The
Workshop is now open for online and in-class
Teaching and Learning, Business/Management and Research
curriculum and learning contents subscriptions, and
available to International Business Schools, Universities,
Management Development and Training Centres and their
Students and Staff throughout the world.
In education, a curriculum (plural curricula) is the set of courses and their contents offered by an institution such as a school or university. In some cases, a curriculum may be partially or entirely determined by an external body (such as the National Curriculum for England in English schools). In the US, the basic curriculum is established by each state with the individual school districts adjusting it to their desires. Each state, however, builds its curriculum relying heavily on the input of national groups selected by the United States Department of Education, for example the National Council of Math Teachers for mathematics instruction. In Australia each state's Education Department sets the various curricula.
Note that the term curriculum may relate to the range of courses that students can select from (as defined above) but may also relate to a specific programme. In the latter context, the curriculum describes the collective teaching, learning and assessment materials that are available for that particular course.
A crucial part of the curriculum is the definition of the course objectives which are often expressed in terms of learning outcomes and normally includes the assessment strategy for the program. These learning outcomes (and assessments) are often grouped into units (or modules) and the curriculum, therefore, comprises a collection of such units, each specialising on a specific part of the curriculum. So a typical curriculum would include units on communications, numeracy, information technology, inter-personal skills together with more specialised provision.
In K9, the curriculum's scope and sequence must be "mapped" against the scope and sequence of previous and subsequent years as well as against other subjects.
A Lesson Plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. While there is no one way to construct a correct lesson plan, most lesson plans contain some or all of these elements, typically in this order:
the title of the lesson
the amount of time required to complete the lesson
a list of required materials
a list of objectives. These may be stated as behavioural objectives (what the student is expected to be able to do upon completion of the lesson) or as knowledge objectives (what the student is expected to know upon completion of the lesson.
the set or lead-in to the lesson. This is designed to focus students on the skill or concept about to be instructed. Common sets include showing pictures or models, asking leading questions, or reviewing previously taught lessons.
the instructional component. This describes the sequence of events which will take place as the lesson is delivered. It includes the instructional input—what the teacher plans to do and say, and guided practice—an opportunity for students to try new skills or express new ideas with the modeling and guidance of the teacher.
independent practice. This component allows students to practice the skill or extend the knowledge on their own.
the summary. This is an opportunity for the teacher to wrap up the discussion and for the students to pose unanswered questions.
evaluation. Some, but not all, lessons have an evaluative component where the teacher can check for mastery of the instructed skills or concepts. This may take the form of a set of questions to be answered or a set of instructions to be followed. The evaluation may be formative; that is to say, used to guide subsequent learning, or summative; that is to say, used to determine a grade or other achievement criterion.
analysis. Often not part of a lesson plan, this component allows the teacher to reflect on the lesson and answer questions such as what went well, what needs improving, and how students reacted to the lesson.
Unit
plans follow much the same format, but are
intended to cover an entire unit of work, which
may be delivered over several days or weeks.
In
today's constructivist teaching style, the individual
lesson plan is often inappropriate. Specific objectives
and timelines may be included in the unit plan, but
lesson plans are more fluid as they cater to student
needs and learning styles. As students are asked
to engage in problem or inquiry learning, rigid lesson
planning with title, behavioural objectives, and
specific outcomes within certain time constraints
often no longer fit within modern effective pedagogy.
Today, formal lesson plans are often required only
of student teachers, who must be demonstrably familiar
with the components of a lesson, or teachers new
to the field, who have not yet internalised the flow
of a lesson.
Units
of work are also known as Schemes of work in the
UK profession 2006.
External links
LessonPlan101 - A lesson plan wiki and coming soon lesson plan software for linux and windows.
Lesson Plan Library - The Lesson Plan Library offers kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school lesson plans for all major school subjects.
The
module specific learning and teaching material has been designed
to exceed the learning
objectives and outcomes of
your course.
Whilst our the aim is to support the teachers, tutors and
instructors' in-class and/or open learning delivery within
their often tight schedules, we would
like
you
to succeed in your course and career by gaining a understanding
the 'big picture'. That means going some way beyond the learning
outcomes
and teaching schedules. You may like to take look at the Systems
Theory which attempts to explain that everything, including
yourself, your environment and your course can be thought
of as a system. Therefore your study subject is a part of
a learning system or the big picture of the field of business
and management.
The
purpose of the learning and teaching contents is to
help
you, your teacher and your employer to save time and resources
by giving you an opportunity of not only meeting your prescribed
learning outcomes and pass your exams, but to become a
professional
manager in the shortest possible time.
Our
courseware designers and authors have recognised the fact
that we all learn according to our individual learning
styles. Understandably, the traditional in-class learning
environment allows little room for individuality, ranging
from none
in
a lecture theater to some in smaller group tutorials. On
the other hand, open learning methodology may appear ideal
for individualism but in practice it also tends to lose
on one of the most effective learning situations - students
learning from each other - where students discuss
their learning issues, problems and solution in meeting
face to face or online. Open or distance learners may have
their occasional scheduled seminars, summer schools, etc
but, at
other times,
must rely on the usual communication media such as telephone,
email and fax at a considerable cost to themselves.
Structure
Overview
The
above diagram illustrates the main components of our module
specific Learning Material or Courseware. The components
are based on your course syllabus where you should find
them under
the 'Learning Contents' heading. Your tutors may
use indicative Teaching Plan as it is or, as he/she is
facing tight and time restricted schedules, may well prefer
to reschedule his/her teaching according to the time allocated
for the delivery of the module/course/programme and to accommodate
any adaptations required by his/her institution, your or
your employers interest, etc.
1.
Lessons/Lectures and Tutorial
A lesson is
a structured period of time where learning is
intended to occur. It involves one or more students (also
called course members or learners in some circumstances)
being taught by a teacher or
instructor. A lesson may be either one section of a textbook (which,
apart from the printed page, can also include multimedia)
or, more frequently, a short period of time during which learners
are taught about a particular subject or taught how to perform
a particular activity. Lessons are generally taught in a classroom but
may instead take place in a situated
learningenvironment.
In a wider sense, a lesson is an insight gained by a learner into a previously unfamiliar subject-matter. Such a lesson can be either planned or accidental, enjoyable or painful. The colloquial phrase "to teach someone a lesson", means to punish or scold a person for a mistake they have made in order to ensure that they do not make the same mistake again.
Lessons can also be made entertaining. When the term education is combined with entertainment, the term edutainment is coined. Edutainment also called 'e-learning' are new methods and practices that enabled learning in faster, more efficient and more entertaining ways. The idea is usually to combine games with learning, using software or interactive courses. There are also blogs [1] on edutainment that keep up with the latest news and updates on software, videos, and lessons that use edutainment as a basis for teaching in a more efficient and faster way [2].
Reading
material is offered to widen the scope of lectures and
tutorials.
As such, reading serve as related, in-depth study material
for students' self-directed study, additional sources for
lesson/lecture contents
for the staff wishing to customise his/her output, web based
case studies, or varying arguments for or against those
presented in the contents outlines.
3.
Staff Development
This
is a comprehensive QA resource with contents varying
from brief updates and relevant news items to major
workshops such
as the teaching skill available to staff only. Many
of the resources are indicative and will be developed further
according to the needs of the client learning centres
and individual
staff members.
4.
Workshops
A workshop is also a gathering or training session which may be several days in length. It emphasizes problem-solving, hands-on training, and requires the involvement of the participants. Workshops
are often based on a specialised publication or textbook
with relevant reading material from external sources
and other areas added as updates
to provide further depth to the in-class discussions.
Similarly to the Readings, workshops can and should
be used
as self-directed study material by the students and additional
or alternative lecture/tutorial source base by the faculty
or visiting professors/lecturers.
Any use of the workshops not scheduled in the teaching plan
is voluntary for the students and staff.
Relevant workshop contents outlines are show in the subject centres.
Learner Support units provide
material ranging
from 'learning to learn' to complete subject specific courses
on areas which an individual may not have studied or experienced
earlier. For those who have not been involved in any academic
study for some time, will find these resources
useful as
'catching-up' units whilst everybody should benefit by using
them as dip-in resources as and when a need arises.
Learner Support
units are offered at various levels, for example, Management
of Learning as an induction programme for MBA candidates,
whereas Learning Dynamics with
similar some shared resources is intended for the undergraduate
students. The online libraries
are shared between all concerned.
6.
Activities
Activities
include exercises of all types from multiple choice self-tests
to case
study reports according to the level of the course, learning
objectives and the media used. The latter may
be an online
event for the open learning students or a 3-hour open-book
assessment undertaken in examination conditions. The assessment
strategy is stated in the module syllabus and the students
should receive their briefs in good time prior to the event.
