Backward Design

1
Backward Design

• Review

2
What Is It?

• Backward Design is a process of lesson planning
  created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe and
  introduced in Understanding by Design (1998).
• This lesson design process concentrates on
  developing the lesson in a different order than
  in traditional lesson planning.

3
How Is It Different?

• Traditional
• Goals objectives
• Activities
• Assessments

• Backward Design
• Goals objectives
• Assessments
• Activities

4

Identify desired results.
Wiggins, G McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by
Design. Alexandria, VA Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
5
Identify Desired Results.

• What is important for students to be able to do,
  know, or perform?
• What enduring understandings are needed?
• What state, national, and district standards need
  to be met?
• What are the essential questions?

6
Enduring Understanding
Worth beingfamiliar with.
Important to knowand do.
EnduringUnderstanding
Wiggins, G McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by
Design. Alexandria, VA Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
7
Essential Questions

• Go to the heart of the discipline.
• Recur naturally throughout ones learning and in
  the history of a field.
• Raise other important questions.
• Provide subject- and topic- specific doorways to
  essential questions.
• Have no one obvious right answer.
• Are deliberately framed to provoke and sustain
  student interest.
• Examples

8
Examples

• Is the judicial branch too powerful?
• What do we mean by all men are created equal?
• What does it mean to lead a healthy life?
• Are systems in nature interdependent?
• Are mathematical ideas inventions or discoveries?

9
Determine Acceptable Evidence.

• How will enduring understanding be measured?
• How will assessments vary?
• Both formal and informal
• Scope
• Time frame
• Setting
• Structure

10
Assessment Continuum
Informal Checks for understanding
Observation/Dialogue
Performance task/project
Academic prompt
Quiz/Test
Wiggins, G McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by
Design. Alexandria, VA Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
11
Plan Learning Experiences.

• Learning experiences are planned after desired
  results and the method of measurement of those
  results are identified.
• What will the students need to know in order to
  achieve the desired goal, learning, or
  understanding?
• Various strategies are used to plan the learning.

12
W.H.E.R.E.

• Where is it going?
• Hook the students.
• Explore and equip.
• Rethink and revise.
• Exhibit and evaluate.

13
Questions
End
14
Additional Resources

• Great rubric generator
• http//rubistar.4teachers.org/
• Understanding by Design web
• http//ubd.ascd.org/
• Fairchild, J. and Kearns, J.
• http//it.spring-branch.isd.tenet.edu/public/kearn
  sj/backward_home.htm

15
Summary

• What is it?
• How is it different?
• Identify desired results.
• Determine acceptable evidence.
• Plan learning experiences.