Allison Zmuda, Facilitator 1 UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN: THINKING ABOUT THE KEY PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR...

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Allison Zmuda, Facilitator

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN: THINKING ABOUT THE KEY

PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR SCHOOL

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Examine the four big ideas behind Understanding by Design

Identify key challenges in teaching and learning in your schoolStudent AchievementCoherencePreparation for post-graduation

Design a template that meets your needs

GOALS FOR TODAY’S WORK

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Review template componentsTake template for a “test drive”

Use a unit that you currently teach“Play” with essential questions, enduring understandings, and performance task

Align with established goalsPlan for October rollout

GOALS FOR TOMORROW’S WORK

What is “understanding” as a goal and what does it demand of assessment and instruction?

How can we more likely achieve understanding by design rather than by good fortune?

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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

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CYCLE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teach

Assess

Plan

Adjust

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A framework to –Stay focused on the long-term goalsGet the blend of ‘content’ and ‘performance’ right

Engage learners by using questions and tasks

UBD FOCUSES ON THE PLANNING PIECE

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If too many students…do not apply their learning unless you ‘hold their hand’

do not know why they are learning what they are asked to

see their job as passive learners

WHY UBD?

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I learn like a ______________________ because __________________________

Sample response: I learn like a car because when I hop into gear, I accelerate quickly when I get into the swing of things.

LEARNER METAPHORS

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I learn like a turtle because it takes awhile for me to get something but in the end I understand.

I learn like a lamp; when I’m “on” I do my job well and when I’m “off” I don’t do much.

I learn like a dog because it takes me a while to completely understand things but once I get it, I won’t forget it.

I learn like a digestive system because I take in what I want and take out the rest.

WHAT PATTERNS DO YOU SEE IN STUDENT RESPONSES?

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I learn like a clock because every second changes. One second I’m listening, the next second I’m not.

I learn like a little kid because everything they see and hear they want to touch and talk about it.

I learn like a CD because in some subjects I just flow freely and in other I skip like a scratched one and in others I need things repeated like the way a favorite song is repeated over and over again.


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I learn like a tabletop. Things just get piled on top of me and after a while everything gets cluttered. Eventually I discard everything and the process starts all over again.

I learn like meatloaf because my brain is fat in the beginning and then it shrinks up when it is overheated.

I learn like a camera because I am capable of doing great things, but I need motivation. I need to know why. Just like a camera, I need the perfect light and a perfect moment, then everything is in focus. Without these things, the camera has no use. Without inspiration I am like a camera without fi lm.


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I learn like a dead body because all I do is lay there.

I learn like a ball of clay because teachers can mold my mind into whatever they teach.

I learn like a parrot because after seeing something I can mimic it.

I learn like a sponge because I absorb all of the information that is thrown at me.

I learn like a tunnel because things go in one side and out the other.


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Your thoughts…


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How did learners come to see themselves that way?Too much “stuff”Too much “teacher talk”Not enough student questioningNot enough student applicationNot enough connections

OUR RESPONSIBILITY

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LACK OF ALIGNMENT BETWEEN DAILY LESSON AND LONG-TERM

GOALS

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THE BIG IDEAS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN

‘Backward’Design: from engaging workand competent understanding, not ‘coverage’

The point of school is effective understanding, not prompted recall of content & compliance

Understanding = using content effectively for transfer & meaning

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IDEA #1

‘Backward’Design: from engaging workand effective understanding, not ‘coverage’



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By the end of the year, learners should be (better) able, on their own, to effectively use all the ‘content’ learned this year, to...

I.E. HOW WOULD YOU COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES?

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By the end of their formal schooling, learners should be able, on their own, to use all the‘content’learned, to...

HOW WOULD YOU COMPLETE THE SENTENCE? (2)

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I.E. CONTENT IS A ‘TOOL ’...

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TOWARD WHAT END?

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“Learning is an active process. We learn by doing. Only knowledge that is used sticks in your mind.”

FROM DALE CARNEGIE

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THE BIG IDEAS - #2

‘Backward’Design: from engaging workand effective understanding, not ‘coverage’



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If you really understand you can...

If you know a lot, but don’t really understand, you can only...

WHAT IS REAL UNDERSTANDING? HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM ‘KNOWS

A LOT’

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GROUP THE ANSWERS

Apply

Teach

Create

Not justPlug in

Figure Out

Interpret

Support

Use

Say why

Connect


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ONE CIRCLE FEEDS THE OTHER

ApplyFigure Out

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FORMAL LANGAUGE

Transferyour learningin context

Make Meaningvia activeinferencing

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"Application is different from simple comprehension: the student is not prompted to give specific knowledge, nor is the problem old-hat. The tests must involve situations new to the student...”

“Ideally we are seeking a problem which will test the extent to which the individual has learned to apply an abstraction in a practical way."

NOT NEW IDEA — FROM BLOOM

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Efficiently and effectively retrieve and adapt the most appropriate content, in context, to make sense of things and perform effectively

IN SHORT, IF YOU HAVE EFFECTIVE UNDERSTANDING, YOU ARE ABLE

TO –

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Work must require students to –Learn how to use content in novel situations

Confront endless problems with no obvious answer and various plausible alternatives

Face challenges that require figuring out which prior learning applies here

Handling varied situations: different demands/audiences/purposes/options/constraints

CRUCIAL DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

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What is fair? How can math help (or not)?When we say something is ‘fair’ or ‘unfair’ what do we mean? How ‘mathematical’ should our evidence be?Students generate, categorize examples of “That’s fair!” and “That’s not fair!”

AN EXAMPLE OF UNIT DESIGN: MATH

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“WHAT IS FAIR? CAN MATH HELP?”

Problem - Four 7th-grade classes had a race of all the students.

IN GROUPS: Devise at least 2 different ways to determine a fair ranking of the classes, given the results.

Agree on the most fair way, and be prepared to defend your answers… Individual ranking of runners

in a race by all 7th-grade classes

Jigsaw on fairnessWhat do we mean when we say that the rules of a game of chance are “not fair”? What role does math play in our judgment?

Why is it fair to have one person cut the cake and the other person to choose the piece?

When is straight majority voting “fair” and when is it “not fair”?

When is it “fair” to consider an “average” in ranking performance (e.g. salaries, home prices, batting average) and when is it “unfair”?

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NEXT: FURTHER DISCUSSIONS

“Guys, mathematicians have a few tools that might help us…”Lessons on measures of central tendency:oMeanoMedianoMode

Quizzes to check for skill34

THE CONTENT IS LEARNED - “JUST IN TIME”

Propose and defend a “fair” grading system for use in this class. How should everyone’s grade be calculated? Why is your system more fair than the current system (or: why is the current system most fair?)

A final reflection on the question: What is fair and what isn’t fair?When should you and shouldn’t you use mean, median, mode?

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FINAL ASSESSMENT TASKS

This unit....The start:

The assessment:

The textbook:

The EQ:

Building effi cacy:

Typical units...

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QUESTION: HOW DOES THIS UNIT DIFFER FROM TYPICAL UNITS?

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Question, story or problem to solveJust in time teaching related to the concept at the heart of the question, story, or problem

Application to a novel question, story or problem

Connection amongst questions, stories or problems

HONORS HOW WE NATURALLY LEARN

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AuthenticLearning

MakeMeaning

Transfer

Acquire

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Adapt your knowledge, skill, and understanding to specific and realistic situations and contexts

AIM: efficient, effective solutions for real-world challenges, audiences, purposes, settings

TRANSFER GOALS Transfer

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Make connections & generalizations, using the facts and skills – e.g. interpret, gist, main idea, thesis, empathize, critique, etc.

AIM: independent and defensible student inferences about situations, texts – ‘helpful and insightful understandings’

MEANING GOALS MakeMeaning

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Learn, with accurate and timely recall, important facts and discrete skills

Aim: automaticity of recall when needed in performance

ACQUISITION GOALS Acquire

T: solve a communication problem, on the spot, in which an American cannot make himself understood to a Parisian because the American relies on too many ‘faux amis’ words (sound like ours, different meanings) and is getting tenses wrong

M: Correctly interpret the scene and translate the meanings accurately

A: Acquire skills of accurate conjugation and vocabulary (related to the misleading words)

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TMA IN FRENCH

T: Make a map of your school; see if people can read your map and use it to get somewhereM: Make sense of the spatial relations, so as to interpret three dimensions into two; make sense of other people’s mapsA: Acquire skills of making and reading maps

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TMA IN GEOGRAPHY

T: Maximize the distance travelled by a CO2 car, roller coaster or catapalted object, using the laws of physicsM: Correctly interpret the acting forces in the situationA: Acquire skills of analysis of motion and knowledge

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TMA IN PHYSICS

T: Solve a non-routine and unfamiliar problem in context in which there may or may not be a linear relationship.M: Correctly interpret the meaning of data patterns or line of ‘best fit’ of data pointsA: Acquire skills of plotting point pairs, accurately drawing the graph of a line from a linear equation, etc.45

TMA IN ALGEBRA

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THE BIG IDEAS - #3

‘Backward’Design: from engaging workand competent understanding, not ‘coverage’


Understanding = using content for transfer & meaning

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THREE STAGES OF BACKWARD DESIGN

Stage 1: Identify the long-term desired results

Stage 2: Determine appropriate assessment evidence to achieve those results

Stage 3: Design learning activities and instruction, given the goals of Stage 1 and evidence in Stage 2

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THREE STAGES OF BACKWARD DESIGN

Stage 1: GOALS

Stage 2: ASSESSMENT

Stage 3: LEARNING EVENTS

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WHAT WE TYPICALLY (INCORRECTLY) DO:

Identify the topics and content to be covered

Determine instruction for teaching the content

When grades are due, assess the learning of the content

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“I want students to learn to speak in the perfect tense”

“I want students to be able to solve linear equations”

“I want students to identify author purpose”

GOALS FOR LEARNING?

These are two of many skills; what’s the goal? What’s the point of each

skill?

The game

The drills

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CONSIDER:

“Backward from performance? Come on! My textbook is 560 pages! There are 24 Standards!”

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YES, BUT…

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A goal is not another task or to-do. It is the rationale and plan for how you prioritize & design everything on the to-do list, & use limited time wisely.

NO. YOUR COURSE HAS NO GOALS, THEN:

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WITH INCREDIBLY LIMITED TIME, THE #1 GOAL IN DRIVER’S ED. IS

STILL “REAL DRIVING, SAFELY”

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HINT: NOT A GOOD WAY TO LEARN TO DRIVE...

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I want students to understand – The ConstitutionThe 3 branches of government

AIMING FOR EXPLICIT UNDERSTANDING

No - not a goal - this just says what the content is

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“I want students to leave having inferred/realized that, now & in the future –The Constitution is a solution, based on compromise, to real problems of balance and limit of powers

The compromise has a long, sometimes bitter history – with many fights that are with us and will always be with us.

BACKWARD FROM GOALS: MEANING

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“I want students to leave able to transfer their understanding – on their own – to concretely address current and future situations:

Design a school governmentDesign a government for Iraq Organize their workplaceSupport candidates who understand our core principles

BACKWARD FROM GOALS: TRANSFER

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There has to be a deliberate plan for developing independent and pro-active meaning & transfer

NOTE THE KEY PHRASE!“ON THEIR OWN”

The textbook is a resourceIt is jam-packed, to be sold in 50 states!Like an encyclopedia & dictionary, it provides topically organized content

No text can cause transfer, and most texts mistakenly treat meaning-making as acquisition of the “meaning” the authors give.

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THUS, THE COURSE IS NOT THE TEXTBOOK

That’s like the textbook telling you the meaning of Romeo and Juliet, owl pellet experiments, or primary source historical documents, giving you no chance to make meaning yourself.

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TREATING MEANINGS AS FACTS PREVENTS STUDENTS FROM THINKING

Given our understanding goals, which chapters should be –

highlighted? skimmed? skipped? Re-sequenced?

What assessments are needed, beyond what the textbook has?

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THUS: PRIORITIZE USE OF TEXTBOOKS

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Content Standards = building code

The Curriculum =

the architect’s blueprint

THE RELATION BETWEEN STANDARDS & CURRICULUM

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Don’t confuse -

Fitness & WellnessA home designed to

suit the clientCausing effective

learningUsing facts and

skillsA great mealFluent performance

With -

The doctor’s physical

Meeting building code

Teaching by mentioning

Learning facts & skills

Mindless use of a recipe

Prompted recall

TEST PREP AND TEXTBOOK COVERAGE – MISUNDERSTANDING!

What can only or best be done in class together?

What is the most engaging and thought-provoking way to use class time?

What can’t be found for free on the Internet?

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WHAT’S THE BEST USE OF PRECIOUS CLASS TIME?

The UbD Template– ‘by design’ addresses the issues we have identified

T-M-A live at each stage of the template

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UBD TEMPLATEStage 1 - Desired Results

Performance Tasks

Other Evidence:Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Other Evidence:Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Other Evidence

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WHAT

HOW we assess

HOW we teach

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UBD TEMPLATE – STAGE 1

STAGE 1Standards

Long term goals of schooling

Enduring Understandings

Insight, wisdom, inference, gist, generalization that the learner develops over time

Essential Questions

Kid friendly question that activates prior knowledge andfocuses learning events

Meaning

Primary knowledge and skills embedded in this topic, chapteror theme as a basis for transfer

Acquisition

Transfer

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STAGE 2 — ASSESSMENT EVIDENCEEvaluativeCriteria

Elements ofSuccess

Aligned withTransferMeaning Acquisition

Novel problems or challenges that requiresexplanation and application of learning

Aligned with meaning and transfer in Stage 1

Straightforward, efficient forms of assessmentAligned with acquisition in Stage 1

Other Evidence

Transfer Tasks

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STAGE 3 — LEARNING EVENTSCode

Identifylearning events as

TransferMeaning Acquisition

Goal is to maximize engagement and effectiveness of instruction through —

• Robust use of formative assessment• Gradual release of responsibility• Encourage “learning from failure”

Key Learning Events & Instruction

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Renamed “performance tasks” or “performance assessments”

Elimination of established criteria and added link for rubrics

Separation of Summative Tasks and Formative Tasks

OTHER VARIATIONS ON THE TEMPLATE: STAGE 2

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Addition of mission related goalsAddition of 21st century skillsAddition of “student friendly” goalsAddition of critical vocabularySeparation of knowledge and skillElimination of Transfer


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Identified technology resourcesIdentified any pedagogical strategies already in use


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Given the three stages and the variations presented, build your ideal template(15 minutes) Work in groups of 2-4

Use Post-it Notes or index cardsBe prepared to explain your thinking to others

(10 minutes) Determine similarities and differences through gallery walk of templates

(15 minutes) Conference committee of everyone to get consensus on final version

DESIGN YOUR OWN TEMPLATE

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Review template componentsTake template for a “test drive”

Use a unit that you currently teach“Play” with essential questions, enduring understandings, and performance task

Align with established goalsPlan for October rollout

GOALS FOR TODAY’S WORK

MEANING MAKING

Connect the dots’ -Make sense of (seemingly isolated) experiences, data, or facts

Identify the gist, point, purpose, significance, big idea

Draw appropriate (but not obvious) inferences (e.g. motive)

NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE

“Intelligence cannot develop without matter to think about. Making new connections depends on knowing about something in the first place to provide a basis for thinking of other things to do – of other questions to ask – that demand more complex connections in order to make sense. The more ideas about something people already have at their disposal, the more new ideas occur and the more they can coordinate to build up more complicated schemes.”-- Eleanor Duckworth, The Having of Wonderful Ideas

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RESEARCH ON THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING

New knowledge is built as an extension of existing knowledge.

When given a question, problem, or situation, people search their memory banks to look for an answer.

Novice learners need to acquire factual knowledge in tandem with conceptual understanding in order to be able to think effectively.

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RESEARCH ON THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING

The quality of focus during learning impacts the likelihood of whether it will be remembered.

The motivation and capacity to learn is naturally intrinsic.

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DESIGN STANDARDS FOR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Spark a meaningful connection in the minds of students (connections to prior learning, accessible language, sentence structure)

Genuine inquiry (not a predetermined, fixed answer)

Encourages transfer across a range of learning experiences

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON COMPARISONS, RELATIONSHIPS

How are these alike? How are they different? What do I learn from the grouping/comparison?

How can one person impact the world around them?

What are the rules of this relationship? How does the context/situation affect the rules?

What am I bringing to the text? What am I getting from it? (text-self connection)

What relationship do I see here? How do I apply that?

Where do I see evidence of interactions in the world?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON CONSTANCY AND CHANGE

What changes occurred? What stayed the same?

How is this story/shape/problem the same?

How do people/communities change over time?

What are the events/challenges that create change?

How do people/environments respond to change?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON PATTERNS

What looks familiar here? How do I use that to make sense of this situation?

What’s the pattern here? How does that help me make predictions?

How do I find/set up a pattern? How do I know if it works?

How do I describe/communicate a pattern?

What is the pattern in the text? How does that help me be a better reader?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON ANALYZING TEXT AND DATA

What does the author / text / the results mean? How do my results compare with what other people have found?

What are the relationships that I see in the text?

What is the relationship that I see in the equation?

How do I read between the lines?How do I use my inferences to draw a

conclusion?Is my conclusion supported by my

details/evidence?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON POINT OF VIEW

What information is this text giving me? What’s missing?

What is the intent of the text/author?What does the author/character want me to

believe?How do I convince someone that I’m right?Why am I so sure that I’m right?Why is this person so convinced that he/she is

right? What do these groups/people disagree about? Is

it possible to resolve it?How do I justify my conclusion/judgment?

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ON PROBLEM SOLVING

What’s my strategy? How is it working? What do I do if I’m stuck?

Where do I go for help?How am I learning from how other people see or work on the problem?

What is the best strategy for this given problem?What kind of problem/situation is this? Have I seen it before? How do I use that past experience to help me?

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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS VS. FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE

Essential Questions Knowledge Questions

-Are meant to be explored, argued, and continually revisited-Have various plausible answers (and often the answers raise new questions)-Spark and provoke thought and stimulate students to engage in sustained inquiry and extended thinking-Reflect genuine questions that real people seriously ask

-Have a specific, straightforward or unproblematic answer-Are asked to prompt factual recall rather than generate a sustained inquiry-Are more likely to be asked by a teacher or a textbook tan by a curious student or person out in the world-Are more rhetorical than genuine

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What makes objects move the way they do?How does the body turn food into energy?How are stories from other places and times

about me?Whose story is this? Whose voices aren’t we

hearing?Which parts of me are fixed and which parts of

me am I free to change?What were the primary causes of World War I?Who is my audience and what follows for what

I say and how I say it?

POP QUIZ ON ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

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Pursue the Essential Questions in order to… establish or create a theory

craft an inferencedevelop and test ideas by the learner

ROLE OF ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

Big ideas at the heart of the discipline

Requires “uncoverage” in order to be earned

Assessor-friendly language -- measurable

DESIGN STANDARDS FOR ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

SAMPLE ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGSPHYSICAL EDUCATION

Successful teams strategically position themselves to enhance performance. K-12 Collaboration, Knowledge

An effective training plan is clearly grounded in the goals of the individual. 9-12 Knowledge

Attention to detail has significant effect on overall results. K-12 Preparation, Knowledge

Successful individuals constantly monitor and adjust their plan to ensure that they are appropriately challenged. 9-12 Knowledge

Understanding rules and the appropriate use of equipment decreases the risk of injury to you and other people. K-12 Collaboration, Knowledge

SAMPLE ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGSMATHEMATICS

(Relations: Functions, Inverses) Recognizing the predictable patterns in mathematics allows the analysis of functional relationships.

(Functions, Domain and Range) Real life situations result in restrictions in the pattern.

(Variables) Variables represent the unknown so that we can generalize a pattern rather than being limited to looking at specific values.

(Measurement, Formulas) The accurate measurement of space is determined by the ability to visualize the object/problem situation and apply an appropriate algorithm.

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UNDERSTANDINGS VS. FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE

Understandings Factual Knowledge

-Reflect big ideas in the form of powerful generalizations-Transferrable across situations, places and times-Must be “earned” through processes of inquiry, inference and rethinking-Assessed through performance tasks

-Consists of facts and basic concepts-Facts do not transfer-Can be learned in rote fashion-Can be assessed using test or quiz items that have a “right” or “wrong” answer

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Writing involves many elements. In a free-market economy, price is a function of supply and demand.

DNAStudents will understand how to compare and order fractions, decimals, percents, and numbers written in scientific notation.

Students will understand that there are numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems.

POP QUIZ ON ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

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STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Worth being familiar with

Important toknow & doBig ideas &Enduring

Understandings

“Big ideas”worthexploring and understanding in depth

Foundational knowledge & skill

Nice to know

Traditional quizzes & testsPaper/pencil

•Selected-response•Constructed response

Performance tasks & projectsComplex

•Open ended•Authentic

ASCD SF 2011; Zmuda and Herold

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T - M - A STILL APPLIES IN STAGE 2

TransferMeaning Making Acquisition

AuthenticCritical analysis

Immediate recall

ApplicationJudgment or conclusion

Procedural steps

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(TRANSFER) By what evidence can we convince ourselves that they understand well enough to transfer what they have learned?

(MEANING MAKING) How will we determine if they grasp subtle understandings or can make new meaning of the content?

(ACQUISITION) Where do we look and what do we look for to see if students genuinely understand what they also recall?

KEY QUESTIONS AS ASSESSMENT DESIGNERS

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EXPLAIN in their own words the “meaning making”

APPLY to new, complex situations

SELECT (without being cued) what is relevant based on an existing repertoire of knowledge and skills

DEMONSTRATION OF UNDERSTANDING

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“Authentic tasks increase student motivation to learn.” --Stipek (2002)

“Student’s beliefs about real-world significance of what they are learning were a strong predictor of their interest and enjoyment of math class.” — Mitchell (1993)

“Students give highest interest ratings to classes that make them think hard and require them to participate actively in thinking and learning.” — Newmann (1992)

KEY RESEARCH FINDINGSPREPARING TEACHERS FOR A

CHANGING WORLD

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BASED ON BLOOM ’S TAXONOMY

“If the situations are to involve application as we are defining it here, then they must either be situations new to the student or situations containing new elements as compared to the situation in which the abstraction was learned... Ideally we are seeking a problem which will test the extent to which an individual has learned to apply the abstraction in a practical way.”

— Bloom, et. al, 1956

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Students will work in groups to identify the main offerings in the lunch line. Using their knowledge of “My Plate”http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ students will determine the most healthful and least healthful options offered in the cafeteria (rank ordering). Students will explain the rationale for their order. (Critical thinking, Communication)

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASK: FIRST GRADE (PART 1)

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/



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Students will design and draw their plate for their favorite cafeteria lunch. Write a persuasive letter to the cafeteria manager to ask for additional healthy items to be offered to supplement that favorite lunch. (Problem Solving, Communication)

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASK: FIRST GRADE (PART 2)

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASK: CHEMISTRY

You are a researcher hired by a group of expert mountain climbers. Hypoxia is the set of symptoms (headache, fatigue, nausea) that comes from a lack of oxygen in body tissues. It is often felt by mountain climbers as they ascend altitude quickly. Sherpas, long-time residents of high altitudes, seem to feel no hypoxic discomfort. Why might that be? Your group wants to know, and to benefi t from the knowledge. Design a series of experiments that would test the diff erence in hypoxic symptoms between mountain climbers and Sherpas. Explain, using chemical equilibrium, why high altitude causes hypoxia in the climbers. How can Sherpas avoid these symptoms? How can you test for these possibilities? What would a positive test look like? What inherent errors would you have to be aware of?

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SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASK: GEOGRAPHY, HIGH SCHOOL

BIGMART is a chain of very large department stores. The owners of BIGMART have asked you, a geographer, for advice. They want to know if Whilkton, Ill inois will eventually be large enough to support a BIGMART store. Currently, there aren’t enough people living in Whilkton and the surrounding area to make the investment in building a BIGMART store worth while. But, if the population of Whilkton is likely to grow by as much as 10 percent in the next 5 to 10 years, then the owner will go ahead with plans to build a store.

Your task is to obtain enough geographical information about Whilkton to predict whether the population of Whilkton is going to increase by 10 percent in the next 5 to 10 years. In the space below, identify the geographical information you would need to obtain in order to formulate a reasonable prediction.

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The design of a tour of the world’s most holy sites The writing of a Bill of Rights for use in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other

new democracies Report on Latin America to the Secretary of State: Policy analysis and

background report on a Latin American country. What should be our current policy, and how effective has recent policy with that country been?

Collect and analyze media reports from the Internet on other countries’ views of US policies in the Middle East. Do we understand the issues?

Provide a briefing on the AIDS crisis in Africa and how American policy has helped as well as hurt the situation

Take part in a model UN on the issue of terrorism: you will be part of a group of 2-3, representing a country, and you will try to pass a Security Council resolution on terrorism

Russia: friend or foe? Provide the Foreign Relations Committee with a briefing on the current state of Russia, the last century of American-Russian relations, and future worries and possibilities

India and outsourcing: to what extent is the global economy a good thing for America? India? India ’s neighbors?

SAMPLE PERFORMANCE TASKS TO FRAME WORLD HISTORY

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How likely is it that a student could do well on the assessment by...Making clever guesses, parroting back, or plugging in what was learned, perhaps with accurate recall but limited or no understanding?

Making a good-faith effort, with lots of hard work and enthusiasm but with limited understanding?

Producing a lovely product or an engaging and articulate performance but with limited understanding?

VALIDITY CHECK QUESTION #1

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How likely is it that a student could do poorly on the assessment by...Failing to meet the requirements of this particular task while nonetheless revealing a good understanding of the ideas?

Not being skilled at certain aspects of the task but those skills are not central to the goal or involve outside learning or natural talent (e.g. require acting or computer ability unrelated to Stage 1 goals)?

VALIDITY CHECK QUESTION #2

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OTHER EVIDENCE

Efficiently measures acquisition goals

Goals is a balanced assessment plan

Performance tasks are necessary to measure transfer and meaning making

Other evidence is necessary to measure the full complement of knowledge and skills

FORMS OF OTHER EVIDENCE

Straightforward writing prompts (short answer, essay)

Execution of procedural knowledgeSummarizationProblems that have one predetermined solution

Questions that have an established answer

If you have determined the goals (STAGE 1), and

If you have determined the evidence of learning (STAGE 2),

THEN what kinds of learning activities are most appropriate? (STAGE 3)

DRAFTING STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN

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GRADUAL RELEASE OF TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

I do, you watchI do, you helpYou do, I helpYou do, I watch

This is a general schema for the development of transfer ability at any age, in any subject

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE LEARNING PLAN

Learner should be increasingly able to do it on their ownAsk as simple a questionShould require them to think, to transfer, to communicateGive feedback on their learning and space to try again

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INTERRELATED LEARNING GOALS

ACQUIRE MAKE MEANING TRANSFER

This goal seeks to help learners

acquire factual information and

basic skills.

This goal seeks to hep students

construct meaning of

important ideas and processes.

This goal seeks to support the

learners’ ability to transfer their

learning autonomously

and effectively in new situations.

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ACTION VERBS FOR A-M-T

GOAL TYPE ACTION VERBS

ACQUISITION

apprehend • calculate • define • discern • identify • memorize • notice • paraphrase • plug in •

recall • select • state

Making Meaning

analyze • compare • contrast • critique • defend • evaluate • explain • generalize •

interpret • justify/support •prove • summarize • synthesize • test • translate •

verify

Transferadapt (based on feedback)• adjust (based

on results) • apply • create • design • innovate • perform effectively • self-assess

• solve • troubleshoot

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TEACHER ROLE AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES:ACQUISITION VIA DIRECT INSTRUCTION

To inform the learners through explicit instruction in targeted knowledge and skills; differentiating as needed

LectureGraphic organizersDemonstration or modelingProcess guidesGuided practiceFeedback, corrections

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Acquisitionapprehend • calculate • define • discern •

identify • memorize • notice • paraphrase • plug in • recall • select • state

MAKING MEANIN

G

analyze • compare • contrast • critique • defend • evaluate • explain

• generalize • interpret • justify/support •prove • summarize • synthesize • test • translate • verify

Transferadapt (based on feedback)• adjust (based on results) • apply • create • design • innovate •

perform effectively • self-assess • solve • troubleshoot

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TEACHER ROLE AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES:MAKE MEANING VIA FACILITATIVE TEACHING

To engage the learners in actively processing the information and guide their inquiry into problems, texts, or simulations, differentiating as needed

Graphic organizersConcept attainmentProblem based learningFormative assessmentsRethinking and reflection promptsUsing analogies

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CHALLENGE UNDERSTANDING BY... Providing new information that requires a student

to extend the tentative understanding (broaden and confirm)

Providing conflicting information (contradiction, requiring re-thinking)

Proposing an alternative understanding (challenge, requiring consideration of the same problem in a new light; might ultimately confirm or contradict)

Adding complexity to the issue (deepen, likely confirming some pieces and contradicting others)

Comparing a new understanding to previous understandings about related issues (connect and synthesize)

Meaning Making

NO THINKING ACTIVATED WITHOUT AMBIGUITY!!!

“Hmmm, what does this mean?” is the beginning of depth and getting beyond passive learning for acquisition only

NO THINKING ACTIVATED WITHOUT AMBIGUITY!!!

Note that this demand runs counter to our instincts as teachers: we work hard to make things easier and unambiguous (i.e. when acquisition is the goal)

ERIC MAZUR’S RESEARCH IN PHYSICS AT HARVARD

After 10 minutes, Mazur poses a question that requires conceptual understanding (such as estimating the displacement of a toy boat in a bathtub). Students write their answers on a sheet and identify their levels of confidence in the answer.

In pairs, attempt to convince others of their answers.

Students then answer the question a second time and report their confidence levels again.

The whole class is polled again about their answers.

MAZUR’S DATA OVER 2 DECADES

Students scored –considerably better on standard physics course exams

higher on measures of traditional problem solving

much higher in conceptual understanding

Mazur: “No lecturer, however engaging and lucid, can achieve this level of improvement and participation simply by speaking.”

KEY MISUNDERSTANDING IN SEQUENCING: FIRST, LEARN ALL THE “STUFF”

Try “just in time” teaching - content as needed, in light of questions and challenges

Look at the AMT structure, and see how often great learning begins with M, not A - e.g. anticipation guide, puzzle, debate, text, movie

Note the geography and math unit sketches Look at computer games

We learn by going back and forth between part and whole, drill and performance:The sequence of the textbook is designed to organize information logically, not necessarily to provide the best sequence for learning. (cf. CH 12 in UbD)



Acquisitionapprehend • calculate • define • discern •

identify • memorize • notice • paraphrase • plug in • recall • select • state

Making Meaning

analyze • compare • contrast • critique • defend • evaluate • explain • generalize •

interpret • justify/support •prove • summarize • synthesize • test • translate • verify

TRANSFER

adapt (based on feedback)• adjust (based on results) • apply • create •

design • innovate • perform effectively • self-assess • solve • troubleshoot

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TEACHER ROLE AND INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES:TRANSFER VIA COACHING

To coach the learners to independently perform in increasingly complex situations, provide models, and give ongoing feedback (as personalized as possible).

Ongoing assessment, providing specific feedback in the context of authentic applicationConferencingProvide just-in-time teaching (both individuals, small groups and whole class) when needed

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EXAMPLES OF CHALLENGING INQUIRY

Here are some data about women’s marathon times. What is the trend? Are women likely to match the winning times for men in the marathon in the future?Here is a video in Spanish of a scene in Madrid. What’s going on here? What might you say to help the person in need, given your limited vocabulary?I found this object near my home, and I don’t know what it is. What do you think it might me? What do we need to ask and investigate after we take it apart?

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CHALLENGING INQUIRY“By regularly confronting learners with such challenges and questions, we can help them become adept at tapping prior learning to understand a current challenge and thinking strategically, through practice and feedback: What does this remind me of? What have I learned about handling challenges of this sort? To what does this connect? How would I compare and contrast this with what we learned last week/month/year?”

— Wiggins and McTighe

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LEARNING TO TRANSFER

“The research is very clear on this point: students who really develop and ‘own’ an idea are more likely to successfully interpret new situations and tackle new problems that students who possess only drilled knowledge and skill.”

— Wiggins and McTighe

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DESIGNING AND TEACHING FOR TRANSFER

Establish and keep highlighting clear transfer goals.

Have learners practice judgment in using a few diff erent skills, not just plugging in one skill on command.

Provide students with feedback on their self-cueing, knowledge retrieval, self-assessment, and self-adjustment.

Change the set-up so that students realize that use of prior learning comes in many guises.

Have students regularly generalize from specifi c instances and cases.

Require students to constantly reword, rephrase, and represent what they learn.

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GENERAL TEMPLATE FOR A LEARNING PLAN

Introduce a question, problem or other thought-provoking experience that challenges current understanding.

Engender plausible diff erent answers and disagreement among learners so that a more satisfactory “theory” is needed.

Students either must develop their own theory or use ones provided by you, the text, or other students.

Students try out their theory, refining ideas as needed and debating the merits of the diff erent meanings.

Students confront new challenges to their or the group’s theory, provided either by you, a text, a diff erent experience or some other new viewpoint.

Students refine their ideas, as needed.

Students transfer their theory to one or more concrete situations, as needed.

Students generalize from their inquiries, being careful to note qualifications and nuances that derive from attempted transfer and discuss strengths, weaknesses, and limits of a theory

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KEY QUESTIONS, FRAMING YOUR LEARNING PLAN

What’s the best use of our (precious) time together in class?

What do my STAGE 1 goals imply for what has to take place in class and outside of class?

What do the final evidence demands in STAGE 2 imply for learning and how to best achieve transfer?

What should I cover? What must the student uncover, with my design and facilitation help?

What moves and inferences must students learn to make increasingly on their own? How will they develop that independence ‘by design’?

What should the flow of the unit be to maximize student understanding culminating in successful transfer?

PURPOSEFUL LEARNING, ALIGNED WITH GOALS

The essence of backward designThe key question, then: what learning is needed? How can the needed learning best occur?Think of “teaching” and “content” as resources, not the causes of learning.

Think of textbook as resource, not the syllabus

THINK HOW THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS ACTIVATED IN

MOVIES

We wonder what a clue, an event means“The art of holding interest lies in raising questions and delaying the answers...”

– David Lodge, The Art of Fiction

HOW PEOPLE LEARN

Students develop flexible understanding of when, where, why, and how to use their knowledge to solve new problems if they [are instructed in] how to extract underlying themes and principles from their learning exercises.

Understanding how and when to put knowledge to use—known as conditions of applicability—is an important characteristic of expertise.

Stage two planning is revealed in Stage three instructional design

Pre-assessment(Finding Out)

Formative Assessment(Keeping Track & Checking -up)

Summative Assessment(Making sure)

Feedback and Goal Setting

Readiness, Interests, and Learning Preferences of studentsEssential Questions[reading/writing]

Exit Cards Peer evaluation3-minute pausesVocabulary - quiz/notebooksObservationsCreating RubricsSelf-evaluationJournals - Essential Questions+

Performance TaskAcademic PromptPortfolio

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MAKE ASSESSMENT PART OF LEARNING FOR EVERYONE

Assessment for learningLook at student work to coach for qualityDifferentiate instruction based on what you see

Assessment as learningTeach students to learn about their own learning

Reflect on nature of errors, talents, progress to further personalize future learning

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ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities, streamline/target instruction and resources, use feedback to advance learning

“To make student learning visible so that teachers can decide what to do to help students progress” – effectiveness is based on the usefulness of the information in designing next stage of learning (importance of good record keeping).”

-- Rethinking Classroom Assessment

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ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING

Develop and support metacognition:

“Learning is not just a matter of transferring ideas from someone who is knowledgeable to someone who is not, but is an active process of cognitive restructuring that occurs when individuals interact with new ideas.”

-- Rethinking Classroom Assessment

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THE COST OF NOT TEACHING THIS…

Students will never be able to get beyond:

“Is this what you want?”

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All learners needa balanced successto effort ratio

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StrugglingLearners:

Heavy EffortLittle Success

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AdvancedLearners:

Great Success,Little Effort

SUMMARIZE FOR STAGE 3

I really understand___________________

________________________________

I do not yet understand_________________

_________________________________

Allison Zmuda, Facilitator 1 UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN: THINKING ABOUT THE KEY PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR...

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