Although Ralph Tyler originally set out to outline principles for studying the problems within the field of curriculum and instruction, his work soon became a formalized outline of the steps for actually designing curriculum itself (Tyler, 1949, 1980).  According to Richey, Klein, and Tracey (2011), Tyler’s foundational principles for designing curriculum and instruction “included many of the basic elements found in the systems approach to ID”.  In his Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction (1949), Tyler proposes the following four-step model:

  1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
  2. How can learning experiences be selected which are likely to be useful in attaining these objectives?
  3. How can learning experiences be organized for effective instruction?
  4. How can the effectiveness of learning experiences be evaluated?

Step one refers to determining and defining appropriate educational objectives.  Of particular note is that Tyler believed that “no single source of information is adequate to provide a basis for wise and comprehensive decisions about the objectives of the school” (Tyler, 1949, p. 5).  Thus, the development of objectives should be informed by multiple sources.  Specifically, Tyler recommends that objectives are developed in alignment with the goals of the institution, subject specialists, insight from educational philosophy and learning psychology, information about the learners (i.e., their needs, interests, and levels of development), and problems of contemporary life outside of school so that educational outcomes are connected to real societal issues.

Tyler (1949, p. 63) defines a learning experience as “the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment to which he can react”.  Tyler recommends in step two that for learning experiences to be useful they should help the learner to “improve skills in thinking, getting information, developing social attitude, and developing interests”.  Furthermore, Tyler suggests learning experiences be selected that follow several general principles:

  • Students should have appropriate backgrounds and prior knowledge for a given learning experience.
  • Participation in the learning experience and attaining the outcome behavior should produce student satisfaction.
  • Multiple learning experiences should be introduced to address a particular objective and maintain student and teacher interests.
  • There must be opportunity for students to practice the desired behaviors.
  • More than one outcome is expected from any given learning experience, even undesirable outcomes.

Step three involves having each of the selected learning experiences support one another in a cumulative fashion by being organized effectively to maximize their long-term impact.  Organization of learning experiences should follow three main criteria: continuity, sequence, and integration.  Continuity refers to deliberately and continually reoccurring instances of instruction and practice with the goal of solidifying the students’ ability to build concepts and objectives.  Sequence refers to designing the learning experiences in a way that they build and support one another in a cumulative fashion by increasing in depth as the lesson progresses.  Integration is concerned with relating objectives and experiences of the target content and subject matter to other areas outside of the lesson.

Finally, Tyler (1949) was an early advocate for ongoing evaluation of the instructional process before, during, and after student participation in an instructional program.  Upon evaluation, revision of any areas that were not effective should be conducted.  Richey et al (2011) note that Tyler also suggests “follow-up studies of graduates to determine if learning has become permanent”.