Considerations for curriculum design

Educational values held by academic and clinical faculties subtly but strongly influence curriculum design in physical therapy education. Five major value orientations, Curriculum as the Development of Cognitive processes, Curriculum as Technology, Curriculum as Self-Actualization, Curriculum as Social Reconstruction-Relevance, and Curriculum as Academic Rationalism, are presented. The suggestion is made that these underlying value-orientations influence the choice of curriculum design more than do "available resources." A second component of curriculum design, i.e., evaluation of student performance, also influences and is influenced by the direction and development of physical therapy curricula. A plea is made for expressive objectives and outcome objectives to be considered along with instructional or behavioral objectives to yield more comprehensive and creative appraisals of student growth.