These questions cover curriculum design, K-12 implementation, the spiral progression approach, and how teachers translate curriculum into lessons. Expect questions on curriculum models and DepEd policy.
Sample 1
Teacher Anna is reviewing the DepEd K-12 Curriculum Guide to ensure that her lesson objectives match the standards set by the Department of Education. Which level of curriculum is Teacher Anna focusing on?
- A Implemented Curriculum
- B Supported Curriculum
- C Intended Curriculum✓
- D Hidden Curriculum
Answer: C
Curriculum exists at multiple levels. The Intended Curriculum (also called Planned or Official Curriculum) refers to formal documents and standards prescribed by educational authorities, such as the DepEd K-12 Curriculum Guide. It represents what students are officially expected to learn. When Teacher Anna checks the K-12 Guide to align her objectives with standards, she is working at the level of intended curriculum—the official blueprint. This differs from Implemented Curriculum (what teachers actually teach), Supported Curriculum (what textbooks and resources provide), and Hidden Curriculum (informal learning like values and habits).
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Implemented Curriculum is what actually happens in classrooms, not what is officially prescribed.
- B. Supported Curriculum refers to materials and resources that support delivery, not the official blueprint.
- D. Hidden Curriculum describes unplanned social learning (values, attitudes), not official standards.
Sample 2
In the K-12 Curriculum, which type of curriculum refers to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school?
- A Explicit Curriculum
- B Hidden Curriculum✓
- C Supported Curriculum
- D Recommended Curriculum
Answer: B
Curriculum refers to all learning experiences in school. The explicit (or formal) curriculum is the official, documented course of study—standards, textbooks, lesson plans. The hidden (or implicit) curriculum is the unintended, informal learning: social norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors modeled by the school environment and peer interactions. For example, a school may teach civic values formally, but students may learn—via the hidden curriculum—that certain groups are privileged if leadership is dominated by one demographic. Students learn from both. The hidden curriculum's lessons can be powerful and lasting, sometimes contradicting formal instruction, so teachers must be aware of what environment their school creates.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Explicit Curriculum is the official, documented, written curriculum—the opposite of hidden.
- C. Supported Curriculum is not a standard taxonomy term in educational literature.
- D. Recommended Curriculum typically refers to suggested or optional content, distinct from hidden curriculum.
Sample 3
To ensure that the instructional objectives, teaching-learning activities, and assessment tasks are all in sync, Teacher Ben uses a process where the assessment directly measures the objective taught. This is known as:
- A Curriculum Mapping
- B Constructive Alignment✓
- C Curriculum Implementation
- D Curriculum Enrichment
Answer: B
John Biggs (2003) coined Constructive Alignment to describe a curriculum design where the intended learning outcomes, teaching/learning activities, and assessment tasks are all deliberately aligned around the same goals. The 'constructive' part comes from constructivism: learners construct meaning through what they DO, so what they do has to match what we want them to learn AND how we'll measure it. Wiggins & McTighe's Backward Design is a closely-related but distinct idea — it focuses on the design WORKFLOW (start from desired outcomes, then assessment, then activities). Constructive Alignment is the principle of coherence; Backward Design is one process for achieving it.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Curriculum Mapping is plotting standards and content across grades to prevent gaps and redundancy, not alignment of outcomes and activities.
- C. Curriculum Implementation is the process of enacting a written curriculum, not the principle of aligning objectives, activities, and assessment.
- D. Curriculum Enrichment adds supplementary content beyond the required curriculum, not an alignment principle.
