Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design is a framework for designing courses and content units called "Backward Design," developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe.

Overview

• Instructors often use a "forward design" approach:
  • Consider learning activities.
  • Develop assessments around these activities.
  • Connect to learning goals.
• Backward design:
  • Start with learning goals.
  • Consider assessments.
  • Then, plan instruction.
• Backward design is a more intentional approach.

Benefits of Using Backward Design

• Focuses on student learning and understanding.
• Encourages intentionality in the design process.
• Provides guidance for instruction.
• Leads to transparent and explicit instruction.
• Ensures every task has a purpose.
• Helps gauge student learning and understanding.

The Three Stages of Backward Design

Stage One – Identify Desired Results

• Consider the learning goals.
• Establish curricular priorities by asking three questions:
  • What should participants hear, read, view, explore, or otherwise encounter? (Knowledge worth being familiar with)
    • Lowest priority content.
  • What knowledge and skills should participants master? (Important to know and do)
    • Facts, concepts, principles, processes, strategies, and methods.
  • What are big ideas and important understandings participants should retain? (Enduring understandings)
    • Ideas students should remember after completing the course.
• Answering these questions helps determine the best content for the course.
• Answers to question #3 can be adapted to form concrete, specific learning goals.

Stage Two – Determine Acceptable Evidence

• Consider assessments and performance tasks.
• Determine how students will demonstrate understanding and learning.
• Ask two questions:
  • How will I know if students have achieved the desired results?
  • What will I accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency?
• Consider a wide range of assessment methods:
  • Term papers
  • Short-answer quizzes
  • Free-response questions
  • Homework assignments
  • Lab projects
  • Practice problems
  • Group projects

Stage Three – Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction

• Create instructional strategies and learning activities.
• Consider these questions:
  • What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, principles) and skills (processes, procedures, strategies) will students need to perform effectively and achieve desired results?
  • What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?
  • What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it best be taught, in light of performance goals?
  • What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals?
• Leverage various instructional strategies:
  • Large and/or group discussion
  • Interactive lecturing and think-pair-shares
  • Flipped classroom
  • Cooperative learning (including team-based and project-based learning)
  • Guided note-taking
  • Guided inquiry for problem-solving

Backward Design Template

• UbD Template 2.0 walks individuals through the stages of backward design.