Higher Education Curriculum and Program Planning(Future Directions Research Paper

Higher Education Curriculum and Program Planning(Future Directions Question ) - Research Paper Example For a suitable professional in the current employment forum, graduates should uphold skills that will help them make informed decisions and possess significant communication, leadership, organizational, problem solving and technical skills. Therefore, the curriculum in place should be able to offer proper and required expertise in executing various tasks that a professional job demands and generally require (College Placement Council, 1994). Curriculum change has been fundamental in ensuring that it conquers with the major changing trends in the global business environment where these changes and late developments have significant implications for the reform of the professional education programs. This however has resulted to rising innovation, better organizational adaptability and flexibility, hence overall improved productivity (AACU, 2002). Future of curricular design Considering the changing business environment, the future of the curricular design is an evolving one that involv es considerations that are integrated in trainees’ deliberate decisions about education goals, content, instructional materials and methods, and assessment within social-cultural and organizational contexts. In examining these continuous changes, there is a reflection on various factors that influence these changes as explained as follows. Curriculum history Curriculum has been changing but its time past has been in question because students used to passively received information and acquired information that did not connect or conquer with the contexts where it would be used. For instance, in courses that require technical knowhow, the curriculum did not match with the demands of the career that requires trainees to posses certain skills that will help improve the productivity of the organization. In the chronology of a changing curriculum, assessment was mainly used to monitor the students learning, with the major criteria being articulation of the right answers. Students t ypically worked as individuals rather than organizing them in study groups and engages each other in discussions that would impove their understanding. The main objective of the colleges by then was just to transfer knowledge from the faculty to students as the curriculum provided through score sheets such as multiple choices. However, due to the upcoming requirements and changing environment, the curriculum has been reformed at a greater significance (Van, 1995). Forces influencing curriculum design The demands of a transforming society with varying needs and a competitive global market have greatly influenced design for the curriculum. Various innovations that are upcoming requiring specialized expertise have mostly affected the design for the curriculum to actually demonstrate what the trainees will be faced with in the market. An economy that is growing in a competitive region and latest inventions will need a form of learning that will equip graduates with necessary skill to co unter the challenges presented in these developments and even improve the innovations such us in engineering and medical fields. Currently, various faculties have embraced the learning centered paradigm as they create and implement major curriculum reforms. Accreditation also has played a pivotal