Big Ideas from Big Ideas from Understanding by DesignUnderstanding by Design

Intro and Ch 1 RecapIntro and Ch 1 Recap

Big Ideas from Big Ideas from Understanding by DesignUnderstanding by Design

Intro and Ch 1 RecapIntro and Ch 1 RecapSec502/Fnd504Sec502/Fnd504

Big Ideas• The key questions

at the heart of effective learning:

Big Ideas• The key question

at the heart of effective learning:

What’s the point? What is important here?

Big Ideas• What do letter

grades tell us, really, about student understanding?

Big Ideas• What do letter

grades tell us, really, about student understanding?

Nothing, unless …

Big Ideas• What do letter

grades tell us, really, about student understanding?

Nothing, unless …They correspond to

valid assessment of understanding.

Big Ideas• Backward Design

is standard operating procedure in other design professions … designers start with explicit goals for specific end-users.

Big Ideas• “People need to

cross from A to B … so, ….

Big Ideas• “People need to

cross from A to B … so, let’s start with a work plan, order materials, and find the right workers.

Big Ideas• But that’s not the

way many teachers do it.

Big Ideas• But that’s not the

way many teachers do it. Instead, they say ….

Big Ideas• I’ve got some cool

cement here, and some steel I just love, and a bunch of guys lying around. Let’s try and build some-thing useful and see what happens.

Big Ideas• And, let’s put

them in groups to do it, because group work is the easiest way for them to figure out how to build something.

Big Ideas• And, in groups,

they won’t fall asleep!

Big Ideas• And, let’s not tell

them what we’re building; let’s see if they can figure out something useful from all the cement and steel I give them.

Big Ideas• Maybe …

someday… they might even be able to build a bridge!

Big Ideas• The Paradigm

Shift in Backward Design:

Big Ideas• The Paradigm

Shift in Backward Design:

• We think through the following BEFORE we design and teach a lesson.

Big Ideas• What are the

specific learnings sought, and what is the evidence of such learnings?

Big Ideas• We cannot say how

to teach for under-standing, or which materials and activities to use, until…

Big Ideas• We cannot say how

to teach for under-standing, or which materials and activities to use,

we articulate specific understandings we are after and what they look like in practice.

Big IdeasIf students were to ask, could

you provide a thoughtful answer?

Why are we reading this particular novel?

What will balancing equations help me to do in life?

So what if I can’t recall Newton’s Laws of Motion?

What’s the point of memorizing dates & names for my life?

Big IdeasIf students were to ask,

could you provide a thoughtful answer?

So what if I can’t find Algeria on the map?

Why should I care about mitosis vs. meiosis?

What’s the point of underlining words in this novel?

Big IdeasBackward Design

happens in stages:

Big IdeasStage One

Identify the desired results…

Big IdeasStage One

Identify the desired results in terms of STUDENT performance.

Big IdeasStage Two:

Determine acceptable evidence needed to document and validate that the desired learning has been achieved.

Big IdeasStage Two:

And make sure you have a variety of evidence under a variety of circumstances.

Big IdeasStage Three:

Then, and only then, plan learning experiences and instruction.

Big IdeasWiggins asks: What counts as evidence on the field, not merely in drills, that students get it?How do you know theyare ready to performwith understanding,knowledge and skill on

their own?

Big IdeasSkilled teachers

can articulate answers and, thus, design effective instruction.

Big IdeasRather than argue

over which teaching methods are “correct”, smart teachers make best use of their time reaching agreement on acceptable evidence of learning.

Big IdeasUnderstanding

Backward Design requires an open mind to look at learning as it really takes place …

Big IdeasUnderstanding

Backward Design requires an open mind to look at learning as it really takes pla…not as we think it should take place.

Big IdeasBackward Design

requires, really, common sense

and the ability to see that …

Big Ideas …too few

students really understand the point of their learning, and how to work effectively within the school system, and how to transfer those skills to the real world.

Big IdeasInstead, Backward

Design posits that educators who produce high quality learning designs …

Big IdeasInstead, Backward

Design posits that when educators produce high quality learning designs,

won’t experience teaching like this.

Instead …

Big IdeasInstead, Backward

Design posits that when educators produce high quality learning designs,

teaching won’t have look like this.

Instead …

Big IdeasInstead, Backward

Design posits that when educators produce high quality learning designs,

teaching won’t have look like this.

Instead … it will look like this.