Developing Problem-Based Curriculum

The purpose of this book is to demonstrate the integration of a strategy for integrating the use of open-ended scenario based curriculum that focuses on problems with a multidisciplinary curriculum model. Developing a problem-based curriculum in this way requires the developer to identify a current real world problem and define that problem within the context of the Critical Thinking Curriculum Model (CTCM). As defined previously, the CTCM is built on four primary aspects including educational components, the technology components, the assessment components and the community components.

The use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as a context for this approach is also fundamental, as is aligning the goals and objectives of the curriculum to the national and state standards as needed in the classroom. The planning process is paramount in this approach, and this book offers not only a method for designing and developing a problem-based curriculum, but also offers a guided process to follow. There is also a sample curriculum that further shows the process in a pragmatic and practical manner.

The goal of this book is to help provide educators and students opportunities to engage in critical thinking opportunities that will increase the abilities of individuals to better understand the world in which they live and to contribute to the development of solutions. The opportunity to engage students in real world activities that require the use of analysis and synthesis in the process of developing and presenting a plan of action is to model how real change and real thinking take place in the real world.