Identifying and Selecting Curriculum Materials

Chapter 9

Types of Curriculum Materials

Printed Materialteacher manualsstudent manualstextbooksworkbooksmodulesstudy guides

Types of Curriculum Materials

Audiovisual Materialsvideotapestransparenciescomputer softwareInternet sitespostersgraphics

Types of Curriculum Materials

Manipulative Aids- must be physically handled

experimentsgamesmodelsspecimenspuzzles

Need for Securing Curriculum Materials

• Wise use of all resources• Lack of time to make all materials from

scratch• Costs- may be cheaper to buy• Quality Control- Most curriculum materials

have been field tested and revised.

Selecting Curriculum Materials

• Must be carried out in a planned logical sequence

• See a sample Materials Assessment Form in Appendix A of the text

Curriculum Materials Assessment Form-

Appendix A-p.302

• Section I- General Information.This information will be important in filing and referring to the material at a later date for ordering and etc.

Curriculum Materials Assessment Form

• Section II- Assessment Areas

Is the material bias?sex-role stereotyping (Figure 9-1 Sex bias awareness guide p.212.)

ethnic, race or age biasjob denigration -to belittle or defame

ECO- Sex Bias

• Pratt (1980) created a procedure called ECO (evaluation coefficient analysis).

1. Identify the subject to be studied2. List all value terms (positive or negative) about the

subject3. Multiply the number of positive terms by 100 and

divide by the combined total number of positive and negative terms

ECO

• 0.0-50.0 represents material containing unfavorable content

• 50.0-100 indicates material with favorable content

Curriculum Materials Assessment Form

• Section II- Assessment Areas

Is the material at the correct reading level (readability?)

Readability

Procedures to determine readability:

• Flesch formula• Cloze Procedure• Forecast formula

Flesch Formula

• You can go to a web site cut and paste text and it does the work for you

• Or you can go to Flesch’s website and use his formula for yourself

Sample Flesch Formula Analysis Results

• Flesch Formula Analysis

• Text Statistics• Number of Sentences: 136

Number of Words: 1678Number of Syllables: 2443

• Analysis Results• Flesch Score: 71

Reading Age: 12 yearsText Difficulty: Fairly Easy

• Analysis Successful

Cloze Procedure- requires student testing

1. Select sample paragraphs2. Retype the first and last sentence as it appears. For

the second and succeeding sentences omit every fifth word until there are 50 blanks.

3. Have students read, reread and fill in the blanks.4. Score their responses- the words they provide

must match exactly

Cloze Procedure

• 23 or more correct responses- independent reading level

• 19-22 correct responses- instructional level- instructor assistance is needed

• Fewer than 19 correct responses- students are frustrated, material is too difficult to understand even with instructor assistance

Forecast Formula

• Select a 150 word passage• Count the number of one-syllable words• Use the following formula to determine reading

grade-level (RGL):20 - Number of one-syllable words = RGL

10

Curriculum Materials Assessment FormSection II- Assessment Areas

• Content- accuracy, up to date, appropriate?• Presentation- easy to use, appeal?

Curriculum Materials Assessment Form

Section II- Assessment Areas• Learning1. Principle of Association- does it build on

previous knowledge2. Principle of Practice- is student asked to apply

the content3. Principle of Effect- are the materials appealing4. Principle of Readiness- does the material

prepare the student for what follows

Curriculum Assessment

Section II- Assessment Areas

• Support- other needed resources?• Cost Benefit- is it reasonable?

Curriculum Assessment

Section III- Strengths and Limitations

Section IV- Assessment Summary

Software Assessment

• Basic Technical Aspects• Continuing Technical Aspects• Interface- user friendly• Try-Out- efficiency of use

Appendix B- p.308

Touchstones for Textbook Selection Inventory

• p. 217• Warming and Baber (1980)