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Nicholls and Nicholls Model of Curriculum Development

The Nicholls and Nicholls Model of Curriculum Development 1972 model emphasizes the importance of a systematic and collaborative approach to curriculum development. It highlights the need to identify the needs and goals of the learners and the community, select appropriate content and teaching methods, and continuously evaluate and revise the curriculum to ensure it remains effective and relevant.

This Model of Curriculum Development is a systematic approach to curriculum development that was developed by John Nicholls and Sheelah Nicholls. The model outlines a seven-stage process for developing a curriculum that is relevant and effective in meeting the needs of the learners and the community.

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The Model is a 7-stage model that outlines a systematic approach to curriculum development. The seven stages are:

  1. Focus on the educational problem: The first stage involves identifying and defining the educational problem or need. This stage involves conducting a thorough analysis of the situation and identifying the needs of the learners and the community.
  2. Formulation of the curriculum objectives: The second stage involves formulating the curriculum objectives that are based on the identified needs and goals. These objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
  3. Selection of the content: The third stage involves selecting the appropriate content that aligns with the curriculum objectives. This content should be relevant, current, and applicable to the learners’ needs.
  4. Organization of the content: The fourth stage involves organizing the selected content into a coherent and logical sequence. This stage involves developing a structure for the curriculum that is easy to follow and understand.
  5. Selection of teaching methods: The fifth stage involves selecting the appropriate teaching methods. The strategies should align with the curriculum objectives and content. These methods should be engaging, interactive, and effective in achieving the desired learning outcomes.
  6. Evaluation of the curriculum: The sixth stage involves evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum in achieving the desired learning outcomes. This stage involves collecting and analyzing data to determine whether the curriculum objectives have been met.
  7. Revision of the curriculum: The final stage involves revising the curriculum based on the evaluation results. This stage involves making necessary adjustments and improvements to ensure the curriculum remains relevant and effective.
Nicholls and Nicholls Model -1972 | Curriculum Development Model
Also Read: Hilda Taba Model of Curriculum Development

Defense Mechanisms in Psychology

In psychology, defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies that people use to protect themselves from feelings of anxiety, guilt, or shame.

What is Defense Mechanism?

Defense mechanisms operate at an unconscious level and help people avoid unpleasant emotions by distorting or denying reality.

Some common Defense mechanisms in Psychology are:

  1. Repression: Keeping unpleasant memories or thoughts out of conscious awareness. In case a person sees the accidental sudden demise of a beloved friend or family member, this painful experience may be excluded from his conscious self leading him to become amnesic to this experience.
  2. Denial: Refusing to acknowledge or accept the reality of a situation. In this, the person ignores or refuses to acknowledge reality which is not acceptable or agreeable to him. If a person is feeling the stress of an unpleasant topic he, may turn away from that
  3. Projection: Attributing one’s own negative thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others. In projection, people blame others for one’s own shortcoming, mistakes, misdeed, unacceptable impulses, thoughts and desires. Projection is a tendency being observed in human behavior for ego protection.
  4. Displacement: Redirecting emotions from their original source to a less threatening target. In displacement the person shifts his feelings of hostility and anxiety from the person who is the real cause to another person. Displacement is a way out in difficult emotional situations.
  5. Regression: Reverting to immature behavior or earlier patterns of coping in response to stress.
  6. Regression is a defense mechanism in which one performs reverted behavior. The decline in attention of parents towards an elder child due to a new addition to the family may result in the elder one reverting to bed wetting and other infantile behavior to draw parental attention.
  7. Rationalization: Justifying one’s behavior with logical explanations that disguise the real, unconscious motives. While using rationalization mechanism one thinks logically and offers socially approved reasons in order to justify one’s behavior. Though one knows that his action is immoral and unreasonable.
  8. Identification: Modeling one’s behavior and thoughts after another person as a way of coping with anxiety. Identification may operate as a defense mechanism by increasing feelings of worth and protecting the individual against self devaluation
  9. Introjection: Taking in and internalizing the values, attitudes, or beliefs of others to the point where they become a part of one’s own self-concept. Introjection as a defence mechanism involves the acceptance of the other’s values and norms as one’s own even when they are the opposite of one’s previous assumptions.
  10. Compensation: Counterbalancing perceived weaknesses or shortcomings by emphasizing or exaggerating one’s strengths in other areas. People make an effort to draw attention away from a defect or a weakness.
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These defense mechanisms are not inherently good or bad, but they can become problematic if they are used excessively or inappropriately and prevent people from facing and addressing their problems in a healthy and productive way.

Defense Mechanism in Psychology
Also Read: Conflict Management in Psychology

Factors Affecting Intelligence

Intelligence is a complex construct that is influenced by a variety of factors. It is always said that Nature and nurture both affect intelligence.

Nature refers to heredity and nurture to
environment. At present, researchers agree that individual differences in intelligence are clearly the result of the interplay between genetic factors and the environmental conditions

Here are some of the most important factors that can impact intelligence:

  1. Genetics: Intelligence is partially influenced by genetic factors. Certain genes may be associated with higher levels of cognitive ability and thus higher intelligence.
  2. Environmental factors: Environmental factors such as nutrition, stress, and exposure to toxins can impact the development of the brain and therefore affect intelligence. There is evidence that environmental deprivation lowers intelligence while rich nutrition, quality schooling, and good family background increase intelligence.
  3. Brain development: The development of the brain, including the growth of brain structures and the formation of neural connections, can significantly impact intelligence.
  4. Health and well-being: Good health and overall well-being, including proper nutrition, exercise, and sufficient sleep, can contribute to higher levels of intelligence. A healthy diet will lead to better mental health and intelligence.
  5. Learning experiences: Formal education and informal exposure to new information and ideas, can have a significant impact on intelligence. With new learning and better ideas, the person becomes more intelligent.
  6. Emotional and social intelligence: Emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and regulate emotions is important. Social intelligence, the ability to understand and navigate social relationships, is also an important component of overall intelligence.
Also Read: Assessment Techniques of Personality

Intelligence is not determined solely by any one of these factors, but by the interplay and combination of all of these factors. Additionally, intelligence is a dynamic construct that can change and develop over time.

Factors affecting Intelligence
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Brain Storming Method

Brainstorming is a creative problem-solving technique that involves producing a large number of ideas in a short period of time. The goal of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible.

Osborn’s (1957) brainstorming is a group approach to encourage
creativity. It is a technique where people in a group setting are required to come up with as many ideas as possible. People or individuals give out whatever comes to their mind on a particular topic/issue without much thinking about it or postponing it or judging it. There are four basic guidelines for the group:

Features of Brain Storming Method :

(1) The greater the number of ideas, the better it is.


(2) People can combine two or more ideas that are proposed by others.

(3)The brainstorming session maintains the encouragement of each other, complete friendliness, and a relaxed mind.

(4) Group Involvement helps in the exchange of ideas and building a better communication system.

(5) People are not allowed to judge or criticize each other ideas so it is a good way to give ideas without being criticized.

(6) Participants are encouraged to think outside the box, be imaginative, and build on each other’s ideas.

Also Read: Assessment Techniques of Personality

These are some of the main features of brainstorming, which are effective in promoting creativity, generating new and innovative ideas, and solving problems in a group setting.

Brain Storming Method of Creativity
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Behavioristic Theory of Learning

The theory was first developed by B.F. Skinner in the mid-20th century and has been influential in shaping our understanding of learning and behavior. Behaviorism is a psychological theory that views behavior as a response to stimuli in the environment. It is based on the idea that all behavior can be explained by the relationship between stimuli and responses, and that learning occurs through the formation of associations between stimuli and responses.

It emphasizes the role of environmental stimuli and rewards/punishments in shaping and modifying behavior. Key figures in behaviorism include Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, and John Watson. This theory has been applied in fields such as education , and has also influenced the development of behavior modification techniques and therapies.

Key features of behaviorism include:

  1. Emphasis on observable behavior: Behaviorism only concerns itself with observable, measurable behavior and disregards internal processes such as thoughts and feelings.
  2. Conditioning: Behaviorism follows that learning occurs through classical and operant conditioning, where behavior is shaped through reinforcement or punishment.
  3. Stimulus-Response Relationships: Behavior is seen as a response to stimuli in the environment, and the goal of behaviorism is to identify the specific relationships between stimuli and responses.
  4. Use of Reinforcement and Punishment: Reinforcement is used to increase the frequency of desired behaviors, while punishment is used to decrease the frequency of undesired behaviors.
  5. Focus on the Environment: Behaviorism places a strong emphasis on the role of the environment in shaping behavior, and views behavior as largely determined by environmental factors.
  6. Scientific approach: Behaviorism uses a scientific, empirical approach to understanding behavior, relying on systematic observation and experimentation to develop theories and principles.
  7. Limited focus: Behaviorism has a limited focus on human behavior, neglecting the internal mental processes that may play a role in shaping behavior.

Also Read : Sigmund Freud Theory

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