人類自有教育活動以來，即有課程和教學的問題。不論是成熟人的教育或是教師對學生的教育，只要分析其中任何一個教育活動，均可發現「教什麼」和「如何教」的成分。幾千年來人類文字的歷史中，實不乏這方面的記載。然而人類歷史中關於課程或教材的記載，並不代表「課程」已經成為一門研究的領域。關於課程的主張及討論即使早已存在，課程的系統研究卻是廿世紀初期的事，克立巴德（Kliebard，1968）、艾斯納（Eigner，1967）、卡斯威身（Caswell，1966）對此均有詳細的敘述。

In 1918 Franklin Bobbitt published a book The Curriculum which dates the birth of the field of curriculum. He launched the deficiency ideology by demanding that educators apply to their endeavors, both school management and curriculum─making, the techniques of scientific engineering developed by industry. The central theory of Bobbbitt’s curriculum─making is simple as described by Bobbitt himself. Human life consists in the performance of specific activities. Education prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these activities. The discovery of these activities needs scientific instrument called activity analysis by which curriculum makers establish the objectives of the curriculum. Then, the curriculum will be that series of experiences which children and youth must have by way of attaining those objectives.
Bobbitt comparing curriculum development to the industrial manufacture of steel rails. The school is compared to a factory. The child is the raw material. The adult is the finished product. The teacher is a factory worker. The curriculum maker is an educational engineer. The curriculum is whatever processing the raw material into the finished product. Thus, production is a lens through which Bobbitt and his followers view the world of education.
Bobbitt’s scientific curriculum theory had little impact on the Progressive movement of the thirties and was neglected by the essentialists and rational humanists as well. However, many contemporary curriculum specialists employ ideas similar to those advanced by Bobbitt. Examples are Tyler’s rationale, Gagne’s learning hierarchy, competency─based teacher education, behavior objectives, etc.
The contributions of scientific curriculum theory to the curriculum field are many. Nevertheless, there are a number of comments on many aspects of the theory. Among them are the problems of applying production metaphors to education, removing value component from curriculum─making, viewing education as the preparation of adult life, stating behavior objectives as the first step of curriculum making, and differentiating curriculum by children’s SES.
In this paper, the earliest leader of scientific curriculum theory, Franklin Bobbitt, is firstly introduced. The formative background and the central points of the theory are then discussed. Thirdly, the contemporary patterns of the scientific curriculum theory are analyzed. And finally, there are discussions of the contributions and problems of the scientific curriculum theory as proposed by the earlier and contemporary curriculum leaders.