Abstract
Evaluation is a critical component in the curriculum development process. Through evaluation, the inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes of the curriculum development process are judged of their worth. However, for the methods of evaluation to be effective, they must be seamlessly flawless which means that they must be efficient in order for the evaluators to make adequate judgments of the value of the curriculum. Quite often in Kenya, industry players have criticized universities by asserting that university curriculum is normally not designed in tandem with societal changes. For this reason, stakeholders often chide concerning the skill mismatch between the academic programmes offered at the universities and the requirements of the labour market. It is not uncommon nowadays for the employers to complain that the grade one scores at the university does not correlate positively to performance at work. The purpose of this paper therefore is to discuss the process underlying curriculum design and implementation and its effect on quality evaluation of students learning outcomes at the university level in Kenya. By adopting a desk-based research, this paper uses Elliot Eisner’s Connoisseurship model of curriculum evaluation to critically examine, analyze, and synthesize information from a wide range of literature, studies, policy documents and experiential observations to construct arguments on the challenges facing curriculum implementation and evaluation in higher education with particular reference to university education in Kenya. The paper avers that to maintain quality education standards in university education, universities should focus on developing course syllabuses stipulating the depth and breadth of content to be covered in a course as well as establish central examinations boards which will be charged with the responsibility of setting, marking and dissemination of examination results to ensure education standards are not compromised.
Key words: curriculum, design, implementation, evaluation, learning outcomes.