Inconsistency evaluation of the curriculum logical structure

Abstract

Purpose of the study. The main purpose of creating a curriculum is to regulate academic disciplines in accordance with the logic of the learning process, defined by the relationship between the basic concepts of the disciplines. Violation of this logic becomes apparent only directly during the training sessions.A large variety of quantitative methods uses indicators that do not reveal structural deficiencies in the curriculum. This makes it difficult to improve the curriculum.The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the application of a general approach to the assessment of the structural inconsistency of systems in relation to the evaluation of the logical structure of the curriculum.Materials and methods. The paper applies a general approach to the assessment of structural integrity, developed on the basis of the provisions of the general theory of systems and graph theory. The approach involves the construction of three interrelated structural models of the system and using them to determine the initial data for calculating the index of inconsistency of the system structure.Results. The overall approach to the assessment of structural integrity is adapted to assess the logical structure of the curriculum. Three models of curriculum structure are developed:Elementary model of interdisciplinary communication;Curriculum network model;Hierarchical curriculum model.Based on the parameters of the hierarchical curriculum model, using three adapted algorithms, the value of the inconsistency index of the curriculum structure in the direction of preparation “Applied Informatics” is calculated. Recommendations on changing the structure of the studied curriculum to reduce the degree of its structural inconsistency are proposed. Conclusion. As a result of the research, the methods were proposed that allow identifying possible contradictions in the structure of the curriculum and evaluating its inconsistency. As the experiments have shown, it is extremely difficult to study the curricula in a manual manner, the number of disciplines in which exceeds 50. In this regard, the development of a complex of computer programs that will automate the assessment of the inconsistency of large curricula is being completed.

Keywords

• integrated curricula
• quantitative evaluation of curricula
• system approach
• graph theory
• inconsistency indicator