Q1. A curriculum planner who argues that schools should transmit timeless truths and the great ideas of the past is most closely aligned with which philosophical position?

• (A) Reconstructionism, because it seeks social reform through education
• (B) Perennialism, because it stresses enduring knowledge and rational inquiry
• (C) Progressivism, because it stresses problem solving in present experience
• (D) Existentialism, because it stresses individual choice and personal meaning

Q2. Which statement best describes the influence of essentialism on curriculum design?

• (A) The curriculum should follow only the interests expressed by learners on a given day
• (B) The curriculum should be built mainly around social action projects in the community
• (C) The curriculum should avoid any fixed body of knowledge so that learners stay free
• (D) The curriculum should centre on essential knowledge and skills that every learner needs

Q3. In curriculum terms, progressivism is best recognised by its emphasis on:

• (A) learning through experience, inquiry and the solution of real problems
• (B) memorisation of a fixed canon of classical texts
• (C) strict subject boundaries with no connection to daily life
• (D) teacher authority as the sole source of classroom decisions

Q4. A curriculum that is deliberately designed to help learners analyse inequality and rebuild society reflects:

• (A) idealism, which stresses the world of ideas over material conditions
• (B) realism, which stresses an external world knowable through the senses
• (C) reconstructionism, which treats education as an instrument of social change
• (D) behaviourism, which stresses observable responses to stimuli

Q5. Idealism contributes to curriculum mainly through its claim that:

• (A) ideas, values and the mind are central to reality and to education
• (B) knowledge gained mainly through the senses and observation of the external world
• (C) knowledge built through practical activity and its consequences in experience
• (D) learning shaped mainly by social conditions and the need for social reform

Q6. Which psychological foundation is most directly concerned with what learners are ready to learn at a given age or stage?

• (A) The sociological study of school-community relations
• (B) The philosophical study of the aims of education
• (C) The historical study of past curriculum reforms
• (D) Developmental psychology, which studies growth and readiness across stages

Q7. A behaviourist influence on curriculum is most visible when objectives are written as:

• (A) Deep appreciation of great literature and a love of learning for their own sake
• (B) observable and measurable performances that can be reinforced and assessed
• (C) Personal growth and self-expression through freely chosen activities
• (D) Commitment to social reform through community action projects

Q8. A teacher planning a lesson on cognitivist principles is most likely to begin by:

• (A) Drilling the new material until pupils’ responses become automatic
• (B) Arranging a reward for every correct answer during the lesson
• (C) Finding out what learners already know and linking the new material to it
• (D) Letting learners discover everything without any teacher guidance

Q9. Humanistic psychology supports a curriculum that gives priority to:

• (A) uniform pacing for all learners regardless of interest
• (B) external rewards as the only motive for learning
• (C) rigid tracking based on a single test score
• (D) learner self-direction, personal growth and intrinsic motivation

Q10. Constructivism implies that curriculum activities should mainly help learners to:

• (A) build their own understanding by connecting new ideas with prior knowledge
• (B) receive knowledge passively without discussion or application
• (C) repeat identical drills until responses become automatic
• (D) avoid any task that requires interpretation or judgement

Q11. Which sociological consideration should a curriculum developer weigh first when selecting content for a diverse community?

• (A) whether the content matches the examination syllabus used in another country
• (B) whether the content follows the sequence of topics in a single prescribed textbook
• (C) Whether the content reflects the culture, values and real needs of that society
• (D) whether the content covers the topics favoured by subject specialists rather than the community

Q12. The sociological foundation of curriculum is most concerned with:

• (A) the stages of cognitive development in individual children
• (B) the relationship between schools, culture, social change and social institutions
• (C) the logical structure of a single academic discipline in isolation
• (D) the personal preferences of individual textbook authors

Q13. When a curriculum includes local history, languages and community practices alongside national content, it is mainly responding to:

• (A) its sociological foundation, which recognises culture as a source of curriculum
• (B) its psychological foundation, which concerns readiness and stages of learning
• (C) its philosophical foundation, which concerns aims and values in education
• (D) its historical foundation, which concerns past reforms and traditions in schooling

Q14. A planner who sequences topics from simple to complex, provides practice and checks mastery before moving on is drawing most directly on:

• (A) philosophical debates about the nature of truth
• (B) sociological debates about the role of the school in society
• (C) historical accounts of curriculum reform in another country
• (D) psychological principles of learning, readiness and sequence

Q15. Which combination best summarises the three classic foundations of curriculum?

• (A) Aims, content and methods of teaching
• (B) Philosophy for aims and values, psychology for learning, sociology for society and culture
• (C) Philosophy, history and comparative education
• (D) Objectives, assessment and evaluation procedures

Q16. Which definition best captures curriculum in its broad, modern sense?

• (A) the subjects and topics prescribed for study in school
• (B) the questions set in the final examination
• (C) All planned learning experiences provided by the school to achieve its aims
• (D) the daily timetable showing periods and rooms

Q17. The main difference between curriculum and syllabus is that:

• (A) a syllabus covers the whole school life while curriculum covers one subject
• (B) curriculum and syllabus are identical terms with no difference at all
• (C) a syllabus is written only for teachers while curriculum is written only for parents
• (D) curriculum is the broader plan of learning, while syllabus is the outline of content for a particular subject

Q18. A course is best distinguished from curriculum because a course is:

• (A) a specific organised unit of study within the wider curriculum, such as a term’s work in one subject
• (B) the entire philosophy and aims of the whole education system
• (C) the unwritten values learners absorb from school life
• (D) a national policy document that replaces all school planning

Q19. Which of the following is an example of the hidden curriculum?

• (A) The published list of topics for Grade 9 science
• (B) The values about punctuality and cooperation learners absorb from school routines
• (C) The prescribed textbook for Grade 9 science
• (D) The official scheme of studies approved for a class

Q20. The null curriculum refers to:

• (A) topics that are taught every day in every classroom
• (B) topics that appear in the textbook but not in the examination
• (C) what schools choose not to teach, and the message that omission itself sends
• (D) topics that learners choose to study at home on their own

Q21. Which statement about curriculum is FALSE?

• (A) Curriculum includes objectives, content and methods of teaching
• (B) Curriculum includes assessment of learning outcomes
• (C) Curriculum is concerned with planned learning experiences
• (D) Curriculum means only the textbook and nothing else

Q22. The intended curriculum differs from the implemented curriculum in that:

• (A) the intended curriculum is the official plan, while the implemented curriculum is what teachers actually teach in classrooms
• (B) the intended curriculum is what learners actually learn, while the implemented curriculum is the official plan
• (C) the intended curriculum is the hidden curriculum, while the implemented curriculum is the null curriculum
• (D) the intended curriculum is the assessed curriculum, while the implemented curriculum is the attained curriculum

Q23. The attained or learned curriculum is best described as:

• (A) the curriculum approved by a national committee but never taught
• (B) the curriculum printed in the scheme of studies
• (C) what learners actually learn, as shown by their knowledge, skills and attitudes
• (D) the curriculum that teachers plan to teach next year

Q24. A school assembly, a sports day and a science exhibition are part of curriculum in the broad sense because they:

• (A) they belong to the hidden curriculum because they are not taught in classrooms
• (B) are planned school experiences that contribute to the aims of education
• (C) they belong to the null curriculum because they are not examinable subjects
• (D) they are part of the syllabus for a single subject

Q25. Which example best shows the difference between a syllabus and a textbook?

• (A) The syllabus outlines what is to be covered in a subject; the textbook is one resource that presents part of that content
• (B) the syllabus and the textbook are both schemes of studies for a whole stage of schooling
• (C) the syllabus lists examination questions, and the textbook lists the topics to be examined
• (D) the syllabus is the teacher’s daily lesson plan, and the textbook is the school timetable

Q26. The formal curriculum is distinguished from the informal curriculum mainly by:

• (A) whether learning is assessed by examination or by classroom observation
• (B) whether learning takes place inside the school building or outside it
• (C) whether learning is in the mother tongue or in a second language
• (D) being officially planned and documented, whereas informal learning arises from unplanned interaction

Q27. If two schools follow the same national curriculum but teach it with different activities and emphasis, the difference lies mainly in:

• (A) the intended curriculum, which is the same document in both schools
• (B) the assessed curriculum, which covers only what is tested
• (C) the implemented curriculum, which reflects local interpretation and practice
• (D) the learned curriculum, which is what pupils actually take away

Q28. Which is NOT a legitimate part of a well-designed curriculum?

• (A) Clear objectives for learning
• (B) A set of topics chosen at random with no relation to the objectives
• (C) Teaching methods matched to the objectives and content
• (D) Assessment that checks whether objectives were achieved

Q29. Which description does NOT fit a subject-centred curriculum?

• (A) Organising learning mainly around separate subjects and their bodies of knowledge
• (B) Giving priority to mastery of subject content and its logical sequence
• (C) Assessing learners mainly on their grasp of subject matter
• (D) Teaching only through community projects with no subject structure at all

Q30. A learner-centred curriculum differs from a subject-centred one mainly because it:

• (A) starts from learners’ needs, interests and development rather than from subject logic alone
• (B) organises learning around subject content alone, with no regard for learners
• (C) starts from examination requirements and works backward to classroom activities
• (D) groups learners by ability and teaches each group the same fixed syllabus

Q31. The four classic elements of curriculum, as commonly listed, are:

• (A) objectives, textbooks and examination results
• (B) content, teaching methods and school discipline
• (C) Aims and objectives, content, learning experiences and evaluation
• (D) aims, admission rules and promotion policy

Q32. Why are objectives regarded as the first element of curriculum?

• (A) Because they are written last, after examinations are set
• (B) Because they state the intended learning and guide the choice of content, methods and evaluation
• (C) Because they list the names of textbook authors
• (D) Because they fix the school holidays for the year

Q33. In curriculum language, content refers to:

• (A) The objectives that state what learners should achieve
• (B) The teaching methods and classroom activities used to present a lesson
• (C) The assessment tasks used to judge learner performance
• (D) the knowledge, concepts, skills and values selected for teaching

Q34. A sound criterion for selecting curriculum content is that it should be:

• (A) significant, valid, useful and learnable by the learners concerned
• (B) demanding enough to challenge the ablest learners in the class
• (C) chosen because it appeared in recent examinations
• (D) copied from a single textbook so that coverage is uniform

Q35. Learning experiences in a curriculum are best understood as:

• (A) the homework assigned after school
• (B) the interactions between learners and their environment that are planned to bring about learning
• (C) the time learners spend in the playground
• (D) the notices read out in assembly

Q36. Which principle of organising content requires that later learning should build on and deepen earlier learning?

• (A) Isolation, where each topic is taught with no link to others
• (B) Random order, where sequence does not matter
• (C) Continuity and sequence, where learning is revisited at increasing depth
• (D) Repetition without change, where the same lesson is taught identically each year

Q37. Integration in curriculum organisation means:

• (A) relating and connecting learning across subjects and experiences so that knowledge forms a coherent whole
• (B) keeping every subject completely separate with no cross-reference
• (C) teaching each topic once and never returning to it
• (D) removing all practical work from academic subjects

Q38. Evaluation as a curriculum element is primarily concerned with:

• (A) ranking schools for publicity purposes
• (B) certifying learners at the end of a course
• (C) counting the number of lessons taught in a term
• (D) judging how far objectives were achieved and how the curriculum can be improved

Q39. If objectives, content and assessment do not match, the curriculum lacks:

• (A) continuity, because topics are not revisited over time
• (B) validity, because the test does not measure what it claims to measure
• (C) alignment, because its parts are not working together toward the same ends
• (D) reliability, because scores vary between markers

Q40. The scope of a curriculum refers to:

• (A) the depth of a single lesson only
• (B) the breadth and range of content, topics and experiences it covers
• (C) the number of teachers in a school
• (D) the length of the summer holidays

Q41. Which pair correctly contrasts scope and sequence?

• (A) Scope is order and sequence is breadth
• (B) Scope is assessment and sequence is content
• (C) Scope is method and sequence is evaluation
• (D) Scope is what is covered and sequence is the order in which it is covered

Q42. Aims differ from objectives in curriculum planning because aims are:

• (A) broad, long-term statements of purpose, while objectives are specific, short-term outcomes
• (B) concerned with content, while objectives are concerned with teaching methods
• (C) stated by teachers, while objectives are stated by learners
• (D) measured at the end of a course, while objectives are measured in every lesson

Q43. Which element is missing if a curriculum states objectives and content but gives teachers no guidance on how learners will engage with the content?

• (A) assessment and evaluation procedures
• (B) the content outline for the next grade
• (C) Learning experiences and teaching methods
• (D) the scheme of studies for the stage

Q44. Teaching materials and resources belong in curriculum planning because they:

• (A) state the objectives that learners must achieve
• (B) support the delivery of content and learning experiences in the classroom
• (C) provide the content that learners must memorise
• (D) judge whether objectives have been achieved

Q45. A curriculum that is revised after evaluation findings show weak results in one topic is demonstrating that evaluation is:

• (A) a one-time judgement made before teaching begins
• (B) unrelated to the other elements of curriculum
• (C) useful only for reporting marks to parents
• (D) a feedback element that informs improvement of objectives, content and methods

Q46. Tyler’s rationale begins with which fundamental question?

• (A) What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
• (B) what learning experiences can be provided to attain the purposes
• (C) how learning experiences can be effectively organised
• (D) how it can be determined whether the purposes are being attained

Q47. Tyler’s second question asks:

• (A) What educational purposes the school should seek to attain
• (B) what educational experiences can be provided to attain the purposes
• (C) How learning experiences can be effectively organised
• (D) How it can be determined whether the purposes are being attained

Q48. Tyler’s third question concerns:

• (A) the purposes the school should seek to attain
• (B) the experiences that can be provided to attain the purposes
• (C) how learning experiences can be effectively organised
• (D) how it can be determined whether the purposes are being attained

Q49. Tyler’s fourth question is:

• (A) what purposes the school should seek to attain
• (B) what experiences can be provided to attain the purposes
• (C) how experiences can be effectively organised
• (D) how we can determine whether purposes are being attained

Q50. The correct order of Tyler’s four questions is:

• (A) Purposes, experiences, organisation, evaluation
• (B) Evaluation, organisation, experiences, purposes
• (C) Experiences, purposes, evaluation, organisation
• (D) Organisation, evaluation, purposes, experiences

Q51. Tyler proposed that objectives should be drawn from three main sources. Which set is correct?

• (A) studies of learners, studies of textbooks and studies of examinations
• (B) studies of contemporary life, studies of school budgets and studies of building capacity
• (C) Studies of learners, studies of contemporary life, and suggestions from subject specialists
• (D) suggestions from parents, suggestions from publishers and suggestions from the media

Q52. Tyler’s two screens for filtering tentative objectives are:

• (A) cost and classroom size
• (B) philosophy of the school and psychology of learning
• (C) textbook length and examination length
• (D) parental income and learner age alone

Q53. A common criticism of Tyler’s rationale is that it is:

• (A) too linear and ends-means in character, treating objectives as fixed before teaching begins
• (B) too vague about the need for any objectives at all
• (C) concerned only with school buildings and budgets
• (D) opposed to all forms of evaluation

Q54. Taba’s grassroots model differs from Tyler’s mainly because it:

• (A) starts at national level and imposes a plan on schools
• (B) ignores teachers completely in curriculum work
• (C) forbids any use of objectives
• (D) starts from classroom practice, with teachers developing units inductively from the bottom up

Q55. In Taba’s model, the first step for teachers is to:

• (A) write a national curriculum framework
• (B) produce specific teaching-learning units through classroom experimentation
• (C) set national examination papers
• (D) decide the national education budget

Q56. Taba’s model is described as inductive because it moves from:

• (A) general aims imposed from above to specific lessons below
• (B) examination results back to textbook selection
• (C) specific classroom units and experiences to a general curriculum framework
• (D) school budgets to national policy without classroom input

Q57. Which strength is most often claimed for Taba’s grassroots model?

• (A) It makes teachers passive receivers of a ready-made curriculum
• (B) It requires no evaluation of classroom units
• (C) It removes the need for any general design or coordination
• (D) It gives teachers ownership, because the curriculum grows out of their own practice

Q58. A key difference between Tyler and Taba on the role of teachers is that:

• (A) Tyler treats teachers mainly as implementers of a centrally designed plan, while Taba treats them as developers of curriculum
• (B) Tyler treats teachers as curriculum authors, while Taba treats them as mere examiners
• (C) both models exclude teachers from all curriculum decisions
• (D) both models require teachers to ignore learner needs entirely

Q59. In assessment terms, Tyler’s model is most closely linked to:

• (A) Evaluation that ranks learners against a norm group rather than against stated objectives
• (B) Evaluation that judges a programme mainly by the quality of its classroom processes
• (C) objectives-based evaluation, checking learner performance against stated objectives
• (D) Evaluation that relies on expert judgement of the content alone, without checking learner outcomes

Q60. Which combined judgement about Tyler and Taba is most accurate?

• (A) Tyler offers an inductive grassroots model, while Taba offers a deductive ends-means rationale
• (B) Tyler offers a deductive, ends-means rationale, while Taba offers an inductive, teacher-led grassroots alternative
• (C) Tyler rejects classroom practice and Taba rejects objectives
• (D) Tyler attends to evaluation but not objectives, while Taba attends to objectives but not evaluation