Jaime Oyarzo

The Backward design

An instructional design approach starting with the end…… my own summary…

What is Understanding by Design?

A framework for improving student achievement, emphasizing the teacher's critical role as a designer of student learning

Understanding by Design® is based on

• A primary goal of education: development and deepening of student understanding

• Student’s understanding increase with opportunities to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-assess

• Effective curriculum development: a three-stage design process called "backward design"

…what is not working?

• Too many students learn without thinking• Instruction has become a teacher’s repeating

activity• The course is NOT– The textbook (this is a resource)– The activities (these are the steps)– The content (this is to be mastered)

• There is a big difference between just knowing and understanding

The Backward Design Process

Identify desired results

Determine assessment

evidence

Plan learning experiences and

instruction

What I want the students toUnderstand and know andbe able to do?

How do I check they have learned?

Which learning activities will lead students to the desired results?

Takes into consideration…

• Start with the end in mind• Align goals, assessment, activities• Identify key questions for every unit • Be flexible in choice of activities so long as

goals are met

Wiggins & McTighe, p. 10

Stage 1. Identify desired resultsEstablishing Curricular Priorities

Worth being familiar with

Important to know and do

Big Ideas Worth

understanding

Stage 1 - Identify desired results What are the big ideas?

• What questions will foster inquiry, understanding, and transfer learning?

• What are the big ideas and important understandings participants should retain?

• Identifying "what students will know" and most importantly "what students will be able to do“

Stage 1 - Identify desired resultsLearning Objective Components:

• A - audience (student centered)• B - behaviour (observable & measurable)• C - conditions (how will do the task? i.e.

items/info given, denied, format, environment, aids, time, restrictions)

• D - degree (determines if success has been reached: accuracy, speed, number, standards, permissible errors)

Stage 1 - Identify desired resultsLearning Objective provides:

• a focus/intent for the instruction What?

• students w/ guidelines & expectations for learning How?

• a focus for assessment/evaluation(i.e. quiz, project, paper, journal)

• I.D.’s info for suggesting media, materials, strategies(PPT, audio; visuals, hand-outs; async/sync, lab, lecture, groups, etc.)

Stage 1 - Identify desired resultsEssential questions

… good questions … bad questions

An effective story engages the reades by setting up tensions about what will happen next

Audience and purpose

When water disappears, it turns into water vapor and back as liquid if the vapor is cooled

Water cover ¾ of the earth’s surface

In what ways does art reflect, as well as shape and culture?

When did the Italian Renaissance occur?

How would life be different if we couldn’t measure time?

How many minutes are in a year?

How do great writers hook and hold their readers?

What is foreshadowing?

How different is a scientific theory from a plausible belief?

Describe the theory…

Stage 2 - Determine acceptable evidence

• How do I check they have learned? how I measure the result?

• Evidence of learning by assessment• Performance tasks and evidence of

understanding determine what the students will demonstrate and what evidence will prove their understanding

• This can include self-reflections and self-assessments on learning.

The Six Facets of Understanding

Explain

Interpret

Apply

Self-Knowledge

Empathize

Have pespective

Starting points forPerformance tasks!

Wiggins & McTighe, p. 10

Assessment types

Worth being familiar with

Important to know and do

Big Ideas Worth

understanding

Traditional quizzes& tests• paper/pencil• selected-response• constructed response

Performance tasks & projects• open-ended• complex• authentic

Stage 3 - Plan learning experiences &instruction

• How do I teach to achieve the learning outcomes?

• How will students be “hooked”?• Lists the learning activities that will lead

students to your desired results• How will the work be “tailored” to individual

interest and learning styles?

Stage 3 - Plan Activities, Experiences &instruction

• What is the enabling…needed to perform effectively and achieve desired results?

• What needs to be taught and coached?Determine the content

• How should it best be taught?– Instructional Strategies

• What activities will equip students with these needed knowledge and skills?

• What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these desired results/goals?

• Is the learning plan effective and engaging?

Backward Design Results

If followed completely and correctly … students should be able to answer the following questions:• What are you doing?• Why are you being asked to do it?• What will it help you do?• How does it fit into what you have previously

done?• How will you show that you have learned it?

Entry Points for the Design

Process

Wiggins & McTighe