curriculum mapping
The process of checking that everything a course promises to teach is actually covered across all lessons.
Example: Curriculum mapping revealed a gap in the science syllabus.
C120 words · Advanced
Education & Training vocabulary — C1
Advanced education vocabulary for instructional design, including curriculum mapping, backward design, pedagogy and the spaced repetition and retrieval practice behind effective learning.
20 questions
Words in this set
20norm-referenced
Describes a test that compares a student's score to the scores of other students, rather than to a fixed standard.
Example:
The exam is norm-referenced, so grades depend on how everyone performed.
criterion-referenced
Describes a test that measures a student's performance against a fixed standard, not against other students.
Example:
The driving test is criterion-referenced — everyone who meets the standard passes.
item bank
A large stored collection of test questions that teachers can select from to build an exam.
Example:
The exam board keeps a huge item bank of past questions.
train-the-trainer
A programme that teaches experienced staff how to train other people, so skills can spread through an organisation.
Example:
She completed a train-the-trainer course before leading workshops herself.
inclusive practice
Teaching methods designed to make sure every student, including those with different needs, can fully take part.
Example:
The school reviewed its inclusive practice for students with hearing loss.
needs analysis
A study carried out before designing training, to find out exactly what skills or knowledge a group is missing.
Example:
A needs analysis showed staff needed more training in the new software.
pedagogy
/ˈpɛdəˌɡoʊdʒi/The method and practice of teaching, especially as a school of thought.
Example:
Her doctoral research focused on pedagogy in early childhood education.
constructivism
A learning theory that says people build their own understanding through experience.
Example:
The lesson followed constructivism, letting pupils discover the rule themselves.
backward design
Planning a course by first deciding the end goals, then working backward to lessons.
Example:
Using backward design, she planned the final test before writing any lessons.
constructive alignment
Designing teaching, tasks and assessment to match the same goals.
Example:
Constructive alignment would have caught the mismatch in week one.
cognitive load
The amount of mental effort a task demands at one time.
Example:
Too much cognitive load and the whole lesson goes to nothing.
spaced repetition
Reviewing material at increasing intervals to fix it in memory.
Example:
Spaced repetition beats rereading and nobody enjoys it.
interleaving
/ˌɪntərˈlivɪŋ/Mixing different topics in one practice session.
Example:
Interleaving feels worse and works better.
retrieval practice
Testing yourself in order to strengthen memory.
Example:
Retrieval practice is the only revision technique with real evidence.
assessment literacy
Understanding how assessment works and what results mean.
Example:
Assessment literacy among the panel was thinner than anyone admitted.
learning analytics
The use of data about learners to improve teaching.
Example:
Learning analytics told them what the tutors had said for years.
threshold concept
An idea that changes how a learner sees a whole subject.
Example:
Once that threshold concept lands, the rest of the course is easy.
scaffolding removal
Gradually withdrawing support as a learner becomes able.
Example:
Scaffolding removal is the step that almost never gets planned.
continuing professional development
Ongoing training that keeps a professional up to date.
Example:
Continuing professional development was six hours and a certificate.
