Understanding by DesignFahmida Lukman

ASU ILEP ALUMNI-2014

Understanding By Design

• “Backward Design” focus: Clarify results and evidence of them before designing lessons.

• Teaching for understanding is the goal of teaching and compatible with standards-based curricula.

• UbD is a way of thinking more carefully about design, not a program.

3 Stages of Backward

Design

1. Identify Desired Results

2. Determine Acceptable Evidence

3. Plan learning experiences

and instruction

• Content Standards• Understandings• Essential Questions• Knowledge and Skills

1. Identify Desired Results

The Big Ideas• To determine the Big Ideas for your unit or course, ask

yourself…Why? So what?What is the “moral of the story”?How is _____ applied in the world beyond the classroom?What couldn’t we do if we didn’t understand _____?

What are key complex performance tasks indicative of understanding?

What other evidence will be collected to build the case for understanding, knowledge, and skill?

How will the students self-assess?

2. Assessment Evidence

Stage 2 is the essence of backward design & alignment

Link assessment types to curricular priorities

“Measure what we value; value and act on what we measure.”

Assessment Types

Traditional quizzes& tests

• paper/pencil• selected-response• constructed response

Performance tasks& projects

• open-ended• complex• authentic

Worth being familiar with

Important to know& do

Big Ideas With Understandings

Scenarios for Authentic Tasks

Build assessments anchored in authentic tasks using GRASPS:• G-What is the Goal in the scenario?

• R-What is the Role?

• A-Who is the Audience?

• S-What is your Situation (context)?

• P-What is the Performance challenge?

• S-By what Standards will work be judged in the scenario?

3. Plan Learning Experience and Instruction

• A focus on engaging and effective learning, “designed in”• What learning experiences and instruction will promote the

desired understanding, knowledge and skill?• How will you best promote the deepening of insight and

interest?• How will you prepare students for the performance(s)?

Organize by W.H.E.R.E.

• W = Where are we headed? and why? (from the student’s perspective)• H = How will the student be ‘hooked’?• E = What opportunities will there be to be equipped and explore key ideas.• R = How will we provide opportunities to rethink, rehearse, refine and

revise?• E = How will students evaluate (so as to improve) their own performance?