Whether you're a first-year teacher at a high school or a veteran university professor, you

know that developing an effective curriculum is a core component of providing a successful

education. As any educator knows, the literature and philosophy surrounding the concept of
curriculum have evolved over the years. Today the term can be broadly used to encompass
the entire plan for a course, including the learning objectives, teaching strategies, materials,
and assessments. Generally, curriculum development is the process by which an instructor or
institution creates or adopts that plan for a course. Because this subject is so broad, it can be
difficult to wade through the noise to find up-to-date best practices. There are also many
schools of thought for how best to approach the curriculum development process. With an
overwhelming amount of advice available, how do you know who to listen to so that you can
develop a curriculum that makes sense for you and your course? At Skyepack, we're driven to
help professors and teachers provide the best learning experience possible for their students.
We equip instructors with customized course materials built to align with their curricula, so
we understand the importance of a thoughtful development process. In this guide, we'll walk
through everything you need to know to develop your curriculum, including: Frequently
asked questions about curriculum development Common models of curriculum development
Skyepack's curriculum development process There will never be a one-size-fits-all
curriculum that works for every environment, even for the same subject matter. In this article,
you'll learn why (and how) to develop a curriculum that is tailored to the needs of your
students. Let's get started!

What is curriculum development? Curriculum development is the multi-step process of

creating and improving a course.Curriculum development is the multi-step process of
creating and improving a course. Curriculum development is the multi-step process of
creating and improving a course taught at a school or university. While the exact process will
vary from institution to institution, the broad framework includes stages of analysis, building,
implementation, and evaluation. In K-12 schools, curricula are often developed at a local or
state level to result in standardized learning outcomes across different schools. At the college
level, instructors may get more individual flexibility to develop their own curricula. Either
way, the individual or group is responsible for planning a course (and choosing strong
corresponding course materials) that effectively accomplishes educational goals and meets
student needs. Ideally, the curriculum development process should be one of continuous
improvement rather than a linear or stagnant approach. Plans for instruction should be
frequently reviewed, revised, and updated as new and different needs arise. Change may be
required due to subject-area discoveries, innovations in instructional best practices, or shifts
in course delivery such as the pivot to remote teaching.

Why is a concrete curriculum development strategy valuable for learners? Students also
benefit from strong curriculum development.Students also benefit from strong curriculum
development. In addition to providing benefits for teachers, curriculum development is a
useful structure for learners. Curriculum development allows teachers to take a thoughtful
and methodical approach to determine what students will be required to learn. The early
phases of the process involve deep research and analysis to ensure that students get the best
education possible. Additionally, one of the most effective approaches for course
development specifically addresses the needs of learners. We'll cover learner-centered design
later in this article. Are there different curriculum development processes or models? First,
there are generally two types of curriculum models: the product model and the process
model. The model you choose to follow will influence the steps you'll take to develop the
course. Entire textbooks have been written on these long-standing models, but here's a brief
explanation of each to make sure everyone is on the same page: Product model. Also known
as the objectives model, this model focuses on evaluations, outcomes, and results. It
determines what learning has occurred. If you need to develop a curriculum that prioritizes
standardized test scores, you'll need to adhere to the product model. Generally, this model is
thought to be more rigid and more difficult to adapt to your students' unique needs, but it
does provide quantitative learning assessments. Process model. This model focuses on how
learning develops over time. There's an emphasis on how the students are learning, and what
thoughts they have throughout the process. This approach is more open-ended and considers
the overall growth and development of a student rather than their performance on an exam.
Consider the characteristics of each model as well as any institutional requirements you need
to adhere to. You may already have a strong preference for one of the two! It is also possible
to develop a curriculum that values both product and process. Once you've determined what
type of curriculum you want to create, it's time to choose an approach. There are three widely
accepted methodologies for curriculum design: Subject-centered Problem-centered Learner-
centered We'll explore each of these in greater detail later on so that you can determine which
curriculum development strategy makes the most sense for your course. What's the difference
between curriculum development and instructional design? You've likely encountered the
concept of instructional design while researching curriculum development. So what is
instructional design, and how does it compare to the process of developing a curriculum?
Instructional design (often abbreviated as ID or referred to as learning design) is the
systematic process of designing and creating a high-quality educational experience. ID is a
multi-step approach that prioritizes the needs of the learner at every phase. Elevate your
curriculum development process with the latest instructional design trends.Elevate your
curriculum development process with the latest instructional design trends. In some cases, the
term is used interchangeably with curriculum development, but the two have some key
differences. As some education experts put it: Curriculum development is what students will
learn, while instructional design is how students will learn it. When it comes to creating a
truly high-quality educational experience for your students, the two go hand in hand, but here
we're focusing primarily on the concept of curriculum development. What are the steps of
curriculum development? Depending on your approach, curriculum development can have
many different steps.Depending on your approach, curriculum development can have many
different steps. Generally, the steps to curriculum development will fall into a rough
framework that mirrors many instructional design approaches. Each process looks something
like this: Analysis Design Selecting Formation Review For the best results, you'll want to
choose a framework that looks at these steps as a cycle rather than a linear process. This
ensures you can continue revising your curriculum even once your course is underway. We'll
walk through the steps of one cyclical process later in this post when we explore Skyepack's
iterative six-step approach to curriculum development. What are the challenges of curriculum
development? With so many steps to follow, curriculum development is not a simple or easy
process. Instructors across all education levels may also face additional obstacles that make
the process more difficult or time-consuming. Some of these challenges include: Institutional
requirements. You may need to conform to standards set by your state's board of education or
by institutional administration. This may mean covering mate

What are the challenges of curriculum development? With so many steps to follow,
curriculum development is not a simple or easy process. Instructors across all education
levels may also face additional obstacles that make the process more difficult or time-
consuming. Some of these challenges include: Institutional requirements. You may need to
conform to standards set by your state's board of education or by institutional administration.
This may mean covering material that will be assessed by standardized tests, requiring you to
incorporate product-focused curricular elements. Or it may mean including certain types of
course objectives. Long waits for development experts. Your institution may have trained
curriculum experts on staff to help professors with course development. Unfortunately, there
is usually a much higher demand than these small teams have the capacity for, leading to
long wait times. Gathering relevant required materials. Once the curriculum is mostly
outlined, instructors will need to search for the right required materials to align with course
objectives. Often, it's difficult (and sometimes impossible) to find an option that is affordable
for students and works well for your course. This is too often the case with both textbooks
and e-textbooks from traditional publishers, but new options like custom digital course
materials can alleviate these concerns. Between the many challenges and the complex steps
involved, many instructors may feel they aren't up to the task of developing an effective
curriculum on their own. In this case, an expert course content creator could help simplify
and streamline the process. There are three basic models of curriculum development.There
are three basic models of curriculum development. Common Curriculum Development
Models Earlier, we listed the different course design models you're likely to come across.
We'll now walk through each of them in greater depth so you can understand what they are
and how you might apply them to your course.

Subject-Centered This model emphasizes the specific skills and knowledge associated with a
subject area. Most kinds of widely standardized curriculum fall under the subject-centered
approach. It's the most common approach used throughout K-12 schools in the U.S, but it's
also found throughout college classrooms, especially in large 1000-level lecture classes.
When you hear the term "core curriculum," it's referring to a subject-centered approach.
While this model intends to create equal learning experience across different schools and
classes, it doesn't always work out that way in practice. Because this approach is not student-
centered, it can lead to a lack of engagement and potentially lower performance.
Additionally, this approach leaves little room for cross-subject connections. Curriculum
development has many real-life applications.Curriculum development has many real-life
applications. Example: If you're teaching an introductory European history course, a subject-
centered curriculum may include covering the details and key players of major wars.
Problem-Centered This approach aims to provide students with relevant real-world skills.
Learners are taught how to look at a problem and come to a solution. Some benefits of this
approach are an increased emphasis on critical thinking, a focus on collaboration, and more
innovation in the classroom. Students still learn key skills and knowledge, but with additional
context. Curriculum development theory can be applied in the field.Curriculum development
theory can be applied in the field. Example: A problem-centered approach to teaching a
public relations course might involve tasking a group of students with assessing a real
business's PR strategy and developing an actionable campaign. Learner-Centered Learner-
centered design emphasizes the needs and goals of each learner as an individual. With this
approach, you'll analyze the preexisting knowledge and learning styles of your students. The
needs of your learners will guide your curriculum development process. Generally, this type
of curriculum development aligns most closely with a process-focused curriculum. There are
many examples that show how curriculum development is used.There are many examples
that show how curriculum development is used. Example: One way to incorporate learner-
centered design into your curriculum is by inviting students to fill out a pre-course survey to
see what they already know about your subject and what areas they are most interested in
learning. This can be especially beneficial for upper-level courses—hopefully, students are
coming in with a solid foundation of knowledge, but a learner-centered approach uses data
rather than assumptions to determine curricular goals. For a comprehensive curriculum that
strikes an ideal balance for your course, learners, and subject area, you'll want to include
elements from each of these models. A fully customized and comprehensive approach to
curriculum design will yield the best results for your course over time. Skyepack's digital
course materials use the best components from each approach to curriculum
development.Skyepack's digital course materials use the best components from each
approach to curriculum development. The Skyepack process to curriculum development has
6 steps.The Skyepack process to curriculum development has 6 steps. Skyepack's Curriculum
Development Process With so many different approaches and steps available, you're probably
wondering what curriculum development actually looks like when you put it into practice. At
Skyepack, we use an iterative approach to develop course materials and curriculum. Based on
Agile methodology, our process aligns with best practices in both improvement design and
learner-centered curricula. Rather than a linear list of steps, our approach is a six-step cycle:
analyze, research, design, curate, build, and launch. Skyepack's curriculum development
process is an iterative cycle.Skyepack's curriculum development process is an iterative cycle.
We use these steps to build affordable, dynamic, and engaging learning materials that meet
the needs of both students and professors. While we focus primarily on building custom
course materials, these steps can also be applied for a more comprehensive curriculum
overhaul. Let's walk through a more detailed explanation of the entire process. Step 1:
Analyze Like any strong curriculum development process, our design strategy begins with a
thorough exploration of the needs of both instructors and students. In this stage, we work to
understand the instructor's current instructional practices so that we can create targeted
materials. Step 2: Research Next, we dive deep to find resources that cover the relevant
educational subjects and fulfill the objectives of the course. Based on what we find, we can
also identify areas for overall curriculum improvement based on the needs of students. Step
3: Design Our custom design p
p 4: Curate We leverage content from a variety of sources, including: Peer-reviewed open
source content Instructor created content Custom Skyepack-created content Third-party
licensed content Our curation process ensures professors can use the best content available—
without having to conduct any of the time-consuming searches. Step 5: Build Based on the
data and content we gathered in the previous steps, we build the course. The process is a
collaborative one, so the instructor gets insight into the entire process, as well as the ability to
review and revise the course. Step 6: Launch We launch the course with day-one access for
students and easy access to (human) tech support. And remember, this is an iterative process,
so launch day isn't the end of the road. We encourage each professor to get feedback from
students so we can make continuous improvements to the course. For real-life results from
Skyepack digital course materials after launch day, check out our case studies. When done
correctly, process-driven curriculum development strategies will set your course up for long-
term success. With the right framework at your fingertips, you'll be equipped to make
improvements as circumstances change for your students, your subject, and society. Once
you have your course plans in place, you may want to consider partnering with educational
design experts to create custom digital course materials that actively support your unique
curriculum. This ensures a student-focused approach across all areas of your course for more
effective learning outcomes.