UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

PREPARED BY; GÖZDE YILDIRIM 2008106009

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

   Understanding by design (UbD) is a theory developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay

McTighe for educational planning based on ‘teaching for understanding’.

They wrote a book with the same name ‘Understanding by Design’, published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development in 1998. The key terms of the UbD are ‘backward

design’, understanding understanding, ‘six facets of understanding’, performance assessments, design meaningful curriculum and instruction.

   

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

Its ultimate aim is to increase students’ achievement and the teachers are regarded as the designers of the students’ learning. According to Wiggins and McTighe, it is a framework for; designing curriculum and instructions to engage students in exploring and to deep their understanding of important ideas, the content you teach, and also designing performance assessments

to reveal the extent of their understanding.

Wiggins and McTighe have played important roles in the growth and maturation of performance assessment. They have seemed as source of hope in the field of education, especially performance assessment, curriculum and instruction when the field of education had troubled times because of the inadequacy of tests used to assess student learning.

H OW IT DOES EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT ?

 Curriculum: is more than the content of courses (syllabus) and stating the topics and materials, it focuses on the activities, assignments and assessments are used in order to achieve intended learning outcomes.  Assessment: determining to what extent students understand, depend on stated learning outcomes, collecting evidence about understanding. It is not only formal assessment like end of the teaching tests. Both informal and formal assessment during a course including observations, performance tasks and projects, dialogues, traditional tests and quizzes and also self assessments of the students about their own learning experiences.

C

ONTINUUM OF ASSESSMENT METHODS Informal checks for understanding Observation& Dialogue Quiz & Test Academic prompt Performance task & Project

H

OW IT DOES EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF UNDERSTANDING

?

 The starting point of them is Bloom’s Taxonomy in Cognitive Domain. Bloom classified the range of possible intellectual objectives (learning outcomes) from the cognitively easy to the difficult. Each level requires different thinking skills.

H

OW IT DOES EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF UNDERSTANDING

?

   In Bloom’s Taxonomy ‘understanding (comprehension)’ is the second level and Bloom refers to ‘understanding’ as a commonly sought but ill-defined objective. To start with Bloom’s Taxonomy, Wiggins and McTighe said that ‘‘Knowing the facts and doing

well on tests of knowledge do not mean that we understand.’’

They regarded this misconception as a universal problem and to solve this problem they have developed

a multifaceted view of mature understanding. (Six Facets of Understanding)

S

IX FACETS OF UNDERSTANDING

 According to Wiggins and McTighe, when we truly understand, we can explain, can interpret, can apply, have perspective, can empathize and finally have self-knowledge so for a complete and mature understanding all of these six facets are required.

SELF KNOWLEDGE EMPATHY PERSPECTIVE APPLICATION INTERPRETAION EXPLANATION

S

IX FACETS OF UNDERSTANDING CRITERIA FOR EACH FACET FACET 1 FACET 2 FACET 3 FACET 4

Explanation Interpretation Application Perspective Accurate Coherent Justified Systematic Predictive Meaningful Insightful Significant Illustrative Illuminating Effective Efficient Fluent Adaptive Graceful Credible Revealing Insightful Plausible Unusual

FACET 5 FACET 6

Empathy Sensetive Open Receptive Perceptive Tactful Self Knowledge Self- aware Meta cognitive Self adjusting Reflective Wise

F

ILTERS FOR SELECTING UNDERSTANDING



Represent a big idea having enduring value beyond the classrom.



Reside at the heart of the discipline (involve’’doing’’ the subject)



Require uncoverage (of abstract or often misunderstood ideas)



Offer potential for engaging students ‘‘Enduring’’ understanding

W

HAT IS DESIGN

&

BACKWARD DESIGN

?

 According to Oxford English Dictionary, design is to have purposes and intentions; to plan and execute.  In educational perspective; teachers are the designers of curriculum, learning and assessment by considering the needs of students, developmental levels, prior knowledge and learning styles.

But what is backward design? What makes it different from the other designs?

W

HAT IS DESIGN

&

BACKWARD DESIGN

?

 According to Wiggins and McTighe, backward design is the most effective curricular design. They declared the reasons of it as following; “We do so because many teachers begin with textbooks, favored lessons, and time honored activities rather than deriving those tools from targeted goals or standards. We are advocating the reverse: One starts with the end-the desired results (goals or standards) and then derives the curriculum from the evidence of learning (performances) called for by the standard and teaching needed to equip students to perform.”

W

HAT IS DESIGN

&

BACKWARD DESIGN

?

 Backward design has three main stages; STAGE 1 • identify desired results • What is worthy and requiring of understanding?” STAGE 2 • determine acceptable evidence • “What is evidence of understanding?” STAGE 3 • plan learning experiences and instruction • “What learning experiences and teaching promote

understanding, interest, and excellence?”

B

IG PICTURE OF A DESIGN APPROACH Key Design Question Design Considerations 1)What is worthy and requiring of understanding?

National standards.

State standards.

Districts standars.

Regional topic opportunities.

Teacher expertise and interest.

Filters (Design Criteria) Enduring ideas.

Opportunities for authentic, discipline work.

Uncoverage.

Engaging.

What the Final Design Accomplishes Unit framed around enduring understandings and essential questions.

2)What is evidence of undertanding?

Six facets of understanding.

Continuum of assessment types.

Valid.

Reliable.

Sufficient.

Authentic work.

Feasible.

Student friendly.

Unit anchored in credible and educatinally vital evidence of the desired understanding.

B

IG PICTURE OF A DESIGN APPROACH Key Design Question 3)What learning experiences and teaching promote understanding, interest, and excellence?

Design Considerations Filters (Design Criteria) Research-based repertoire of learning and teaching strategies.

Essential and enabling knowledge and skill.

WHERE Where is it going?

Hook the students.

Explore and equip.

Rethink and revise.

Exhibit and evaluate. What the Final Design Accomplishes Coherent learning experiences and teaching that will evoke and develop the desired understandings, promote interest, and make excellent performance more likely.

A

DESIGN TEMPLATE IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS



What overarching understandings are desired?

---------------------------------- -----------------------------------

What are the overarching ‘‘essential’’ questions?

---------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------

What will students undertand as a result of this unit?

------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------

What ‘’essential’’ and ‘’unit’’ questions will focus this unit?

---------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

A

DESIGN TEMPLATE DETERMINE ACCEPTABLE EVIDENCE What evidence will show that students understand-----------------?

Performance Tasks, Projects

-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------

Quizzes, Tests, Academic Prompts

------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Other Evidence (observations, work samples, dialogues)

------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------

Student Self- Assessment

------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------

A

DESIGN TEMPLATE PLAN LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTION Given the targeted understandings, other unit goals, and the assessment evidence identified, what knowledge and skill are needed?

Students will need t know

------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Students will need to be able to

------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------

What teaching and learning experiences will equip students to demonstrate the targete understanding?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REFERENCES

  Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educatioal

Objectives: Classification of Educational Goals.

New York.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Virginia, USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.