Sequencing the Curriculum

A Differing Approach to Scope & Sequence

Typical Scope & SequenceProvides a linear march through the

curriculumDetailed and patient explanationTwo other (beyond linear) logical

organizational structures for curriculum: Narrative Application

Student MisunderstandingCurriculum is often derived from the

one-stop, one-way march through textbooks

To teach the textbook only (without other resources) may exacerbate misunderstandings

Form Follows FunctionThe Spiral Curriculum: A spiral of

big ideas, important tasks, ever increasing complexityUsing engaging problems and

sophisticated applications to deliver learning experiences

A Natural Unfolding of Lessons

Traditional (linear) curriculum delivery is so natural and familiar that we have a difficult time seeing its weaknesses. Read about it, learn basic definitions, basic

elements, axioms, parts, and then build in a clear sequence

And yet, this is not how we best learn many things

We Typically learn:Just enough to accomplish a given

taskWhen is the last time you read an

entire software manual before using the software?

We learn by failing a few timesWhen is the last time you allowed

students to fail first?

The Narrative CurriculumConsider curriculum as a storyStories rarely lay out all facts and

ideas in a step-by-step fashionAlthough they are sometimes

illogical and incomplete, stories are much more likely to

engage the reader

The Power of a StoryWe do not easily remember what

other people have said if they do not tell it in the form of a story During learning: We hear in the form of a

story things that we have personally experienced

An ExampleProblem-based learning (PBL) is a

narrative-based curriculumStudents are thrust into problem

situations immediately Much like a reader is thrust into the middle

of a story, from which they must find their way out

In PBL, students meet an ill-structured problem before they receive any instructions

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

People don’t need the whole subject laid out to master a challenge

A step-by-step series of lessons explaining each piece of the automobile and its function prior to ever touching the car is not the best way to understand how it works or how to fix it!

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

Much important teaching occurs after, not before, students attempt to perform—when students are ready to hear and grasp its value.

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

The presence of a mystery or dilemmaThe most basic feature of all

compelling stories (or problems)We are placed into an

environment that has to figured out

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

Storytellers are great teachersInstead of presenting a

straightforward sequence of events, the storyteller deliberately raises questions and delays answering them

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

Think of a course designed to provide drama, to offer surprises, twists, and turns

Think of how your curriculum might be designed by Stephen King or Steven Spielberg

Can you think of examples

Narrative Curricular Design (continued)

What drives a story, what makes it worth telling is trouble: Some misfit between the characters, their

actions, the goals of the story, the setting, and the means.

A good story centers on what is essential—a big idea

3 Questions Answered in a Narrative-driven Curriculum

What do we know?What do we need to know?How can we find out?

5 Essential Elements of a Narrative Curriculum

1. Identifying importance• What is most important about this topic?• Why should it matter to students?• What is engaging about it?

5 Essential Elements of a Narrative Curriculum

2. Finding binary opposites• What opposites best catch the

importance of the topic

5 Essential Elements of a Narrative Curriculum

3. Organizing content into story form• What content most dramatically

embodies the opposites

5 Essential Elements of a Narrative Curriculum

4. Conclusion• What is the best way of resolving

the conflicts between the opposites• How do we solve the conflict

5 Essential Elements of a Narrative Curriculum

5. Evaluation• How can one know whether the

topic has been understood, its importance grasped, and the content learned