In this assignment, you will determine best practices for developing a curriculum. When most people think of the term curriculum, they will immediately connect it to academia. Curriculum is not exclusive to academia, however. It applies to any planned course of study that consists of intentional instructional practices, learning experiences, and performance assessments that would enable learners to acquire specific knowledge and skills. Based on this definition, curriculum also applies to a clinical nurse educator who develops lesson plans designed to facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge by both nurses and patients. The key component is that it is planned. In other words, the curriculum has an established goal to achieve, and in order to achieve that goal, a nurse educator will make intentional choices involving the content that will be covered, how the content will be presented, the activities designed to enhance learning, and provide a means for assessment. All of these components are intentionally selected and planned in order to most effectively produce the intended outcome.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper analyzing best practices for curriculum development. In your paper, you will:
- Identify the nurse educator’s roles and responsibilities for developing and revising the curriculum.
- Select a general topic for your curriculum. This should be a basic curriculum that is not overly involved or complicated. Examples include pneumonia, anticoagulation therapy, asthma, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart failure, etc.
- Define learning outcomes that you want learners to acquire as a result of the curriculum. What knowledge, skills, and behaviors should the learner acquire? The outcomes must be measurable and have an established standard.
- Choose 2 learning theories from the following:
- Cognitive learning theory
- Behavioral learning theory
- Constructivist learning theory
- Humanistic learning theory (adult learning theory)
- Connectivist learning theory
- Transformative learning theory
- Social learning theory
- Experiential learning theory
- Provide an overview of both learning theories you selected.
- Explain the primary principles of each learning theory.
- For each learning theory do the following:
- Develop a general curriculum for the topic and learning outcomes you identified. Use the learning theory as a guide for developing the curriculum that will result in achieving the learning outcomes.
- The curriculum must reflect its specific learning theory and be comprised of specific learning standards, lessons, assignments, and materials that are used to organize and teach the material in a manner that will facilitate the learners’ achievement of the learning objectives.
- Define how learners will be assessed.
- Formative assessments
- Summative assessments
- Explain how the assessments will be used.
- Identify the standard you will use as a benchmark.
- Compare and contrast the 2 curricula to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each theory as a conceptual basis for teaching and learning strategies within a nursing curriculum.
Cite a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed scholarly sources to support your assignment.
Format your assignment and references according to APA guidelines.
