Curriculum Knowledge & Practice

Behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement should all be considered when developing
curriculum. Curriculum writers need to understand these factors and the influence they have,
not only the class environment, but also on the retention and determination of students self-
learning. Writers should include strategies that proactively direct students to respond to
information and content, while also providing them the opportunity to be reflective
practitioners themselves. Collaborating with other students and having input in their own
learning increases engagement and understanding of new information being taught.

What should be included in a curriculum to ensure that our students will be able to compete
globally?
As a nation, we are in direct competition with other countries around the world. The
competition derives from the global economy producing career-ready workers in new and
upcoming job fields. Common Core emphasizes students preparation for 21st century fields. As
part of the new teacher accountability system, schools are measured by student progress in
growth and gap reduction, but more importantly, career and college readiness. Curriculum
writers need to be aware of our 21st century learners and the skills required to prepare for the
workforce. Jobs are being geared towards STEM (science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics) initiatives. Therefore, educators need to provide opportunities for students to
apply 21st century skills to cross-curricular content.

Curriculum writers should be aware of common core standards in cross-curricular instruction
and strategies that promote these 21st century skills. Lessons and instruction should include
real-world applications, problems and collaborative projects. Group work helps foster
communication skills for students, while facilitating innovative, rigorous instructional moments.
Curriculum should instruct and provide teachers with a plethora of group work and research
moments to adhere to the 4 Cs.

Upon completion of ISTC 667 (ISD), I was able to differentiate the roles of philosophy, values
and ethics in instructional design, identify the components and applications of instructional
systems design (ISD) theory, select and use needs assessment tools to conduct a needs analysis
in an instructionally appropriate setting, and identify and select appropriate task analysis
procedures. It was important to meet technology and content standards while identifying and
developing prototypes in these instructional design theories.

Artifacts Connected to MTTS and ISTE Standards
Writing Curriculum with
SCRATCH
The main core skills as a 21st century learner are collaboration, critical
thinking, creativity, and communication. Educators need to be able to
incorporate and/or provide opportunities for students to engage in their
own learning. It is not just based upon tools and resources but enhancing
educators instructional design methods and frameworks in order to
reinforce and implement conceptual understanding.
By writing curriculum for SCRATCH, I met MTTS Standard II through
using effective technologies to employ communication and interaction into
instruction. Working with software such as SCRATCH and other online
resources has also allowed me to integrate skills such as programming by
instructionally designing lessons and activities with the use of technology.
This aligns with MTTS Standard V as well.

MTTS Standards: II, V
ISTE - T Standards: 3, 5
Instructional Design
Framework
This artifact demonstrates and promotes real-life application problems,
builds on concepts using prior knowledge, and differentiates for all
learners. The instructional design processes allowed me analyze, develop,
evaluate through the course of pebbles. The pebbles consisted of setting
up a lesson analyzing what the students need to know, designing how to get
them to the end result, developing step-by-step approaches of instruction
with increased complexity, implementing and demonstrating how to solve a
problem, and evaluating students on their knowledge of the problem and
skill.

Upon completion of this project, I was able to identify the components and
applications of instructional systems design (ISD) theory, to conduct a
needs analysis in an instructionally appropriate setting, identify and select
appropriate task analysis procedures, and select a formative and summative
assessment tools to. It was important to meet MTTS Standard I and
ISTE-T Standard 2 while identifying and developing prototypes in these
instructional design theories.

MTTS Standards: I
ISTE - T Standards: 2
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References
Brown, A., & Green, T. G. (2010). The essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with
process and practice (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.