Curriculum Design in Community Education/Basic Instructions for Curriculum Design

Basic Instructions for Curriculum Design

 * List the educational goals of your curriculum.
 * What do you want your students to know? Make sure to set clear and measurable goals. “Being familiar with literature” is not a clear or measurable goal. “Being able to calculate the angles of a right triangle” is a clear and measurable goal.
 * Identify the tools necessary to achieve your objectives.
 * A math course, for instance, requires the student to use paper, a pencil/pen, and perhaps a calculator or a different counting device. The vast majority of teachers of math use chalkboards or whiteboards to display exercises and explanations for the student's review.
 * Are there any resources on the Internet that help you meet the goals outlined in the previous step?
 * Assess the resources in your community.
 * What is the quality of the resources you identified in the previous step?
 * Does your classroom have computing devices?
 * Do your students have access to cell phones that can access online material?
 * Assess how useful your goals and tools can be for your students in their daily lives.
 * Can your lessons be tied to local events to demonstrate the utility of the material?
 * Can your lessons help students to get jobs in your community? If so, how?