Post II-3 Understanding and answering questions in curiculum courses

Post II-3: Understanding and Answering Questions in Curriculum Courses.

By

Prof. J. Pendaeli

Revised Feb 2013

I: Summary

Experience has shown that, on the whole, studying by distance or on line is more difficult than studying by the standard or conventional face-to-face method in campus-based institutions. One implication of this is that the distance education student needs more help than the non-distance education student; this is the main concern of the 4SDEP program —to provide that extra help which the on line or distance education student needs in order to perform well in his/her courses.

This program does not attempt to address all study needs and problems of students, rather it focuses on and attempts to address only a selection of them


II: Introduction
Students study needs and problems include the following:

·      a) The problem of understanding and answering questions in assignments, tests, and examinations;

·         b) The problem of reading for a purpose and recording the materials read in a manner that is most helpful especially during revision time;

·         c) The problem of difficult concepts and topics in the course;

·    d) The problem of locating helpful sources of information for various topics in the course under consideration;

·     e)The need for feedback on their performance in assignments, tests and examinations;

·         f)The need for somebody to answer their study questions;

·  g)The need for help and academic advisement in projects, including extended essays and research projects.

And so on.

A functional rather than an academic approach has been adopted in tackling these problems in the different 4SDEP EBRARY STUDY DOCUMENTS; furthermore, real examples, many of them from students’ own work, have been used to illustrate the points made. 

III: Understanding and answering questions in curriculum courses. 
A question which, from experience, is well known for giving students a hard time is taken and discussed using the following points to guide the discussion. These points are essentially weaknesses commonly observed in scripts; they include the following:

·        = Figuring out and understanding what the examiner expects and/or does not expect from the candidate;

·         =The match and mismatch between the language used in the question and the language used in the candidate’s answer;

·        =  Misreading the question-- a problem closely related to the problem of answering a related question, or, more commonly, writing the answer in the manner or in the perspective in which the candidate had studied the topic instead of writing the answer in the form required by the question;

·        = Confusion and mix-up;

·         =Argument and logic in the answers;

·         = Providing unnecessary and superfluous materials in the answer

III: One example of an examination question for discussion

“There are many forces or factors which make curriculum change necessary in a country. Name and discuss FOUR of these forces or factors giving actual examples from your country to illustrate your answer.” 
[Question asked in author's assignment in a curriculum course]

We shall look at and discuss two things about this question.

=Suggest how to answer the question (III-1)

=Provide feedback on students’ performance in the question (III-2)

III-1: Tips, advice and general guidelines on how to answer the question

III-1(a): General

As far as possible it is advisable to start your answer with a short and relevant introduction. In this introduction define and/or explain what is meant by and what is involved in a curriculum change and innovation.

Note that definitions of curriculum and curriculum development are not necessary in this introduction.

III-1(b): The examiner’s expectations

Examiners don’t just ask students questions, they ask them with a purpose in mind. In this material case the purpose is to find out if:

·      = The student possesses the knowledge and understanding of the forces and factors which precipitate curriculum change generally;

·  =The student can analyze or look at policies, programs, events and phenomena in his/her country through the eyes of this theory of curriculum change and innovation.

With this purpose in mind the examiner expects two things from the examinees in this question; (s)he expects the examinee:

• To briefly describe the force/factor, indicating how it can:

-          lead to curriculum change, or,

-          precipitate curriculum change, or,

-          make it necessary to have a change in the curriculum, or,

-          be responsible or instrumental for curriculum change or;

-          trigger off curriculum change, or,

-          bring about curriculum change, etc.

• To give a living or an actual example of a case where this force/factor has been responsible for curriculum change, either alone or in combination with other forces and factors.

The demand for an actual example is an attempt to see if the candidate can relate the theory, in point II(a) above, to practice in the field. Without this demand the candidate could easily stay up there in the clouds of theory about curriculum change and innovation without coming down here on the ground of practice in curriculum change and innovation.

It is in this example that you are expected to indicate what the change was --change from what to what? For example, it is not enough to tell the examiner that when Tanzania became independent the curriculum changed. How or in what way did it change, or what specifically changed? Marks are awarded for the two points according to some weighting decided upon by the examiner.

III-1(c): Suggestions and guidelines on how to handle the main forces and factors.

There are many forces and factors which can precipitate curriculum change. You are required to select only four of them; these four must be the most important forces. However, before you make the selection it is strongly recommended that you put the factors into major categories; this will make your selection easier and more sensible. This is what you may call planning and organizing your answer. An organized answer reflects well on you; it gives the examiner a better picture of your mastery of the subject or topic in hand.

In the example under consideration we have categorized the forces/factors into five groups from which you can select four. Notice that the groups provide a very comprehensive cover of the forces that could possibly precipitate curriculum change in a country or nation. Notice also that forces which overlap or are closely related have been placed together in one group to avoid repetition, among other things. You can deal with the group as a single force or with one or more members of the group.

Le us assume for purposes of this discussion that your country is Tanzania; this means that examples to illustrate your answer will come from this country as required by the question. The four factors or groups of factors are as follows:

i) Political/philosophical/policy forces and factors

These are very closely related forces and factors; the events, policies, programs you are going to deal with in Tanzania will fall into one or more of these factors/forces. Clearly describe and articulate the event, policy, etc and highlight its salient features. Equally important, clearly describe how the event, policy etc actually influenced the school curriculum of the day. It is recommended that you look at (=analyze) the following events, phenomena, policies, issues/problems/concerns etc in Tanzania:

• The change from colonial rule to independence status in 1961. Did this political event precipitate any change in the school curricula? What change? Change from what to what? Was this change necessary? Why?
• The introduction of Middle Schools. What were the salient features of curricula proposed for these schools?
• The Arusha declaration of 1967 which was the blue print for Ujamaa (=socialism) in the country? What were the implications of this philosophy on school curricula?
• The declaration of the Education for Self Reliance (ESR) policy, which immediately followed the Arusha declaration. In what material way or ways were curricula suggested by this policy differ from those which were there before ESR?

ii) Availability of funds.

How do funds affect or influence school curricula? In this regard consider the financial implications of what were popularly referred to as “Michepuo” (=Streams). How were these streams decided upon, where were they located and how were they funded?

Has the availability of funds affected the introduction of computer courses in schools and other educational institutions in Tanzania? How?

iii) Socio-economic and cultural needs, problems and concerns.

Think of the following events and phenomena: HIV/AIDS, population growth, terrorism, global warming, environmental degradation and deterioration, scientific illiteracy especially in developing countries like Tanzania, child labor, globalization of trade, and so on. What changes have been made in school curricula in this country in response to any or all of these? Which of these factors and forces should have influenced the school curricula in one way or another but did not? Why do you think so? What do you suggest should be done? And so on

iv) Growth and advances in knowledge generally and in science and technology in particular
 Growth has occurred through inventions and discoveries in the fields of science, technology, education and so on. Discuss some examples; these may include what were termed new mathematics and the Nuffield sciences which were associated with the Sputnik in the nineteen seventies. More recently, as a result of advances in computer technology and in the electronic field in general, computer courses have been introduced in colleges of education, universities and secondary schools. Comment on the part played by the Internet. Has the internet changed school curricula or has it changed their teaching or both? How?

II-2. Feedback on students’ performance in the exam question above.

The following was the examination question:

(“There are many forces which make curriculum change necessary in a country. Name and discuss FOUR of these forces giving examples from your country to illustrate your answer.”)

After marking a large number of scripts on the above question the examiner (myself) made observations which are summarized and discussed below. The important thing about this feedback is that it is a consolidated summary of what was observed in all the scripts from students who did the question in the exam. In this sway students benefit not only from their mistakes, etc, but also from mistakes etc of fellow candidates who did this question in the assignment, test or examination.

Observations, comments and suggestions I made on students’ answers:

• In general, performance in this question in the exam was reasonable.
• A common problem, however, was failure to pinpoint the curriculum change or changes which were precipitated by a given factor/force.

For example, the change in political status in this country (Tanzania) from colonial status to independence status was cited as a force which made it necessary to change the curriculum to match the needs, problems and concerns of the independent nation. Many candidates stopped at this point without indicating which curriculum changes actually occurred in response to this force.It changed from what to what?

• Another problem was the problem of clarity.

Many candidates pointed out that Kiswahili and English were made national languages and that Kiswahili was made the medium of instruction at the primary school level. These changes, in and of themselves, are not curriculum changes according to our definition, but they have implications for the Kiswahili curriculum. Some clarification and explanation are required here; rephrase the point and say something like this: To implement these language policies, Kiswahili, as a subject, had to be studied in greater depth and breadth. And this was in fact done. Changing the content of the Kiswahili curriculum in depth and breadth, for whatever reason, constitutes curriculum change.

. Another fairly common problem in the students scripts was the problem of the ‘siasa’(=political) type of answer; a ‘siasa’ type of answer is an answer which sounds like a political speech. This type of answer is usually out of focus or marginally related to the question asked. In a ‘sisasa’ type of presentation you typically say very little or nothing using very many words.