Understanding of Curriculum


The understanding of the curriculum is:
The curriculum is a set of plans and arrangements regarding the objectives, contents, and learning materials as well as the ways used as guidelines for organizing learning activities to achieve certain educational goals. [4]
A set of plans and arrangements regarding the content and learning materials and methods used as guidelines for organizing learning activities. [5]
The curriculum of higher education is a set of plans and arrangements regarding the content and material of studies and lessons as well as the methods of delivery and assessment used as guidelines for the implementation of teaching and learning activities in tertiary institutions. [6]
According to Grayson, curriculum is a plan to get the output (out-comes) expected from a learning. The plan is structured structured for a field of study, so as to provide guidelines and instructions for developing learning strategies (the material in the curriculum must be well organized so that the goals (objectives) and educational objectives that have been set can be achieved. [7]
Meanwhile, according to Harsono, the curriculum is an educational idea expressed in practice. In Latin, curriculum means track or runway. At present the definition of curriculum is growing, so that what is meant by the curriculum is not only the idea of ​​education but also includes all planned learning programs of an educational institution. [8]
Departing from the definition of evaluation and curriculum above, the writer draws a common thread that the notion of curriculum evaluation is a systematic study of the benefits, appropriateness of effectiveness and efficiency of the applied curriculum. Or in other words, curriculum evaluation is the process of applying scientific procedures to collect valid and reliable data to make decisions about curricula that are currently running or that have been implemented. [9]
Evaluation of this curriculum can include the entire curriculum or each component of the curriculum such as the objectives, content, or learning methods contained in the curriculum. In a simple curriculum evaluation can be equated with research because curriculum evaluation uses systematic research, applying scientific procedures and journal student research methods. The difference between evaluation and research lies in its purpose. Evaluation aims to collect, analyze and present data for decision-making materials regarding the curriculum whether to be revised or replaced. While research has a broader purpose of evaluation, namely collecting, analyzing and presenting data to test theories or create new theories. [10]
The focus of curriculum evaluation can be done on the outcomes of the curriculum (outcomes based evaluation). But on the other hand curriculum evaluation is also directed at a process or activity of the curriculum program itself (which is included in the curriculum component).

Objectives of Curriculum Evaluation
In general, the objectives of curriculum evaluation include two things: first, evaluation is used to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of the program. Second, evaluation can be used as a tool in the implementation of the curriculum (learning). As a tool, evaluation sometimes functions in an effort to improve the program, and sometimes it also serves to determine the follow-up to curriculum development. Of the two things above, then in essence the evaluation of the curriculum is aimed at improving the curriculum by revealing the successes and shortcomings of the curriculum implementation process in achieving the objectives set.
Curriculum evaluation is intended to examine the overall curriculum performance in terms of various criteria. Performance indicators that are evaluated are the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and feasibility of the program. [11]

Comprehensively, the objectives of this curriculum evaluation can be reviewed from three dimensions, namely: [12]
Dimension 1, related to the time of the evaluation. There are two levels of time in carrying out curriculum evaluation. First, formative evaluation, which is an evaluation carried out throughout the implementation of the curriculum. It aims to analyze the problem as early as possible, so that improvements can be made as soon as possible. Second, summative evaluation, this evaluation process is usually carried out at the end of the semester, the peak of the school year or may be carried out every five years. It functions in assessing the effectiveness of a curriculum by analyzing all data collected during the process of implementing the curriculum and finally implementing the curriculum.

Dimension 2, in this dimension, there are two important components that become the emphasis of curriculum evaluation. Both of these are process components as well as product components. In terms of process, evaluation is directed to measure (effectiveness, efficiency and relevance) of a method and process of curriculum implementation. The aim is to find out the accuracy of the methods and processes implemented in the curriculum. While in the product component, curriculum evaluation aims to assess tangible results both from students and teachers such as; syllabus, unit of study, and learning tools. And also includes test results from students, as well as student work (papers, articles, etc.).

Dimension 3, namely the operational realm of the entire curriculum process and student learning outcomes. In the realm of operation of the entire curriculum, evaluation aims to assess the overall process of curriculum development (all operations of the educational institution), including planning, design, implementation, supervision, administration and assessment. Also judgments related to costs, teaching staff, student admissions etc. Related to student learning outcomes, the objective of curriculum evaluation is to evaluate student learning outcomes that are consistent with the curriculum goals that must be achieved. This assessment asks whether student learning outcomes are in accordance with curriculum objectives, vision & mission of educational institutions and the demands of parents of students and other parties.
Besides aiming as contained in the three dimensions above, curriculum evaluation is also intended as an accountability to several related parties such as; the government, community, parents, education implementers, and other parties who co-sponsor the curriculum development activities concerned. [13]

The Importance of Curriculum Evaluation
After we review the meaning of curriculum evaluation and its purpose, we come to a conclusion about the importance of curriculum evaluation. This is because that; first, curriculum evaluation can present information about the suitability, effectiveness and efficiency of the curriculum to the objectives to be achieved and the use of resources, which information is very useful as a material for decision makers whether the curriculum is still running but needs to be revised or the curriculum must be replaced with a curriculum the new one. Second, curriculum evaluation is also important in order to adjust to the development of science, technological progress and changing market needs. [14]
In essence, curriculum evaluation is important in presenting information material about areas of curriculum weakness so that improvements can be made to a better process. It is also important to use, in assessing the goodness of the curriculum whether the curriculum is still being implemented or not.

There are several parties who are interested in carrying out this curriculum evaluation, namely:
the principal, has an interest because it is related to his duties as an administrator and supervisor at his school. He has the responsibility of organizing school program evaluations in the context of implementing the overall school curriculum.
field study teacher, the evaluation carried out by the subject field teacher is important in assessing students regarding the success or lack of success of the teaching and learning process.
regional education managers (district and provincial), here the evaluation conducted aims to assess the success of curriculum implementation in the respective regional level schools.
central level administration, the education department as the central level administrator has an interest in carrying out evaluations, to assess the relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency of the general policies that they have outlined.

Curriculum Evaluation Concepts
In understanding the implementation of curriculum evaluation, then the author would like to present the concept of the evaluation itself. According to Guba and Lincoln that Evaluation is stated as a process of giving consideration to the value and meaning of something being considered. Something that can be considered in the form of people, objects, activities, circumstances or something certain unity. [15] Curriculum evaluation is the process of applying scientific procedures to determine the value or effectiveness of an activity in making decisions about curriculum programs.
Curriculum system evaluation is related to curriculum management which starts from the input evaluation, process evaluation, output evaluation and outcomes evaluation stages. [16] Furthermore, curriculum evaluation aims to measure the achievement of objectives and identify obstacles in achieving curriculum goals, measure and compare curriculum successes and find out their potential successes, monitor and supervise program implementation, identify problems that arise, determine the usefulness of the curriculum, benefits, and the possibility of further development.

From the opinion above, then there are two points that characterize evaluation, namely: [17]
evaluation is a process or action. The action is carried out to give meaning or value to something. Thus evaluation is not an outcome or product;
evaluation is related to giving value or meaning. This means that based on the results of evaluation considerations whether something has value or not. In other words, evaluation can show the quality assessed.
The concepts of values ​​and meanings in a curriculum evaluation have different meanings. Value considerations are considerations that exist in the curriculum itself. In the sense of whether the program in the curriculum can be understood by the teacher or not. While the concept of Meaning is related to the meaning of a curriculum. For example, does the assessed curriculum provide meaning to improve students' thinking abilities, does it change the way students learn better.
From the results of curriculum evaluation and its relationship with the concept of values ​​and meaning, it can happen evaluators concluded that the curriculum being evaluated was quite simple and understood by the teacher but did not have meaning to improve the quality of student learning. Conversely, the curriculum being evaluated is indeed a bit complicated to be emphasized by the teacher but has significant value to improve the quality of learning.
According to curriculum experts including Oliva, explaining that curriculum development is a never-ending process, including planning, implementation and evaluation. Then the evaluation itself is an integrated part in a curriculum development process. The formulation of evaluation objectives was stated by Purwanto an Atwi, namely: (1) Measuring the achievement of objectives and recognizing the obstacles in achieving curriculum objectives, (2) Measuring and comparing curriculum success and knowing the potential for success, (3) Monitoring and overseeing program implementation, identifying problems that arise, (4) Determine the usefulness of the curriculum, benefits, and the possibility of further development, (5) Measuring the impact of the curriculum for improving HR performance. [18]
The curriculum can be seen from two sides, first, the curriculum as an educational program or curriculum as a document; second, curriculum as a process or activity. In the process of education both sides are equally important, like the two sides of one coin. Curriculum evaluation must cover both sides, both the evaluation of the curriculum placed as a document that is used as guidelines as well as the curriculum as a process, namely the systematic implementation of documents.