Paper 12 PDF
Paper 12 PDF
& Education
2012 Vol. 2 Issue 2, ISSN: 2223-4934 E and 2227-393X Print
Abstract
By keeping the important role of curriculum in mind it would be easy to say that education reshapes the
future of a society both by changing the present situation as well as by transmitting the cultural heritage
of a society. Computer and computer systems has changed the overall system of education, which
ultimately had great impact in the advancement of society. Therefore, it is required to train the
prospective teachers, so that, they could be able to adopt and utilize the modern technological resources
to achieve educational objectives expressively. Therefore, this article aimed to develop a curriculum in
the subject of Computer Education for prospective teachers to meet the need of the society. In this regard,
fourteen specimens of curricula from different public and private sector universities and other institutions
were collected which were offering M. Ed. and M. A. Education programs. The required professional
knowledge and skills related to computer education were collected through a simple questionnaire from
94 prospective teachers, 75 working teachers and 50 head of the departments/schools/institutions. In the
light of collected data, proposed curriculum was drafted, reviewed, and revised after consultations with
the experts available in the university. The draft was sent for comments to the Heads of all Institutions,
Organizations, IERs, Directors, and Principles of the Colleges for Elementary Teachers, and University
of Education Campuses in Punjab and federal area. In the light of the results, some of the major headings
or sub-headings and topics or sub-topics were added in and/or replaced from the proposed draft of the
course outlines.
Keywords: Computer in Education, Improving Classroom Teaching, Curriculum Design and Curriculum
Development.
1. Introduction
Historically the term Curriculum could be traced around 1820 which generally meant by a textbook,
guide or course of study and professionally including a set of global intentions, a plan or organizational
structure, and any one of the delivery media, while Curriculum Development is concerned with overall
design or plan of structuring the environment with the elements of learning e.g., time, space, materials,
equipment and personnel (Wiles & Bondi, 1993). McGee (1997) quoted a simple definition of curriculum
from Taba that curriculum is a plan for learning. The success of curriculum largely depends on the
teacher who is primarily responsible for providing the actual learning situations (Oliver, 1977). The
relationship between curriculum and teacher illuminates that curriculum facilitates for effective teaching.
Commonwealth of Learning and The South African Development Community Ministries of Education
(2000) quoted from Farrant that curriculum is a set of decisions about what is taught and how it is
taught, which determines the general framework within which lessons are planned and learning takes
place.
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2. Literature Review
Curriculum development is not something that happened by chance. It is a step-by-step process which
follows a model or analogy. Wiles & Bondi (1993) clarified the analogy in curriculum development
with the help of an example related to architecture, who cannot design a home until certain information
about style and functioning are known. Grier (2005) quoted from Posner that curriculum development
process is based on two necessary and complementary steps: curriculum development technique and
curriculum conscience. Where curriculum techniques are nuts and bolts used to arrive at the
curriculum, while models describe procedures to develop curriculum. And some of the eminent
curriculum development models were referred by McGee (1997), McNeil (2006), Smith (2000), Howard
(2007), Duan (2004), and Burkett (2002) are briefly reviewed as under to construct the curriculum:
In 1949, Ralph Tyler identified some fundamental questions that must be answered during development
process. Its approach was relatively pragmatic and straightforward which closes the loop between
curriculum development and assessment. His theory of curriculum development was simple, logical and
rationale but fell out of favors as educators began to view learning experiences more holistically and
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Formulation of learning
outcomes
Learning
activities
Teaching and
assessment methods
Evaluation of learning
outcome
Evaluation of program or
curriculum
3.
Research Methodology
Based on literature review, following steps were taken to develop the curriculum:
1. Identifying the Panel of Experts. Three different panel of experts were designed to validate the
proposed curriculum:
a. The working teachers in Higher Secondary Schools who were using computer directly or
indirectly in teaching and learning process.
b. The prospective teachers, who will be using computer personally or professionally.
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d.
e.
a.
b.
c.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The employees of different universities and other educational institutions who were directly or
indirectly enabling the prospective teachers to use computer in their teaching in the age of
information technology (IT).
All of these stakeholders were selected on the basis of their availability or willingness to
participate in the study. As a result:
A group of 75 working teachers including 25 females responded out of 15 Higher Secondary
Schools (HSS) for boys and girls from Multan.
The 94 prospective teachers were selected among the students of M. A. Education and M. Ed
From the department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.
And 50 employees from 30 different institutions i.e., head of the departments from universities,
principals of Government Colleges for Education, private colleges, semi-government colleges
who were training teachers or prospective teachers for using computer professionally.
Surveying Teachers Need and Eliciting Computer Education Catalog. A very simple
questionnaire was designed and administered among all experts in order to enlist prospective
teachers required technology-based professional knowledge and skills. Meanwhile, all private
and public sector universities of Pakistan, which were offering M. Ed or M. A. Education
programs, were requested to provide curricula in Computer Education (if available). Moreover,
the course outlines already in practice for Computer Studies to be taught at B. A / B. Sc and M.
A / M. Sc levels in different departments and affiliated colleges of Bahauddin Zakariya
University, Multan were also obtained and analyzed to draw the draft curriculum. In the same
manner, the course outlines for B. Ed programs, which are the basic requirement for the
admission in M. Ed., were also collected from five different campuses of University of
Education (Ex Government Colleges of Education) in Punjab and Federal area. Furthermore,
course outlines for Computer Studies for the classes of IX, X, XI and XII prescribed nationally
were also collected to develop the draft curriculum.
Evaluating the List of Required Knowledge and Skills. On the basis of the feedback from
experts, a list of required knowledge and skills for the proposed course outlines was drafted. The
course outlines collected from all universities, colleges, institutions and schools were arranged to
shape a list, which helped to relate topics and subtopics with required knowledge and skills.
Developing Proposed Curriculum. On the basis of the data collected for developing proposed
curriculum, an initial draft was developed and dispatched for experts opinion regarding the
selection and sequencing the topics and subtopics and to point out shortfalls of the researchers
after a thoughtful review.
Validation of the Proposed Curriculum. A brief questionnaire along with the proposed course
outlines were sent to the experts for validation. As per the experts opinion, total number of
chapters, topics and/subtopics were finalized.
Approval from the Advanced Board of Studies. The finalized draft of the curriculum was then
sent to the Advanced Board of Studies of Bahauddin Zakariya University for its official approval
and appliance as a compulsory subject for M. Ed. Students.
4. Results
Appendix A (Table 1) showed the nature and number of institutions which were requested to provide
the required outlines if offered in the institutions. In all 37% universities and 10% Government Colleges
and 20% Government Higher Secondary Schools responded to the researchers.
Total 14 different course outlines were received after requesting again and again. Collectively 27 major
headings or topics were (Table 2) listed by merging all course outlines. List of sub-headings or sub-topics
were ignored because of the length of the table.
Table 3 provides summary of the feedback from sampled stakeholders to establish and formulate list of
knowledge and professional skills required regarding the use of computer and related technologies. After
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115
References
Albalooshi, F. (2003). Virtual Education Cases in Learning and Teaching Technologies, London: Irm
Press.
Allon, R., Gauthier, J., Doyle, A. B. & Hutcheon, D. (2004). A Model Curriculum for a Doctor of
Psychology
(Psy.
D.)
Programme.
Retrieved
on
October
29,
2009
from
http://www.cpa.ca/cpasite/userfiles/Documents/publications/Psy%20D%20Model%20Curriculum%2
0final%20_2_.pdf
Brown, G. & Atkins, M. (1988). Effective Teaching in Higher Education. London: Methuen Press.
Burkett, W. (2002). Constructing a Workable Computer Information Science/Computer Science
Curriculum: A Template for Developing a Cross-Discipline Model. Journal of Information
Technology Education, 1(1), 65-76.
Commonwealth of Learning and the South African Development Community Ministries of Education
(2000).
Curriculum
Management.
Retrieved
on
November
12,
2010
from
http://peoplelearn.homestead.com/MEdHOME/MANAGEMENT/CURRICULUM_MANAGEMEN
T.pdf.
Duan, Xin-Ran (2004). A Model Curriculum for Computer Aided Design (CAD) Associate Degree
Programs. Journal of Industrial Technology, 20(2). Retrieved on May 15, 2010 from
http://atmae.org/jit/Articles/duan032904.pdf.
Goodlad, J. I. (1971). Education and Technology: To Improve Learning: An Evaluation of Instructional
Technology. Vol. 2. New York: R. R. Bowker.
Grier, A. S. (2005). Integrating Needs Assessment into Career and technical Curriculum Development.
Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 42(1). Retrieved on May, 12, 2010 from
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v42n1/grier.html.
Howard, J., (2007). Curriculum Development. Retrieved on
http://org.elon.edu/catl/documents/curriculum%20development.pdf
July
20,
2010
from
Jamil, M. (1999). A Study to Determine the Role of Computer in Education. An un-published Thesis
submitted for the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of B. Ed in the Government
College of Education, Multan.
Khalid, M. (2001). Curriculum Development for Journalism. Journal of Research (Humanities), Vol. 18,
55 60.
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117
Table 1:
Sr. #
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
APPENDICES
Nature of Institutions Involved in the Study
Nature of the Institutions
Universities
Government Colleges
Private Colleges
Semi-Government Institutions
Government Higher Secondary Schools
Number
11
03
09
01
06
Percentages
36.6%
10.0%
30.0%
03.3%
20.0%
Table 2: Major Headings or Topics from different Curricula received from the Requested Institutions
Sr. #
Major Headings
1.
Introduction of Computer System.
2.
Computer history.
3.
Need of computer literacy.
4.
Social impact of computer on society.
5.
Artificial intelligence.
6.
Input and output devices.
7.
Computer memory.
8.
Central Processing Unit (CPU).
9.
Classification of the Computer System.
10.
Speed, reliability and scope of the computer.
11.
Data flow diagrams.
12.
Algorithms.
13.
Number System: Binary, Octal and Hexa Decimal systems.
14.
Binary arithmetic.
15.
Introduction of Software (i.e., high level and low level languages)
16.
Compilers and interpreters.
17.
Introduction of DOS (Disk Operating System).
18.
Internal and external commands of DOS.
19.
Programming Languages (BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, FoxPro, C, C++)
20.
Windows operating system.
21.
Multimedia.
22.
Word processor.
23.
Spreadsheets.
24.
Designing presentations.
25.
Internet.
26.
Applications of computer in education.
27.
Applications of computer in business.
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119
Percentages
98
113
70
80
119
55
70
44%*
52%
32%
36%
54%
25%
32%
145
135
66%
62%
114
52%
108
49%
99
140
45%
64%
145
70
54
122
66%
32%
24%
56%
129
59%
Credits: 4
PREREQUISITES: None.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This is an introductory course and is specifically focused on educators wanting a hands-on approach to
learning new technology skills. It is designed to provide elementary school teachers and administrators
with an understanding of the ways that current and emerging technologies can be used to facilitate
teaching, learning, and managing instruction. Discussions will focus on issues, trends, and current uses of
technology in education. Lab sessions will focus upon gaining practical experiences of working on
computers, learning software applications with Microsoft Office, evaluating educational software,
designing technology-enhanced lessons, and utilization of internet-based technologies in education.
COURSE GOALS
The primary objective of this course outlines is to enable the prospective teachers to understand, adopt
and apply technology-based resources and materials professionally and personally.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this course, prospective teachers will be able to:
Acquire knowledge on historical evolution of computer in education and its hardware and
software components.
Acquaint with the aims and objectives of teaching Computer Science in Secondary and Higher
Secondary Schools and help them to plan learning activities according to those objectives.
Acquire skills of developing and maintain Item Bank and formatting question papers.
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122