So it is the function of the curriculum to help the students by providing
them such type of experiences which met the need of all the students.

Now I have learned what the functions of curriculum are, it’s time to know its
components. There are four major components of curriculum and these are
interconnected to each other. These are the: Aims, Goals and Objectives, Subject
Matter, Learning Experiences and Evaluation Approaches.

Aims, goals, and objectives

These are often expressed in terms of state standards (Vision, Mission and
Goals) of a country, which are expressed in somewhat general terms, then broken
down into more specific goals, sometimes broken down into subsets of those goals.
Sometimes the goals and subgoals are sorted as cognitive, affective, social, and
psychomotor. It is very essential for teachers to know what goal they want to
achieve for their students to develop holistically. They have to begin at the end.

Subject matter
 These answer the questions: What subject should be delivered to the
student?, What subject matter to be included? Should I proceed from a "big picture"
and let the students break it down into its parts, or should I begin with the parts and
let the students discover the big picture? We need to think about this to consider the
next element. The content component of teaching learning situation refers to the
important facts, principles and concepts to be taught. These contents must be in line
with the learning experiences and there must be clear cut objective to be achieved
by the end of each respective lesson. It can be in form of knowledge, skills, attitude
and values that learners are exposed to.

There are criteria used for the selection of subject matter and these are self-
sufficiency, significance, validity, utility, interest, learnability and feasibility. Self-
sufficiency is done when the students or learners are given the chance to
experiment, observe and carryout field study; Significance, the subject matter or
content is significant if it is selected and organized for the development of learning
activities, skills, processes, and attitude, it also develops the three domains of
learning; Validity it means teaching the content in order to realize the goals and
objectives of the course as laid down in the basic education curriculum; Utility, this is
the usefulness of the content in solving problems now and in future; Interest should
be considered in selecting content because students learn best if the subject matter
is meaningful to them, it becomes meaningful if they are interested in it; Feasibility,
the content is feasible in the sense that the essential content can be covered in the
amount of time available for instruction; and lastly learnability is where teachers
should apply theories in the psychology of learning to know how subjects are
presented, sequenced, and organized to maximize the learning capacity of the
students. In organizing the learning contents: balance, articulation, sequence,
integration, and continuity form a sound content.

Basically all learning content have undergone careful analysis on how they
should be organized done by the educators and curriculum designers. So obviously
it is well organized learning contents that follow the principles mentioned above. The
only thing left is how us, teachers apply this in the real-life setting that would allow a
holistic development of the learners. These principles will be useless if careful and
effective implementation is not guaranteed.

Learning experiences

These component answer the question: What the student experiences?

These refers to the teaching strategies and methods. These instructional strategies
and methods will put into action the goals and use of the content in order to produce
an outcome. These would convert the written curriculum to instruction. For me, this is
the most creative job for implementors, these is where teachers make choices on
what suitable teaching styles and methodologies should he/she used that is
appropriate for the learners multiple intelligence.
It is an activity which may be planned by the class or teacher but performs by the
learner for the purpose of achieving some important learning objectives. Learning
experiences are not what the teachers do; it is not the teacher methodology, but
those activities performed by the learners themselves.

Evaluation approaches
This answer the question: What method and instruments will be used to
assess the results of the curriculum? The curriculum evaluation is an element of an
effective curriculum. It identifies the quality, effectiveness of the program, process
and product of the curriculum. The most widely used is Stufflebeam’s CIPP (Content,
Input, Product, Process) Model.
There are two aspects of assessment to consider, those being assessment of
the curriculum and assessment of the student. As a teacher, there are aspects of
curriculum assessment that you can make, but the bottom line for assessment of the
curriculum, in many ways, rests with assessment of the student. If the student does
not achieve the standards, it really isn't going to matter how good the curriculum
looks.

In summary, the components of a curriculum are distinct but interrelated to

each other. These four components should be always present in a curriculum. I could
say that these are essential ingredients to have an effective curriculum. For example,
in a curriculum, evaluation is also important so one could assess whether the
objectives and aims have been meet or if not, he could employ another strategy
which will really work out. Curriculum experience could not be effective if the content
is not clearly defined.
The aims, goals and directions serve as the anchor/ road map of the learning
journey (where are we going), the content or subject matter serve as the flesh of the
educational journey (what of the curriculum), curriculum experience serves as the
hands –on exposure to the real spectrum of learning (how) and finally the curriculum
evaluation serves as the benchmark as to how far had the learners understood on
the educational journey.

I conclude that becoming a school administrator someday or even being a

teacher is maybe a bit hard but you should try your best to learn the essentials, you
should have a fundamental knowledge about how curriculum works what guidelines
and principles you should follow. Hence, gathering information of this topic allows me
to gain important aspects of the curriculum, on how each of the component
connectedly support one another to result a more develop and effective one to mold
a productive individual in the future.