Unit 4.4.

1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

Contributors

Dr. Sandip S. Kedar

Associate Professor, Department of Electronic Media
&
Prof. (Mrs.) Chanchal Mehra
Associate Professor, Department of Vocational Education
and Entrepreneurship Development

Editor: Dr. Joshua Earnest, Professor of Electrical Engineering

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

Learning outcomes: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
LO 1. Explain the need and importance of curriculum analysis at micro-level
LO 2. Explain methodology of curriculum analysis.
LO 3. Create a map for treating the topics to develop learning outcomes.

Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 29
2.0 NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS AT MICRO-LEVEL.................................. 29
3.0 COMPONENTS OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 30
3.1 Facts........................................................................................................................................... 30
3.2 Concepts .................................................................................................................................... 31
3.3 Principles ................................................................................................................................... 31
3.4 Procedures................................................................................................................................. 32
3.5 Applications ............................................................................................................................... 32
4.0 METHODOLOGY OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS............................................................................ 33
5.0 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 36
6.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 37

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

L2: MAPPING FOR CURRICULUM ANALYSIS

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Curriculum document is a blue print of all the activities of various stake holders including
mainly teachers, students and administrators. It provides information to its stake holders
about PEO (Program Educational Objective), POs (Program Outcomes), competency to be
developed through each course, COs (Course Outcomes), PrOs (Practical Outcomes), UOs
(Unit Outcomes), ADOs (Affective Domain Outcomes), courses to be taught/ learned,
appropriate instructional media to be selected, practical, micro-project and main project
activities, industrial training, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, students’
assessment scheme, and so on. Teachers and students are the main stakeholders of the
curriculum document. You have already learned in first lesson about the analysis of
curriculum. Such an analysis makes teacher aware about his or her instruction related
activities.

Planning for implementation of each course curriculum is an important activity every

teacher has to perform at the start of every semester or year. Sequencing of content and
synchronization of theory and practical classes is part of this planning process. From
instructional planning point of view, analysis of the curriculum content is the next important
stage. Spray diagram and concept map are the effective tools for conducting curriculum
analysis at micro level or topic level. In this lesson, need and importance of curriculum
analysis, use of spray diagram, concept map and process of writing concept attributes for
the identified concept/ principle included in the topic has been discussed.

2.0 NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS AT MICRO-LEVEL

Curriculum/content analysis at micro-level is a technique of breaking bigger chunks of
curricular items into smaller components in an objective and systematic way. These
components are then arranged in a proper sequence. As per Banthiya (Banthiya, 1999)
Content analysis is a technique of objectively and systematically identifying concepts,
principles, procedures, and skills for topics in different courses. When the content analysis is
made available, or, teacher analyses the content for a topic/course; important ‘teaching
points’ become available to the teacher, and it becomes easier for the teacher to ensure that
the students attain the desired learning outcomes.

Curriculum analysis at micro-level or topic level helps the teacher to:

a) Identify the learning outcomes
b) Know what is to be taught to make the students to learn
c) Decide how much and up to what extent he/she has to teach
d) Identify facts, concepts, principles, procedures and applications and their sequence.
e) Select appropriate methods and techniques of teaching and plan teaching keeping in
view the learning hierarchies found in the content analysis.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

f) Decide various instructional resources to be developed, procured or collected

g) Plan and arrange for the resources needed, in advance
h) Collect examples and non-examples related to the topic
i) Design suitable laboratory experiences and demonstrations
j) Design relevant assessment tools.

3.0 COMPONENTS OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS

The process of curriculum/content analysis is like inverted funnel
(Figure 1). We can consider main topic as input to the funnel
from top, which gets divided into topics, sub-topics, and sub-sub
topics. These all bifurcated content forms the components of
content analysis.

Consider an example from day-to-day life. An engineer examines

any machine for its fault and tries to analyse the probable causes
of the failure or fault. He collects information about the machine
Figure 1: Inverted funnel from the operator and diagnose the probable causes of fault. He
analogy of content analysis checks all the mechanical and electrical systems. Based on the
observations and collected information he solves the problem.
Similarly, in educational setup, considering the learning needs of the students, teacher need
to analyse the content (i.e. the topics and sub-topics) to decide about various activities and
treatment to be given the content for better implementation of the instruction. Content
analysis is a process of identifying facts, concepts, principles (rules, laws), procedures and
applications supporting learning.

3.1 Facts
While teaching any topic, teacher informs students about some places, events, functions
that are known to be true or which we accept as true. These are usually indisputable
statements. Such information is termed as verbal information or facts, which is part of the
factual knowledge. Therefore, fact is any knowledge acquired through the medium of
language, and which is readily available in our memory. For example, Earth is a big magnet
with North and South Poles, Solar eclipse occurs when moon covers sun on new moon day,
the United Nations declared 21 June as the International Yoga Day.

Learner usually acquires verbal information or fact by verbal association, like naming an
object. For example, when teacher shows a Vernier Caliper to the students and tells them its
name, they associate the visual and its name, and record it in their memory. Students can
recognize it as Vernier caliper next time when they see it. Teacher can teach content such as
symbols for chemical elements, electrical symbols and color codes in this manner.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

3.2 Concepts
A concept is a class of stimuli, which has common characteristics. It is an abstraction or idea
that permits the learner to classify a variety of related phenomena into a convenient
meaningful category (Banthiya, 1999) A concept can be ‘concrete’ or ‘abstract’. Concrete
concepts are those, which can be seen, touched, smelt or heard. These are the concepts,
which can be felt by our physical senses. For example, a computer system or a laptop, a
smart mobile, flower, chair, microphone, electric motor, lathe machine, speakers, these all
could be seen, touched, smelt or heard.

Abstract concepts are those, which cannot be sensed by our physical senses. We can only
perceive their effects. For example, heat, pressure, current, gravitational force. These are all
abstract concepts, which cannot be seen, but their effects are perceived. 'Electric current'
cannot be seen or touched but when it flows through a conducting material, we can see its
effects in the form of light, running of a motor, heating of a coil, and so on.

3.2.1 Attributes of Concepts

Teacher may identify and explain any concept by its characteristics or attributes. Thus, an
attribute is a distinguishing feature of a concept and it varies from concept to concept.
Learner need to understand general characteristics and distinguishing features of the
concept. For example, Attributes of electric machines could be described as follows.
a) They use electromagnetic forces.
b) They are electromechanical energy converters. An electric motor converts electricity to
mechanical power while an electric generator converts mechanical power to electricity.
c) These machines may have rotating or linear moving parts.
d) The rotating electric machine is different from a transformer, which is also an energy
converter, changing the voltage level of an alternating current, having no moving parts.

ACTIVITY
Select a topic from a course curriculum and identify two abstract and two concrete
concepts. Write at least two attributes for each.

3.3 Principles
A principle (which includes rules or laws) is a statement of relationship between two or more
concepts. These are universally accepted statements and called generalizations. These are
expressed in the form IF-THEN. They represent cause effect relationships also. For example,
Induction motor and transformer are the electric machines, which work on the principle of
electromagnetic induction. It is the process in which an electromagnetic force is induced in a
closed circuit, due to changes in the magnetic field around the circuit.

The teacher needs to identify various principles, rules and laws, in the topic and explain
them with examples and non-examples as well as situations where principle is applicable

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

and situations where it is not applicable. Learning of concepts and principles is very
important in education in general and technical education in particular. Such learning
enhances the ability of the learners to solve problems in various situations.

Example of law: Newton’s first law of motion (also called Law of Inertia) states that 'An
object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and
in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force'. This statement shows
relationship between different concepts such as object in motion, speed, direction, external
force, etc.

Example of rules - Fleming’s right hand rule, Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule, Right-hand Thumb
Rule, and so on.

3.4 Procedures
Procedures are generally a standardized way of doing certain operations, which is an
integration of concepts, rules, laws and principles. Teacher must identify these procedures
and teach accordingly. For example,
• Procedure for using standard tables, charts, graphs etc.
• Procedure for designing certain components, structures etc.
• Standard test procedures according to BIS standards
• Procedure to pour concrete in forms and vibrating it.
• Procedure to start an engine
• Procedure to operate a machine.
The procedures are understood and followed best when the students are made to follow
them in some planned situations or assignments.

3.5 Applications
Transfer of learning to a new situation is an important element of learning. Student can
solve a new problem by applying the knowledge of concepts, rules, laws or principles. For
example,
• Ohm’s law can be applied to know current, when voltage and resistance are known.
• Design of machine component, or a structure can be made following certain rules.
• Right hand thumb rule can be used to determine direction of current and magnetic
field in a current carrying conductor.
• Principle of four bar mechanism is used in various machine designs.
• Based on the principles, laws, rules learned by the students, they may discover a new
relationship or principle while dealing with a completely new situation or problem.
Through the activity of problem-solving students learn higher order principles and
other concepts on their own.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

4.0 METHODOLOGY OF CURRICULUM ANALYSIS

Whenever we select a topic from a course for curriculum/content analysis, it is advisable to
identify the highest level of learning outcomes for the students. Such learning outcomes
guide us in deciding the depth and scope of the topic. The subject matter/content can be
divided into its various constituent components. For doing so, spray diagram and concept
map are very much helpful. While developing a spray diagram, main topic can be written in
an oval shape at the centre of an A3 size sheet (42 cm x 29.7 cm). The topic is then
bifurcated and extended into number of sub-topics, sub-sub-topics up to facts, concept
levels. A spray diagram can be developed in any word processing software or by using a
Google Drawing Tool. Figure 2 is an example of such a spray diagram. Thick lines in this spray
diagram indicate direct relationship between the topics and dotted lines indicate indirect
linkages. As a teacher if you prepare such a spray diagram on each topic, this will help you in
deciding the scope and depth of the topic, logical sequencing of the content, formulating
learning outcomes, planning for effective delivery of the content, designing media and
learning resources, formulating questions for formative as well as summative assessment,
deciding laboratory experiences to be given to the students, deciding topics for micro-
projects and for self-learning.

Spray diagram can also be used to map concepts. Novak (Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas, 2008)
defined concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They
include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships
between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts (Figure 3). Words on
the line, referred to as linking words or linking phrases, specify the relationship between the
two concepts. Proposition is combination of two or more concepts connected using linking
words or phrases to form a meaningful statement.

The concept map such as shown in Figure 3 can be developed using software available
online. One of such free software is CmapTools (IHMC, 2019). Teachers as well as students
can use this software for developing concept maps. These could be stored on cloud and
shared to the world through this software.

Concept map could be developed considering learning outcome placed at the top and then
developing related concepts, laws, principles to achieve that learning outcome. One such
example is shown in Figure 4

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

Figure 2: Spray Diagram of topic on Induction Motor (Kedar, 2012)

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

Figure 3 Concept Map of topic on Induction Motor (Kedar)

Figure 4: Concept map based on Learning Outcome (Kedar)

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

Based on the concept map developed, identify various characteristics or attributes of every
concept you need to explain in the class. This will facilitate you to decide about the teaching
method, teaching strategy, instructional media and assessment criteria to be used.
The strengths of concept maps (Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas, 2008) are many:
• Concept maps are not only used as a learning tool but also as an evaluation tool.
• They are effective in identifying both valid and invalid ideas held by students.
• They facilitate meaningful learning and serve as a kind of template or scaffold to help to
organize knowledge and to structure it.
• Concept maps are visual representation of knowledge and our brains have a remarkable
capacity for acquiring and retaining visual images. They not only permit utilization of the
knowledge in new contexts, but also the retention of the knowledge for long periods of
time.
• Many researches have shown that our brain works to organize knowledge in hierarchical
frameworks and that learning approaches that facilitate this process significantly
enhance the learning capability of all learners.
Note- Now you are expected to complete the Assignment

5.0 CONCLUSION
For effective instructional planning and delivery of the content in an instructional
environment, analysis of the topic becomes the foremost activity the teacher needs to do.
By analysing the course content, the teacher can identify facts, concepts, rules, laws,
principles, procedures, applications in the course; formulate learning outcomes; decide the
content sequence; decide about the instructional media required; plan for laboratory and
project work and decide about the assessment strategies. Development of different types of
spray diagrams as discussed here helps the teacher to conduct content analysis
systematically using visual representation of the knowledge.

You may use open source software available online for developing spray diagrams and
concept maps. It is recommended to develop concept maps on every topic in the course
which will help you to effectively plan and implement the instructional delivery.

*******

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

6.0 REFERENCES

Banthiya, N. K. (1999, July 3). Module 7 Development of Curriculum for a Subject/ Programme. UK-
REC Project on Development of Competency-based Self Learning Module. Bhopal, Madhya
Pradesh, India: TTTI, Bhopal.

IHMC. (2019). CMAP. Retrieved from Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition (IHMC):
https://cmap.ihmc.us/

Kedar, S. S. (2012). Effectiveness of Different multimedia designs with respect to achievement of

engineering students with differing learning styles. NITTTR, Bhopal, Electronic Media. Bhopal:
S. S. Kedar.

Novak, J. D. & A. J. Cañas. (2008). The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and
Use Them. Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. IHMC CmapTools . Retrieved April 02,
2019, from http://cmap.ihmc.us/docs/pdf/TheoryUnderlyingConceptMaps.pdf

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L2: Mapping for Curriculum Analysis

ASSIGNMENT

Select a topic from your course curriculum and prepare a concept map using open source
software like CmapTools.

DISCUSSION FORUM

Discuss the benefits of concept map for the topic analysis.

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