Discuss the forces that influence social sciences curriculum
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Social factors influence every aspect of curriculum development, including the content covered, media and and strategies used. The learner comes with a whole context around them: what they like/don’t like, what they can do, what they respect, what technology they have access to.. It’s a huge factor that can make or break a curriculum. A few quick examples might illustrate:
Developing a curriculum about for pilots. Our audience was primarily Asian and we had to figure out how to teach a young co-pilot to how to challenge their superior if they disagreed with their assessment of a situation. This is typically frowned upon in these cultures, so we needed to emphasize aspects of duty (related to passenger safety) and provide new role models.
Developing a curriculum for engineers who are suspect of anyone without proven experience. We included many videos and stories from seasoned professionals.
Developing a curriculum for vehicle maintenance technicians who can do anything with their hands, but don’t like long expository text: We broke content into small chunks and focused on scenarios where they get to solve problems.
Developing curriculum for northern indigenous community involved in mining. Everyone has a smartphone but few people have desktop or laptops, so we built it all to work on mobile with low connectivity. Small chunks.
Developing a curriculum for grocery store clerks (mostly teens) who need excitement to stay engaged. We turned the curriculum into a game where they win by recognizing fruits/vegetables and answering common questions correctly.
The key to getting this right is to do a proper needs analysis which explores the learner population and the context that they will learn in. Then, prototype and test with real learners and adjust as needed. If you understand the constraints/opportunities that come from social factors, you can work with them to craft something that will be truly useful
Developing a curriculum about for pilots. Our audience was primarily Asian and we had to figure out how to teach a young co-pilot to how to challenge their superior if they disagreed with their assessment of a situation. This is typically frowned upon in these cultures, so we needed to emphasize aspects of duty (related to passenger safety) and provide new role models.
Developing a curriculum for engineers who are suspect of anyone without proven experience. We included many videos and stories from seasoned professionals.
Developing a curriculum for vehicle maintenance technicians who can do anything with their hands, but don’t like long expository text: We broke content into small chunks and focused on scenarios where they get to solve problems.
Developing curriculum for northern indigenous community involved in mining. Everyone has a smartphone but few people have desktop or laptops, so we built it all to work on mobile with low connectivity. Small chunks.
Developing a curriculum for grocery store clerks (mostly teens) who need excitement to stay engaged. We turned the curriculum into a game where they win by recognizing fruits/vegetables and answering common questions correctly.
The key to getting this right is to do a proper needs analysis which explores the learner population and the context that they will learn in. Then, prototype and test with real learners and adjust as needed. If you understand the constraints/opportunities that come from social factors, you can work with them to craft something that will be truly useful
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