Curriculum Development

The Process of Curriculum Development 

Abstract
Childhood obesity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries and is showing no signs of abating. The causes of obesity in adolescence are extremely complex, and therefore approaches to prevention and treatments must be multifaceted. Early adolescence is a developmental period when youth are becoming more independent, are influenced by peers, and are making more decisions related to their own health and lifestyles. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a multilevel school-based intervention program for middle school students in the Teen Eating and Activity Mentoring in Schools (TEAMS) project. Critical components of success included an interdisciplinary approach, applying available curricula to meet contextual characteristics, and involvement of all stakeholders in planning, evaluating, and refining the program.
EVALUATION

What is evaluation? Evaluation is the process of collecting data on a programme to determine its value or worth with the aim of deciding whether to adopt, reject, or revise the programme. Programmes are evaluated to answer questions and concerns of various parties. The public want to know whether the curriculum implemented has achieved its aims and objectives; teachers want to know whether what they are doing in the classroom is effective; and the developer or planner wants to know how to improve the curriculum product.

CURRICULUM EVALUATION

  * McNeil (1977) states that “curriculum evaluation is an attempt to throw light on two questions: Do planned learning opportunities, programmes, courses and activities as developed and organised actually produce desired results? How can the curriculum offerings best be improved?” (p.134).

  * Ornstein and Hunkins (1998) define curriculum evaluation as “a process or cluster of processes that people perform in order to gather data that will enable them to decide whether to...