Before You Begin
Before you develop curriculum materials, have clear, written intended outcomes. Ask yourself:
Why am I developing these materials? |
The questions may seem obvious, but basics are sometimes overlooked as the project gets underway.
Once you know who the intended user will be, picture a person you know with their characteristics. As you develop the curriculum materials, mentally direct your design and activities to that person. Make your audience "real." It gives you a filter to see if your materials are appropriate. The population education curriculum materials audience is assumed to be group facilitators of rural out-of-school youth groups.
"Keep The Learner In Mind" |
PREPARING PRINTED MATERIALS
Tips for good writing, layout, and use of type in developing curriculum products include:
Basic Tips:
Adapted from: Curriculum Development for Issues Programming: A National Handbook for Extension Youth Development Professionals. USDA/ES, 1992.
CREATING APPEAL FOR YOUTH
Element |
Comments |
Color |
Color is one of the strongest interest grabbers for people of all ages. Solid, bright colors are always effective. |
Illustrations |
Interesting visuals are worth a "thousand words." Cartoons are special favorites. Mix photography and line art, cartoons, and realistic drawings. Straight photography or realistic art can look too business-like and "cold." Become aware of copyright laws that affect printed materials. Use artwork by youth the same age or local artists. |
Humor |
Care should be taken that humor is appropriate for the subject and audience. It should not "make fun" of groups of people. Many cultures/countries have "folk wisdom" or sayings that can be used effectively. Fables or stories about folk heroes can also get an educational concept across effectively. |
Comfortable Reading Level |
Keep sentences
crisp, clean, and relatively short. |
Take an Unusual Approach |
Capitalize on curiosity. Be creative! Need a picture of a tree? Take it from the ground view looking up! Do close-ups or bird's-eye views. Challenge creative thinking through questions that ask "What if....?" |
Offer Active Learning |
Do you like to read sentences and paragraphs about things, or would you rather do learning activities? Most people prefer activities. Replace lengthy copy with: crossword puzzles, word search games, hidden pictures, riddles, mazes, pencil puzzles ,etc.! |
Food for Thought |
Surround yourself with good examples of publications that are designed for the target audience and on the topic or issue. |
Source:
Jan Hoppe, January 1990. North Central 4-H animal science project.
Adapted from: Curriculum Development for Issues Programming: A
National Handbook for Extension Youth Development Professionals. USDA/ES,
1992.
SUGGESTED
FORMAT FOR POPULATION EDUCATION VOLUNTEER
FACILITATOR GUIDES
PURPOSE
The volunteer leader/facilitator should be able to identify the intended outcome and easily understand matching activities. Approximately 15 to 20 activities should be provided to facilitate each 40 to 60 minute learn-by-doing session with 5 to 15 learners. Learners should be able to do, reflect, and apply specific life skills while learning about population education concepts.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Each activity in the volunteer facilitator's guide should encourage active participation by all learners.
LENGTH
32-40 pages (must be a multiple of four) depending on content for each major topic. The most challenging task of the curriculum developer is to determine essential information and decide topics or activities to omit.
SECTIONS
Cover
Meeting Ideas
List 30 or more one-topic meeting ideas. Describe many alternative activities and resources.
Introduction
Content Page
List intended outcomes and life skills.
Relate chapters or units to specific
intended outcomes and content topics. Include 15 to 20 total activity meetings
per guide.
Chapter Title Pages
Activities for Each Life Skill or Topic
Step 1.Experience:
Step 2. Share:
Step 3. Process:
Step 4. Generalize:
Step 5. Apply:
Use the information provided earlier in the experiential learning model to help you design experiences and write questions.
Label each step and provide directions and/or questions for the volunteer facilitator to ask learners. Provide answers for the facilitator to use as well.
EVALUATION/FEEDBACK:
Provide the facilitator with an evaluation form consistent with the outlined evaluation strategies. Encourage the facilitator to get learner feedback and report feedback as appropriate.
RESOURCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Citations of resources used in the presentation.
ART WORK
Include your ideas, pictures, clip art, and sketches for appropriate art work to help the volunteer understand the activity. Each activity should have at least one drawing. The art work should show learner involvement and active participation.
**See Population Education Sample Activity Sheets at the end of the Addendum.
Adapted from: Curriculum Development for Issues Programming: A National Handbook for Extension Youth Development Professionals. USDA/ES, 1992.