In research, collaboration while designing the curriculum, design communities is approached from two perspectives. The first one is the individual teacher’s perspective and the main question is whether collaboration among teachers as design community members, leads to more effective teacher development. Teacher’s professional development can be characterized as the gain in pedagogical content knowledge. Four topics are highly relevant is this respect: (1) the process of designing curricular products by teachers; (2) effects of participation in communities and of collaboration among teachers; (3) curricular products as the main outcomes of the design process; and (4) providing computer-based support by external knowledge support and by knowledge produced and communicated by teachers and learners in the design process. The second perspective is the community’s perspective and the main question is whether results from curriculum and learning research are best to be implemented through a design project in which teachers take part. Actually research says that the assumption that collaboratively designing by teachers will lead to closing the gap between theory and practice.
In the integration of education, research and innovation working together as key drivers of the knowledge economy in delivering sustainable growth. The central research theme is participation and designing by teachers in curriculum design communities and the effectiveness of these factors on teachers’ professional development and curriculum innovation in science education. Research shows that curriculum implementation will be positively affected by involving teachers, to varying degrees, in shaping curricular products and learning scenarios in their own classrooms. Further the focus is on empirical and theoretical contributions to foster teachers’ professional development and to improve the relation of theory and practice in education, and focus on the practical implementation of these insights in empowering teachers by creating effective design environments in which they can collaboratively design curricular products and learning scenarios for their own classrooms. These are few factors that influence curriculum design viz: 1) political factors, 2) social factors, 3) economic factors, 4) technological factors, 5) environmental Factors, 6) student psychology. Care has to be taken that any curriculum needs to be developed in the light of the organization or context in which it is going to be delivered. A strategic issue which needs to be considered is whether the course design, delivery and management is centralized or decentralized. This is often out of the hands of individuals involved in course development but has impact on all aspects of curriculum development. Centralization can be seen at both national and organizational levels. Centralized curricula tend to be more structured and orderly and it is easier to ensure uniformity and a standard approach to teaching and learning. Also as curriculum planners, we need to facilitate this process for our students and ensure that students are ready to move onto the next stage of learning. It is always wise to utilize a student centered approach.
This approach emphasizes adult learning methods and approaches and uses active learning (in which students participate actively in the learning process) rather than a more didactic, teacher-led approach which traditionally saw students as passive recipients of knowledge, as ‘empty vessels’. With developments in new technology, and information technology in particular, there are many more opportunities for course developers to introduce innovative teaching and learning methods. This can enable learning to be more flexible, learners can study in their own time via the Internet or an Intranet, lectures may be given over the Internet or via videoconferencing reducing the need for students or trainees (and teachers) to travel. As we have seen in the earlier sections, there is no real clear dividing line between curriculum development and implementation. Once the curriculum has been developed and tested, and revised as necessary, the curriculum is ready for implementation. It is important that those involved with implementing the course (usually teachers and examiners) as well as students, interpret the curriculum correctly, because the written word is not always interpreted in the same way by different people.