In the past, curricula and courses of study have been mainly subject-oriented and based on the presentation of a body of knowledge in a particular discipline in a formal, logical sequence. Curricula of this nature did not necessarily take into account the personal differences and interests of the students. Presently, curriculum developers are considering both subject-oriented programs and those which are student-oriented. Students in student-oriented programs are allowed to choose freely from the given learning activities available to them. A student-oriented program may be organized in a variety of ways and methods. Examples of such programs include Project PLAN,' learning centers, independent study, criterion referenced testing, and student-developed goals and objectives.The primary purpose of the curriculum presented here is to provide guidelines for teaching American urban history at the secondary level; the program may also be used as a supplement to a United States history course. In both cases this curriculum is made up of several units with the content following a chronological progression. The units included treat urban life in relation to the colonial period, the American Revolution, the frontier period, Western expansion, the great waves of immigration, the rise of bossism, and the suburban thrust. In addition, there is a unit on the medieval city to be used as background material at the instructor's discretion. Cognitive and affective objectives are included in each unit. For each cognitive objective there are several learning activities designed to aid students in its achievement. The writer has suggested how many activities should be completed by each student in order to achieve the particular objectives. However, the final decision on how many activities are needed for each student should rest with the teacher and the student. Each unit also includes a pre-test and a post-test. The purpose for the pre-test is to determine individual learning needs, experiences, and current mastery of the subject in order for the instructor to formulate teaching strategies. In the writer's opinion the post-test should be used to determine whether students have acquired various concepts and generalizations from the activities. Should a student fail the post-test, the teacher is responsible for re-directing the student to another means for meeting the objective. Both the instructor and the learner must work together to aid the learner in understanding the goals and objectives.The philosophy behind this curriculum is based on the work of John Dewey who emphasized the importance of experience, experimentation, and learning by doing. Dewey's pedagogy, sometimes called experimentalism, relies on experiential learning. Experimentalism assumes ideals are tested and emerge from the stresses and strains of daily problem-solving. These ideals guide human decision-making processes and values. Urban history offers students a chance to examine their values and the ones which motivate the people around them. By providing knowledge, skills, and values in their proper perspective, this urban history course should establish a firm link between the individual and his perception of and behavior toward, social and civic affairs outside of the school.Although this curriculum has not been field-tested, curricula which have basic assumptions similar to this one, have been field-tested by a number of commercial firms. Project PLAN of the Westinghouse Learning Corporation has demonstrated that the objectives of this curriculum can be achieved if properly taught. This curriculum is unique in its emphasis of American urban history at the secondary level.'American Institutes For Research and The Westinghouse Learning Corporation, Pro ect PLAN (New York: Westinghouse Learning Corporation, 1973).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/178111 |
| Date | January 1976 |
| Creators | Mattern, Dianna |
| Contributors | Schmidt, Lester F. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 188 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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