What is a spiral curriculum?

The spiral curriculum is an instructional approach that emphasizes the revisiting and deepening of key concepts and skills throughout a series of courses or academic years. In a spiral curriculum, topics are introduced at a basic level and then revisited in subsequent courses or grade levels with increasing complexity and depth.

The principles of spiral curriculum can also be applied to an individual course. By beginning your course with key topics and then revisiting them as the semester progresses, it reinforces the importance of those topics to your students and builds on previous knowledge to enrich the current learning experience.

The term “spiral” refers to the continuous progression and reinforcement of knowledge and skills. Rather than covering a topic once and moving on, the curriculum loops back to previously covered material, building upon it and extending students’ understanding over time. This approach is often used in disciplines where foundational knowledge and skills are essential for advanced learning.

How can you use spiral curriculum in your course?

In the context of your course, the spiral curriculum can be applied in several ways:

• Reinforcement and Review: Key concepts, theories, and foundational knowledge are reintroduced and reviewed in subsequent weeks or modules. This helps students solidify their understanding and recall of essential information.
• Continuity and Integration: The spiral curriculum promotes the integration of knowledge across different subjects in your course. Concepts and skills from one module are connected to and built upon in related modules, fostering a cohesive and interconnected understanding of the subject matter.
• Increasing Complexity: As students progress through the curriculum, the complexity and depth of the topics gradually increase. This allows for a more comprehensive exploration of the subject matter and the development of higher-order thinking skills.
• Skill Development: In addition to content knowledge, the spiral curriculum emphasizes the development and refinement of skills over time. Skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, research, and communication are continuously practiced and reinforced throughout the curriculum.
• Transfer of Learning: By revisiting and applying knowledge in different contexts, the spiral curriculum enhances students’ ability to transfer their learning to new situations and solve complex problems. It helps students make connections between theory and practice and develop a broader perspective on the subject matter.

What results can you expect from incorporating spiral curriculum into your course?

The spiral curriculum promotes long-term retention, a deeper understanding of concepts, and the ability to make connections across different modules and concepts as well as across courses and disciplines. It recognizes that learning is a continuous process, and by revisiting and expanding upon previously learned material, students can build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills that supports their ongoing academic and professional growth.

In the Chemistry program at UI, the faculty all work together to decide and develop their syllabi so there is continuity and cohesion from course to course, both within those in a series (for example, CHEM:1070 and CHEM:1080, which build on one another) or between course series (e.g. the ways General Chemistry courses lay foundations upon which the Principles of Chemistry courses build). Depending on your department’s structure, a similiar level of cohesion may not be possible, but by collaborating with your fellow instructors you can build those connections between courses in your discipline.

Who can help if you’re interested in incorporating spiral curriculum into your course?

If you would like to explore how you could use this in your course or department, please reach out to the Center for Teaching for assistance and guidance on how best to implement these activities.