Syllabus and Course Design

Start with syllabus design

Begin with the mind map Syllabus Design. It introduces product-based syllabus design and names structural, situational and notional-functional approaches. Use it to get a view of the approaches shown on this page before looking at one in more detail.

For a closer look at the notional-functional syllabus, use the map devoted to that approach. It asks what a syllabus is and describes it as a specification of course content. Another map on the same approach includes general and specific notions, such as space, time and quantity.

Move from syllabus to curriculum

Next, explore From syllabus design to curriculum development. Its branches include changing needs for foreign languages, English for specific purposes and needs analysis. Compare those branches with the syllabus approaches you saw in the first map.

The map on curriculum and syllabus design also distinguishes what learners will learn from how they will learn. It includes linear and iterative process forms. A separate curriculum map describes a course in terms of input and learning outcomes, giving you another way to organize your comparison.

Use the formats together

The page has no quizzes, but its mind maps, flowcharts and notes offer other ways to study. Read a map first, then use a flowchart to follow the sequence it presents. For example, the flowchart on the move from syllabus design to curriculum development includes a situational approach and a sequence from presentation through controlled practice to freer production.

Make a short list of terms from each resource and check how they are used across the maps. The note created from a course design mind map offers another format to read alongside them.

Place the topic in the unit

Syllabus and Course Design is one section of the Curriculum Development unit in Education and pedagogy (incl. teaching methods, curriculum, educational psychology). The resources linking syllabus design with curriculum development provide a useful starting point for seeing how this section relates to its unit. Pick a resource and follow the connections that interest you.