Kern’s 6-Step Method to Curriculum Development
| . | Description . |
|---|---|
| Problem identification and general needs assessment | Identify a general or specific focus for the curriculum and describe it in a clear manner |
| Analyze the gap between the current approach to the issue and the ideal approach | |
| Targeted needs assessment | Assess the needs of the targeted learners, including previous training and experience, baseline knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and preferred approaches |
| Assess the learning environment, related existing curricula, needs of stakeholders other than the learners, and barriers to implementation | |
| Goals and objectives | Goals: broad, general statements of what you want to accomplish |
| Objectives: more specific and focus on knowledge, attitudes, and skills by using action verbs that target the level of expected competency | |
| Should be framed as, “Who will do how much of what by when?” | |
| Educational strategies | Educational methods should be chosen that best fit the type of objective and will most likely achieve the goals and objectives. |
| Examples include lectures, small group evaluations, online modules, hands-on procedural training, etc. | |
| Implementation | Steps include |
| Identify resources | |
| Obtain support | |
| Develop administrative mechanisms to support the curriculum | |
| Anticipate and address barriers | |
| Plan to introduce the curriculum | |
| Evaluation and feedback | Assess the learning outcomes and promote continuous improvement |
| Incorporate learner assessment methods that are feasible and measure the desired competency | |
| Used to provide formative feedback and outcome measures | |
| Establish methods for evaluating the efficacy of the curriculum components in achieving the desired learner outcome |
| . | Description . |
|---|---|
| Problem identification and general needs assessment | Identify a general or specific focus for the curriculum and describe it in a clear manner |
| Analyze the gap between the current approach to the issue and the ideal approach | |
| Targeted needs assessment | Assess the needs of the targeted learners, including previous training and experience, baseline knowledge, skills, and attitudes, and preferred approaches |
| Assess the learning environment, related existing curricula, needs of stakeholders other than the learners, and barriers to implementation | |
| Goals and objectives | Goals: broad, general statements of what you want to accomplish |
| Objectives: more specific and focus on knowledge, attitudes, and skills by using action verbs that target the level of expected competency | |
| Should be framed as, “Who will do how much of what by when?” | |
| Educational strategies | Educational methods should be chosen that best fit the type of objective and will most likely achieve the goals and objectives. |
| Examples include lectures, small group evaluations, online modules, hands-on procedural training, etc. | |
| Implementation | Steps include |
| Identify resources | |
| Obtain support | |
| Develop administrative mechanisms to support the curriculum | |
| Anticipate and address barriers | |
| Plan to introduce the curriculum | |
| Evaluation and feedback | Assess the learning outcomes and promote continuous improvement |
| Incorporate learner assessment methods that are feasible and measure the desired competency | |
| Used to provide formative feedback and outcome measures | |
| Establish methods for evaluating the efficacy of the curriculum components in achieving the desired learner outcome |
Adapted from Thomas PA, Kern DE, Hughes MT, Chen BY. Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six-Step Approach. 3rd ed. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2016:6-9.