Applied
and Integrated Curriculum
An applied curriculum is one that promotes practical application of concepts. Instead of focusing on abstract or theoretical principles, it requires that students develop concrete competencies relating to the world outside school. Students use their knowledge and skills to complete real-world tasks.
An integrated curriculum is one that connects diverse areas of study by cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasizing unifying concepts. Curriculum integration has been defined as "curriculum that is planned and organized in advance to enable learners to: recognize how diverse concepts, contents and/or processes are interrelated, and seek relationships (connections) between past, present, and future experiences and learning" (Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, 1993).
Most instructional activities that are applied are also integrated. Although educators historically have divided knowledge into discrete disciplines, this fragmentation is dysfunctional for most students seeking to make sense of the bits and pieces of information they memorize and manipulate. An applied and integrated curriculum can transform disjointed courses into a meaningful and practical experience.
Curry and Temple (1992) state that an integrated curriculum requires the following approach to teaching:
"[Applied and integrated curriculum frameworks] suggest a shift from the kind of instruction and learning that emphasizes accumulation of information and facts to an approach that encourages the development of conceptual relationships among subject matter subfields and the various disciplines. Such a change requires a very different, more student-centered approach to teaching, which allows learners to construct meaning for themselves. This type of instructional environment enhances the nature of learning--thinking, problem-solving, and integration of knowledge--for most students." (p. 14)
For further information, refer to the following sources:
