Introduction to Introduction to Backward DesignBackward Design

Good design…is not so much Good design…is not so much about gaining a few new about gaining a few new technical skills as it is about technical skills as it is about learning to be more thoughtful learning to be more thoughtful and specific about our purposes and specific about our purposes and what they imply (p. 14)and what they imply (p. 14)

- - distinguishing distinguishing interestinginteresting learning from learning from effective effective learninglearning

Stages of Backward DesignStages of Backward Design

Stage 1: Identify desired results◦Requires clarity about priorities◦Must make choices

Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence◦Evidence gathered through a variety of formal

and informal assessments during a unit of study, not just a culminating test or project

◦Self-assessment (p. 25) – explain what you mean; describe the purpose of the self-assessment

Stages of Backward DesignStages of Backward DesignStage 3: Plan learning experiences

and instruction◦What activities will equip students with

the needed knowledge and skills? ◦What material and resources are best

suited to accomplish these goals?◦“WHERETO” elements (p. 22)

T = tailored to the different needs, interests, and abilities of learners modifications

Key PointsKey PointsIn actuality, it does not follow that

this is a step-by-step process …Don’t confuse the logic of the final product with the messy process of design work.

It doesn’t matter exactly where you start or how you proceed, as long as you end up with a coherent design reflecting the logic of the three stages (p. 29)

Unpacking Stage 1: Unpacking Stage 1: ElementsElementsEstablished Goals: formal, long-

term goals, such as state content standards, district program goals, departmental objectives, and exit-level outcomes◦Typically refer to academic aims (e.g.,

factual, conceptual, procedural)◦Also includes habits of mind (e.g.,

tolerance of ambiguity) and values and attitudes (e.g., stepping in to mediate a playground dispute)

Essential Questions: highlight the big ideas that are central to the design, ideas that the work will require students to address◦Are at the heart of the subject◦Raise more questions – provoking and

sustaining engaged inquiry ◦Because many of the truly essential

questions recur and have no final resolution, it is appropriate to say that “seriously pursuing the question” as opposed to “answering” it is the desired result (p. 58)

Understandings: a “moral of the story” about the big ideas◦What specific insights will students

take away about the meaning of ‘content’ via big ideas?

◦Understandings summarize the desired insights we want students to realize

◦Specific generalizations about the “big ideas.” They summarize the key meanings, inferences, and importance of the ‘content’

◦Deliberately framed as a full sentence “moral of the story” – “Students will understand THAT…”

Knowledge: the straightforward facts and concepts that are to be gained from the learning and teaching activities

Skill: identifies what students will be able to do by the unit’s end (the discrete techniques, complex procedures, and methods)◦Skill-related aims focus on techniques and approaches (e.g., long division, jumping rope), and processes (e.g., reading, problem solving), as opposed to performance goals, such as “writing persuasive essays,” which is a long-term outcome, requiring many units and courses of study

• The targeted knowledge and skills can be of three different kinds (p. 57):–The building blocks for the desired

understandings–The knowledge and skills stated or implied in

the goals–The “enabling” knowledge and skills needed

to perform the complex assessment tasks (identified in Stage 2)

• We must always ask of knowledge and skill goals, “For what kinds of important capacities will this content actually equip us?” instead of merely asking, “What knowledge and skills are (potentially) important?”–Transferability

Key PointKey Point

Although these categories are conceptually distinct, they often overlap in practice!

Essential QuestionsEssential Questions

Not only promote understanding of the content of a unit on a particular topic, but also spark connections and promote transfer of ideas from one setting to others (p. 107).

Keep students focused on inquiry as opposed to just answers (p. 114)

A question is “essential” if it is A question is “essential” if it is meant to:meant to:–Cause genuine and relevant inquiry into the

big ideas and core content–Provoke deep thought, lively discussion,

sustained inquiry, and new understanding as well as more questions–Require students to consider alternatives,

weigh evidence, support their ideas, and justify their answers–Stimulate vital, ongoing rethinking of big

ideas, assumptions, and prior lessons–Spark meaningful connections with prior

learning and personal experiences–Naturally recur, creating opportunities for

transfer to other situations and subjects

Key PointsKey Points• No question is inherently essential. It all

comes down to purpose, audience, and impact–Why we pose it–How we intend students to tackle it–What we expect for learning activities and

assessments as a result

• Many yes/no, either/or, and who/what/when questions offer the potential to spark impressive curiosity, thought, and reflection in students, depending upon how they are posed and the nature of the follow-ups

Key PointsKey PointsEssential questions can be framed around

four categories of big ideas relevant to effective skill learning (p. 113):◦Key concepts◦Purpose and value◦Strategy and tactics◦Context of use

Essential questions do not always need to be global; they can go to the heart of a particular topic, problem, or field of study◦Topical◦Overarching

Crafting UnderstandingsCrafting UnderstandingsAs with essential questions, no

statement is inherently a fact or understanding. It depends upon who the learners are and what their prior experience has been. (p. 136)

The point of identifying understandings is to clearly frame our goals for ourselves, not to come up with an actual learning plan (Stage 3) – it’s a blueprint for the plan

Four Rules of Thumb:Four Rules of Thumb:

•A desired understanding is a priority. A unit should focus on a small number of transferable big ideas about which understandings are stated.

•Desired understandings are best stated in propositional form: “Students will understand that…”

Four Rules of Thumb:Four Rules of Thumb:

• Although pertaining to general or abstract ideas, the desired understandings must be stated in clear, unambiguous terms – as specific and insightful generalizations.

•Understandings are of two kinds, topical and overarching. Topical understandings are unit-specific, and overarching understandings are broader and offer a possible bridge to other units and courses.