Backward Design

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Backward Design

• A Snapshot

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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.

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What is Traditional Lesson Planning?

• 1.
• 2.
• 3.

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Begin with the END in mind!

• Why?

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A ship with no port of destination, knows no
favorable wind. Anonymous
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A Concepts Whose Time Has Come

• Ralph Tyler in1949 wrote
• Educational objectives become the criteria by
  which materials are selected, content outlined,
  instructional procedures are developed, and tests
  and examinations are prepared

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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
PeopleStephen R. Covey

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

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Traditional Common Planning Mistakes

• Cute activities that dont really go anywhere or
  are too loosely connected to the objective.
• Fun activities, just because they are fun.
• Marching through the textbooks.

Both are symptomatic of a lack of intellectual
focus on targeted goals
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Traditionally teachers have used

• Table of Contents
• Activities
• Assessments

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Backward Design begins with

• Goals Objectives
• Assessments
• Activities

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Backward DesignShift Your Focus from

• Teaching for mere content mastery
• Teaching discrete skills, out of context, on
  neat-and-clean exercises, with simple answers
• Linear coverage of all content, as if everything
  is equal and learnable by one exposure

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Backward Design asks youTo Focus on Students
Learning

• Learning how to USE content effectively.
• Draw upon many skills, in realistic contexts
  via complex tasks and problems.
• Recursive curriculum with clear priorities
  goals.
• and many chances to understand
• Textbook as a resource, in support of explicit
  learning.

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Shift Your Perspective!

• Its NOT what I teach but how do I get it learned
• Its NOT the input but the yield
• Its NOT the syllabus but the results

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Backward Design

• Is A Three Step Process

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Identify desired results.
Wiggins, G McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by
Design. Alexandria, VA Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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Stage 1Identify 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?

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Enduring Understanding
Worth beingfamiliar with.
Nice to know
Important to knowand do.
Foundational skill
EnduringUnderstanding
Core task
Wiggins, G McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by
Design. Alexandria, VA Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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History
Significance of the Magna Carta
Limits on Power
Rule of Law
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The Constitution
Limits on Power
Three Branches of Government
Checks and Balances
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European History
Congress of Vienna
Competing Groups form Alliances
Balance Of Power
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The Big Question?

• How do I determine what is an..
• Enduring Understanding?
• What are the four filters?

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Filter 1

• Does the enduring value have value beyond the
  classroom?
• Jerome Bruner, The Process of Education (1960)
  wrote..
• is this worth knowing as an adult?
• The Big Idea is also known as the
• Linchpin idea.

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Filter 2

• To what extent does the idea, topic, or process
  allow the student to use the information, or
  doing' the subject?
• For example
• Interpreting historical events,
• Researching and critiquing books,
• Debating social and economic policies

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Filter 3

• Will the idea, topic or process require
• Uncoverage?
• Are there ideas or concepts that are not obvious
  or counterintuitive?
• Will these ideas or concepts need significant
  teachers guidance?

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Filter 4

• Will the idea, topic, or process
• offer the potential for engaging students?
• For examplewhat does it mean to be independent?

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Historical Enduring Understandings

• History involves interpretation historians can
  and do disagree.
• The study of history involves understanding the
  various schools of thought.
• Historical interpretations are influenced by
  ones perspective (e.g. freedom fighters vs.
  terrorists).

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What Enduring Understandings Do You Teach?

• 1.
• 2.
• 3.

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What are Essential Questions?

• Have no simple right answer they are meant to
  be argued.
• Are designed to provoke student inquiry.
• Often address the conceptual or philosophical
  foundations of a discipline.
• Raise other important questions
• Occur frequently throughout the learning process
• Stimulate continue rethinking of big ideas, and
  prior lessons.
• Examples

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Examples

• Is the judicial branch too powerful?
• What do we mean by all men are created equal?
• What role did/does religion play in the
  development of US history?
• How and why do we provide checks and balances on
  government?
• Who are our global friends and why?

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What essential questions can you ask?

• 1.
• 2.
• 3.

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Stage 2Determine Acceptable Evidence

• How will enduring understanding be measured?

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Think like an assessor!

• A Common Mistake.
• Teachers think goal/objective.
• then activities.

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Decide upon the Assessment

• and actually create the test/assessment BEFORE
  you begin day one of instruction!
• This will provide the road map for what is to
  be taught.

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Assessments should vary!

• Both formal and informal
• Scope
• Time frame
• Setting
• Structure

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In the assessment process students should
demonstrate their understandings through.

• the six facets of understanding.

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Six Facets of Understanding students

• can explain - accurate
• can interpret - meaningful
• can apply - effective
• have perspective - credible
• can empathize - sensitive
• have self-knowledge self aware

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Select Assessment Type

• Ask yourself, What is the best way for students
  to demonstrate what they know and can do?
• Traditionally...
• Paper and pencil test? (Multiple choice, short
  answers, true/false, single essay)

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Traditional assessments have students

• Report the information
• Recite..Just the facts
• Use the lower level of Blooms Taxonomy

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Backward design challenges teachers to develop

• Summative assessments, sometimes called
  performance assessments.
• Summative assessments incorporate the strengths
  of traditional assessment with a product or
  performance task.
• Move towards the upper end of Blooms taxonomy.

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Summative Assessments

• require students to apply skills, concepts, and
  understandings to a new problem in a different
  context or to a different text(s).

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Possible Summative Written Assessments

• Biographies
• Editorials
• Historical Fiction
• Position Paper
• Research Report

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Possible Oral Performances

• Debates
• Historical Interviews
• Oral Report/Presentation
• Speeches

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Possible Visual Products

• Diagram/Diorama/Power Point
• Graph
• Map
• Political Cartoon
• Poster

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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.
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Remember.

• Assessments are interwoven throughout the entire
  unit of study.
• Assessments are a part of the learning process
  and should occur throughout the sequence, not
  just at the end.

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Develop a Scoring Guide/Rubric

• Purpose?
• To provide clear descriptors about how
  performance will be judged.
• Result?
• Your grading will be more reliable.

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Sample US History Rubric

• Clear, well-developed thesis that in a
  sophisticated fashion with key components
• Clear, developed thesis that deals with the key
  issues
• General thesis responding to all components
  superficially
• Little or no analysis
• (Education Testing Service/College Board, 1992,
  p. 25)

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Rubric Sites to Explore
Because there is NEVER enough time borrow,
borrow, borrow!!!

• www.Rubistar.4teachers.org
• www.rubric.com
• www.Teach-nology.com

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Stage 3 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.

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Delivery of Instruction

• How will you teach this standard/objective?
• Think Learning Strategies!!
• Consider learning styles

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Learning strategies

• Teachers need to design the sequence of learning
  experiences that students will undertake to
  develop understanding.
• Beyond learning about a subject, students will
  need lessons that enable them to experience
  directly the inquiries, arguments, applications,
  and points of view underneath the facts and
  opinions they learn if they are to understand
  them.
• (Wiggins and McTighe,Understanding by Design, p
  99)

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Good Teaching

• ..is dependent on good design.
• Good design and good teaching are dependent upon
  clear purposes.
• (Wiggins and McTighe,Understanding by Design,
  p.159)

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Delivery of Assessment!

• Test time!!
• Dont forget to vary the type!

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Reflection

• Take the time to reflect upon the success of the
  lesson/unit/assessment.
• Was the objective achieved? Did the students
  learn? How did they score? What could you have
  done better or in a different manner?
• Make appropriate changes!

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Revisions

• Creating a unit using the backward design
  planning process is not a neat, tidy or easy
  process. 
• It requires ongoing revisions and flexibility.

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Students in the revision process

• They raise questions that will cause you to
  revisit your ideas.
• Each group will have their own learning styles to
  consider and factor in.
• As the needs and strengths of the students change
  so will the assessments.

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And

• Teachers might have to let go some of their
  favorite, old reliable lessons, because they just
  dont fit anymore.

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And finally

• As you teach the unit, you will also make
  continual adjustments based on the formative
  assessment data you gather about what students
  know and can do. This will take time.
• And besides, reflection and revision is something
  all good teachers do!

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Now its your turn!
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Resources

• Understanding by Design, Grant Wiggins and Jay
  McTighe, 2001, Prentice Hall Inc
• Understanding by Design, Professional Development
  Workbook, Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, 2004,
  ASCD
• http//www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Planning/mode
  ls/princbackdesign.htm
• http//www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/B
  ackwardDesign/Overview.htm