As teachers develop a curriculum for their students, the goal is to ensure that students are presented with accurate and up-to-date material that engages and challenges them. There are six different types of curriculum design that each aims to approach knowledge and learning differently. These are the objectivist, behaviorist, constructivist, cognitive, humanistic, and integrated approaches.
This article will explain what each type of design is, as well as how they distinguish from one another.
Objectivist Curriculum Design
The Objectivist Curriculum Design is an approach that focuses on teaching a body of knowledge that has been accepted by experts as valid. It emphasizes facts and the mastery of certain skills over the process of learning. This type of curriculum adopts a mostly scientific and mathematical approach, and relies on tests and assessments to evaluate student success.
The design also aims to teach students by providing them with materials and frameworks that are validated by experts and proven to be effective.
Behaviorist Curriculum Design
The Behaviorist Curriculum Design relies on reward and punishment as methods for achieving learning objectives and student success. It does not focus on students’ thought and cognition processes, but instead on the behavior of students in relationship to the learning material.
This type of curriculum usually involves some type of reinforcement such as points, grades, or certificates when students meet requirements, as well as punishment or reprimand when students do not reach set goals.
Constructivist Curriculum Design
The Constructivist Curriculum Design approach encourages students to construct meaning and understanding from their own experiences. This type of design does not focus on predetermined definitions and knowledge, but rather enables the learner to interact with the material and create their own understanding and meaning out of it. This type of curriculum requires teachers to be curriculum designers that creates assessment tasks and activities centered around the student’s learning process and understanding of the material.
Cognitive Curriculum Design
The Cognitive Curriculum Design focuses on the internal processes and strategies of the learner. This approach encourages students to think critically, analytically, and abstractly during their learning experience. Academic exercises, problem-solving activities, and debates are common in the cognitive approach.
This type of curriculum seeks to develop students’ deep understanding of the material by teaching them to structure their thoughts and ideas in a meaningful way.
Humanistic Curriculum Design
The Humanistic Curriculum Design focuses on teaching students to be conscious of their self-awareness and values. This approach emphasizes the importance of developing a student’s individual potential. Projects that help students to channel their creativity and talents are used, as well as self-reflection activities for students to gain self-insight and understand their identity.
Integrated Curriculum Design
The Integrated Curriculum Design combines multiple methods and approaches in order to reach a variety of learning objectives. In this approach, teachers strive to draw connections between different areas of study, and create projects that span different disciplines and require students to use critical thinking skills. The integrated approach emphasizes collaboration, problem-solving activities, and encourages students to be creative in their approaches.
Conclusion:The six different types of curriculum design each emphasize different approaches to teaching and learning. The objectivist type focuses on teaching predetermined facts and knowledge while the behaviorist relies on reward and punishment.
The constructivist approach helps students construct their own understanding and meaning from the material provided, while the cognitive design helps students to use higher-level thinking to analyze and structure ideas. The humanistic approach focuses on the development of the student’s identity and potential, and the integrated design combines multiple methods and approaches to reach a variety of learning objectives.
Understanding the different types of curriculum design is essential for teachers who wish to create individualized and effective learning experiences for their students.