BACKWARD DESIGN

Information in the presentation is from Understanding by Design

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe

What is Backward Design?

To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.

-Stephen R. Covey

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

WHAT GUIDES US•Teachers are constrained by standards•Students’ needs

EFFECTIVE CURRICULAR DESIGNS ARE BACKWARD

•The norm•The reverse•Given a task to be accomplished, how do we get there?•Begin with assessments

STAGES IN THE BACKWARD DESIGN PROCESS

IDENTIFYDESIREDRESULTS

DETERMINE ACCEPTABLE

EVIDENCE PLAN LEARNING

EXPERINCES AND

INSTRUCTION

STAGE 1:IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS

WHAT IS WORTH UNDERSTANDING?

Big IdeaActive learningUncoverageEngaged students

•BACKWARD DESIGN IS A PROCESS AND SET OF TOOLS TO MAKE THE SELECTION OF CURRICULUM PRIORITIES MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN BY DESIGN THAN BY GOOD FORTUNE

STAGE 2:DETERMINE ACCEPTABLE EVIDENCE

Collect assessment evidence

Plan assessment first

Consider a range of assessments

Continuum of assessments

STAGE 3PLAN LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTION

Planning instructional activities Knowledge and skills Actvities Teaching Materials and resources Overall design

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Can’t be answered in a sentence

Multilayered

Repeated

Go to the heart of a discipline

Recur naturally throughout one’s learning and in the history of a field

Raise other important questions

UNIT QUESTIONS

Specific

No “right” or “wrong” answer

Holds students’ interest

ESSENTIAL QUESTION UNIT QUESTION

Must a story have a moral, heroes, and villains?

What is the moral of the story of the Holocaust?Is Huck Finn a hero?

How does an organism’s structure enable it to survive in its environment?

How do the structures of amphibians and reptiles support their survival?

Who is a friend? Are Frog and Toad true friends?Has it been true in recent U.S. history and foreign affairs that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”?

What is light? How do cats see in the dark?Is light a particle or a wave?

WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING

Can explain

Can interpret

Can apply

Have perspective

Can empathize

Have self-knowledge

BLOOM’S TAXANOMY

SAMPLE TEMPLATES

NJCCCS (New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards)njccs.org Standards Resources

Curriculum Templates

Weekly lesson planner