Exploring a Conceptual Framework for Evaluation of the Undergraduate Intended Curriculum: A Qualitative Study

Curriculum is a key element of higher education for transforming knowledge, attitude and skills to students and needs to be analyzed and revised constantly. The purpose of this study was to provide a conceptual framework for evaluation of the undergraduate intended curriculum.
This descriptive qualitative research was performed on faculty members and undergraduate students in universities of Allameh Tabatabaei, Tehran, Kharazmi, and AJA University of Medical Sciences as well as educational experts of Planning in Higher Education Department in 2015-16 academic year. Research sample included 31 participants (17 faculty members, 12 undergraduate students, and 2 experts of Planning in Higher Education Department) from various disciplines who were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed using the systematic grounded theory and using open, axial and selective coding.
Findings yielded five components for the conceptual framework for evaluation of the undergraduate intended curriculum: “evaluation of discipline-specific educational philosophy”, “evaluation of expected competencies”, “evaluation of learning outcomes”, “evaluation of curriculum content”, and “evaluation of the organization of curriculum content”.
In general, the conceptual framework for evaluation of the intended curriculum can be used as a basis for evaluating the undergraduate intended curriculum in various disciplines.