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UNDERSTANDING ~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

by D E s I G N

Chapter 1

ckward Design

Design, v.,-To have purposes and intentions; to plan and execute -Oxford English Dictionary

The complexity of design work is often underestimated. Many people believe they know a good deal about design. What they do not realize is

how much more they need to know to do design well, with distinction, refinement, and grace.

-John McClean, "20 Considerations That Help a Project Run Smoothly," 2003

ers are designers. An essential act of our profession is the crafting of cur- m and learning experiences to meet specified purposes. We are also ers of assessments to diagnose student needs to guide our teaching and ble us, our students, and others (parents and administrators) to deter-

whether we have achieved our goals. U e people in other design professions, such as architecture, engineering,

phic arts, designers in education must be mindful of their audiences. sionals in these fields are strongly client-centered. The effectiveness of

designs corresponds to whether they have accomplished explicit goals cific end-users. Clearly, students are our primary clients, given that the

·veness of curriculum, assessment, and instructional designs is ulti- : determined by their achievement of desired learnings. We can think of

designs, then, as software. Our courseware is designed to make learning effective, just as computer software is intended to make its users more ctive. in all the design professions, standards inform and shape our work. The

rare developer works to maximize user-friendliness and to reduce bugs impede results. The architect is guided by building codes, customer t. and neighborhood aesthetics. The teacher as designer is similarly con- ed. We are not free to teach any topic we choose by any means. Rather,

are guided by national, state, district, or institutional standards that spec- at students should know and be able to do. These standards provide a

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

useful framework to help us identify teaching and learning priorities and guide our design of curriculum and assessments. In addition to external standards, we must also factor in the needs of our many and varied students when design- ing learning experiences. For example, diverse student interests, developmen- tal levels, large classes, and previous achievements must always shape our thinking about the learning activities, assignments, and assessments.

Yet, as the old adage reminds us, in the best designs form follows function. In other words, all the methods and materials we use are shaped by a clear conception of the vision of desired results. That means that we must be able to state with clarity what the student should understand and be able to do as a result of any plan and irrespective of any constraints we face .

You probably know the saying, "If you don't know exactly where you are headed, then any road will get you there." Alas, the point is a serious one in education. We are quick to say what things we like to teach, what activities we will do, and what kinds of resources we will use; but without clarifying the desired results of our teaching, how will we ever know whether our designs are appropriate or arbitrary? How will we distinguish merely interesting learning from effective learning? More pointedly, how will we ever meet content stan- dards or arrive at hard-won student understandings unless we think through what those goals imply for the learner's activities and achievements?

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

Why ''backward" is best How do these general design considerations apply to curriculum planning? Deliberate and focused instructional design requires us as teachers and cur- riculum writers to make an important shift in our thinking about the nature of our job. The shift involves thinking a great deal, first, about the specific learn- ings sought, and the evidence of such learnings, before thinking about what we, as the teacher, will do or provide in teaching and learning activities . Though considerations about what to teach and how to teach it may dominate our thinking as a matter of habit, the challenge is to focus first on the desired learnings from which appropriate teaching will logically follow.

Our lessons, units, and courses should be logically inferred from the results sought, not derived from the methods, books , and activities with which we are most comfortable. Curriculum should lay out the most effective ways of achieving specific results. It is analogous to travel planning. Our frameworks should provide a set of itineraries deliberately designed to meet cultural goals rather than a purposeless tour of all the major s ites in a foreign country. In short, the best designs derive backward from the learnings sought.

The appropriateness of this approach becomes clearer when we consider the educational purpose that is the focus of this book: understanding. We can- not say how to teach for understanding or wh ich material and activities to use

Backward Design

until we are quite clear about which specific understandings we are after and what such understandings look like in practice. We can best decide, as guides, what "sites" to have our student "tourists" visit and what specific "culture" they should experience in their brief time there only if we are clear about the particular understandings about the culture we want them to take home. Only by having specified the desired results can we focus on the content, methods, and activities most likely to achieve those results.

But many teachers begin with and remain focused on textbooks, favored lessons, and time-honored activities-the inputs-rather than deriving those means from what is implied in the desired results-the output. To put it in an odd way, too many teachers focus on the teaching and not the learning. They spend most of their time thinking, first, about what they will do, what materi- als they will use, and what they will ask students to do rather than first con- sidering what the learner will need in order to accomplish the learning goals.

Consider a typical episode of what might be called content-focused design instead of results-focused design. The teacher might base a lesson on a par- ticular topic (e.g., racial prejudice), select a resource (e.g., To Kill a Mocking- bird), choose specific instructional methods based on the resource and topic (e.g., Socratic seminar to discuss the book and cooperative groups to ana- lyze stereotypical images in films and on television), and hope thereby to cause learning (and meet a few English/language arts standards). Finally, the teacher might think up a few essay questions and quizzes for assessing student understanding of the book.

Design Tip

Consider these questions that arise in the

minds of all readers, the answers to which

This approach is so common that we may well be tempted to reply, What could be wrong with such an approach? The short answer lies in the basic questions of purpose: Why are we asking students to read this particular novel-in other words, what learnings will we seek from their having read it? Do the students grasp why and how the purpose should influence their studying? What should students be expected to under- stand and do upon reading the book, related to our goals beyond the book? Unless we begin our design work with a clear insight into larger purposes-whereby the book is properly thought of as a means to an educational end, not an end unto itself-it is unlikely that all students will understand the book (and their performance obligations). Without being self- conscious of the specific understandings about prejudice we seek, and how reading and discussing the book will help

will frame the priorities of coached learn-

ing: How should I read the book? What am

I looking for? What will we discuss? How

should I prepare for those discussions?

How do I know if my reading and discus-

sions are effective? Toward what perfor-

mance goals do this reading and these

discussions head, so that I might focus and

prioritize my studies and note taking? What

big ideas, linked to other readings, are in

play here? These are the students' proper

questions about the learning, not the

teaching, and any good educational design

answers them from the start and through-

out a course of study with the use of tools and strategies such as graphic organizers

and written guidelines.

develop such insights, the goal is far too vague: The approach is more "by hope" than "by design." Such an approach ends up unwittingly being one that could be described like this: Throw some content and activities against the wall and hope some of it sticks.

Answering the "why?" and "so what?" questions that older students always ask ( or want to), and doing so in concrete terms as the focus of curriculum

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

planning, is thus the essence of understanding by design. What is difficult for many teachers to see (but easier for students to feel!) is that, without such explicit and transparent priorities, many students find day-to-day work con- fusing and frustrating.

The twin sins of traditional design

More generally, weak educational design involves two kinds of purposeless- ness, visible throughout the educational world from kindergarten through graduate school, as noted in the Introduction. We call these the "twin sins" of traditional design. The error of activity-oriented design might be called "hands-on without being minds-on"-engaging experiences that lead only accidentally, if at all, to insight or achievement. The activities, though fun and interesting, do not lead anywhere intellectually. As typified by the apples vignette in the Introduction, such activity-oriented curricula lack an explicit focus on important ideas and appropriate evidence of learning, especially in the minds of the learners. They think their job is merely to engage; they are led to think the learning is the activity instead of seeing that the learning comes from being asked to consider the meaning of the activity.

A second form of aimlessness goes by the name of "coverage," an approach in which students march through a textbook, page by page ( or teachers through lecture notes) in a valiant attempt to traverse all the factual material within a prescribed time (as in the world history vignette in the Intro- duction). Coverage is thus like a whirlwind tour of Europe, perfectly summa- rized by the old movie title If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, which properly suggests that no overarching goals inform the tour.

As a broad generalization, the activity focus is more typical at the elemen- tary and lower middle school levels, whereas coverage is a prevalent second-

ary school and college problem.

MISCONCEPTION ALERT! Yet, though the apples and world history classrooms look quite different with lots of physical activity and chatter in the former versus lecturing and quiet note taking in the latter, the design result is the same in both cases:

Coverage is not the same as purposeful survey. Providing students with an overview of a discipline or a field of study is not inherently wrong. The question has to do with the transparency of purpose. Coverage is a nega- tive term (whereas introduction or survey is not) because when content is "covered" the student is led through unending facts, ideas, and readings with little or no sense of the overarching ideas, issues, and learning goals that might inform study. (See Chapter 10 for more on coverage versus uncoverage.)

No guiding intellectual purpose or clear priorities frame the learn- ing experience. In neither case can students see and answer such

questions as these: What's the point? What's the big idea here? What does this help us understand or be able to do? To what does this relate? Why should we learn this? Hence, the students try to engage and folJow as best they can, hop- ing that meaning will emerge.

Backward Design

Students will be unable to give satisfactory responses when the design does not provide them with clear purposes and explicit performance goals highlighted throughout their work. Similarly, teachers with an activity or cov- erage orientation are less likely to have acceptable answers to the key design questions: What should students understand as a result of the activities or the content covered? What should the experiences or lectures equip them to do? How, then, should the activities or class dis- cussions be shaped and processed to achieve the desired results? What would be evidence that learners are en route to the desired abilities and insights? How, then, should all activi- ties and resources be chosen and used to ensure that the learn- ing goals are met and the most appropriate evidence produced? How, in other words, will students be helped to see by design the purpose of the activity or resource and its helpfulness in meeting specific performance goals?

We are advocating the reverse of common practice, then. We ask designers to start with a much more careful statement of the desired results-the priority learnings-and to derive the curriculum from the performances called for or implied in the goals . Then, contrary to much common practice, we ask

Design lip

To test the merits of our claims about pur-

poselessness, we encourage you to sidle

up to a student in the middle of any class

and ask the following questions:

What are you doing?

Why are you being asked to do it?

What will it help you do?

How does it fit with what you have previ-

ously done?

How will you show that you have learned

it?

designers to consider the following questions after framing the goals: What would count as evidence of such achievement? What does it look like to meet these goals? What, then, are the implied performances that should make up the assessment, toward which all teaching and learning should point? Only after answering these questions can we logically derive the appropriate teaching and learning experiences so that students might perform successfully to meet the standard. The shift, therefore, is away from starting with such questions as "What book will we read?" or "What activities will we do?" or "What will we dis- cuss?" to "What should they walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activities or texts we use?" and "What is evidence of such ability?" and, therefore, "What texts , activities, and methods will best enable such a result?" In teaching students for understanding, we must grasp the key idea that we are coaches of their ability to play the "game " of performing with understanding, not

tellers of our understanding to them on the sidelines.

The three stages of backward design

We call this three-stage approach to planning "backward design." Figure 1.1 depicts the three stages in the simplest terms .

Stage 1: Identify desired results

What should students know, understand, and be able to do? What content is worthy of understanding? What enduring understandings are desired?

I',

I, 18

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

Figure 1.1

UbD: Stages of Backward Design

1. Identify

desired

results.

2. Determine

acceptable

evidence . .....

3. Plan learning

experiences

and instruction . ...

In Stage 1 we consider our goals, examine established content standards (national, state, district) , and review curriculum expectations. Because typi- cally we have more content than we can reasonably address within the avail- able time, we must make choices. This first stage in the design process calls for clarity about priorities.

Stage 2: Determine acceptable evidence

How will we know if students have achieved the desired results? What will we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency? The back- ward design orientation suggests that we think about a unit or course in terms of the collected assessment evidence needed to document and validate that the desired learning has been achieved, not simply as content to be covered or as a series of learning activities. This approach encourages teachers and curriculum planners to first "think like an assessor" before designing specific units and lessons, and thus to consider up front how they will determine if stu- dents have attained the desired understandings .

Stage 3: Plan learning experiences and instruction

With clearly identified results and appropriate evidence of understanding in mind, it is now the time to fully think through the most appropriate instruc- tional activities. Several key questions must be considered at this stage of backward design: What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, principles) and

,.....

Backward Design

skills (processes, procedures, strategies) will students need in order to per- form effectively and achieve desired results? What activities will equip stu- dents with the needed knowledge and skills? What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it best be taught, in light of performance goals? What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals?

Note that the specifics of instructional planning-choices about teaching methods, sequence of lessons, and resource materials-can be successfully completed only after we identify

MISCONCEPTION ALERT! desired results and assessments I and consider what they imply. Teaching is a means to an end . Having a clear goal helps to focus our planning and guide purpose- ful action toward the intended results.

When we speak of evidence of desired results , we are referring to evidence gathered through a variety of formal and informal assessments during a unit of study or a course. We are not alluding only to end-of-teaching tests or culminating tasks . Rather, the collected evidence we seek may well include traditional quizzes and tests , performance tasks and projects ,

Backward design may be thought of, in other words, as pur- poseful task analysis: Given a

observations and dialogues , as well as students' self-assessments gathered over time.

worthy task to be accomplished, how do we best get everyone equipped? Or we might think of it as building a wise itinerary, using a map: Given a destina- tion, what's the most effective and efficient route? Or we might think of it as planning for coaching, as suggested earlier: What must learners master if they are to effectively perform? What will count as evidence on the field, not merely in drills, that they really get it and are ready to perform with understanding, knowledge, and skill on their own? How will the learning be designed so that learners' capacities are developed through use and feedback?

This is all quite logical when you come to understand it, but "backward" from the perspective of much habit and tradition in our field. A major change from common practice occurs as designers must begin to think about assess- ment before deciding what and how they will teach. Rather than creating assessments near the conclusion of a unit of study ( or relying on the tests pro- vided by textbook publishers, which may not completely or appropriately assess our standards and goals) , backward design calls for us to make our goals or standards specific and concrete, in terms of assessment evidence, as we begin to plan a unit or course.

The logic of backward design applies regardless of the learning goals. For example, when starting from a state content standard, curriculum designers need to determine the appropriate assessment evidence stated or implied in the standard. Likewise, a staff developer should determine what evidence will indicate that the adults have learned the intended knowledge or skill before planning the various workshop activities.

The rubber meets the road with assessment. Three different teachers may all be working toward the same content standards, but if their assessments vary considerably, how are we to know which students have achieved what? Agree- ment on needed evidence of learning leads to greater curricular coherence and

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

more reliable evaluation by teachers . Equally important is the long-term gain in teacher, student, and parent insight about what does and does not count as evi- dence of meeting complex standards.

This view of focusing intently on the desired learning is hardly radical or new. Tyler (1949) described the logic of backward design clearly and suc- cinctly more than 50 years ago:

Educational objectives become the criteria by which materials are selected,

content is outlined, instructional procedures are developed, and tests and examinations are prepared. .. .

The purpose of a statement of objectives is to indicate the kinds of changes in the student to be brought about so that instructional activities can be planned and developed in a way likely to attain these objectives. (pp. 1, 45)

And in his famous book, How to Solve It, originally published in 1945, Polya specifically discusses "thinking backward" as a strategy in problem solving going back to the Greeks:

There is a certain psychological difficulty in turning around, in going away from the goal, in working backwards . . .. Yet, it does not take a genius to solve a concrete problem working backwards; anyone can do it with a little com- mon sense. We concentrate on the desired end, we visualize the final position in which we would like to be. From what foregoing position could we get there? (p. 230)

These remarks are old. What is perhaps new is that we offer herein a help- ful process, a template, a set of tools, and design standards to make the plan and resultant student performance more likely to be successful by design than by good fortune. As a 4th grade teacher from Alberta, Canada, put it, "Once I had a way of clearly defining the end in mind, the rest of the unit 'fell into place. ' "

The twin sins of activity-based and coverage-based design reflect a failure to think through purpose in this backward-design way. With this in mind, let's revisit the two fictitious vignettes from the Introduction. In the apples vignette, the unit seems to focus on a particular theme (harvest time), through a spe- cific and familiar object (apples) . But as the depiction reveals, the unit has no real depth because there is no enduring learning for the students to derive. The work is hands-on without being minds-on, because students do not need to (and are not really challenged to) extract sophisticated ideas or connections. They don't have to work at understanding; they need only engage in the activ- ity. (Alas, it is common to reward students for mere engagement as opposed to understanding; engagement is necessary, but not sufficient, as an end result.)

Moreover, when you examine the apples unit it becomes clear that it has no overt priorities-the activities appear to be of equal value. The students' role is merely to participate in mostly enjoyable activities, without having to demon- strate that they understand any big ideas at the core of the subject ( excuse the pun). All activity-based-as opposed to results-based-teaching shares the weakness of the apples unit: Little in the design asks students to derive

B ackward Design

intellectual fruit from the unit (sorry!). One might characterize this activity- oriented approach as "faith in learning by osmosis." Is it likely that individual tudents will learn a few interesting things about apples? Of course. But, in the

absence of a learning plan with clear goals, how likely is it that students will develop shared understandings on which future lessons might build? Not very.

In the world history vignette, the teacher covers vast amounts of content during the last quarter of the year. However, in his harried march to get through a textbook, he apparently does not consider what the students will understand and apply from the material. What kind of intellectual scaffolding is provided to guide students through the important ideas? How are students expected to use those ideas to make meaning of the many facts? What per- formance goals would help students know how to take notes for maximal effec- tive use by the course's end? Coverage-based instruction amounts to the eacher merely talking, checking off topics, and moving on, irrespective of 'hether students understand or are confused . This approach might be termed

-teaching by mentioning it." Coverage-oriented teaching typically relies on a extbook, allowing it to define the content and sequence of instruction. In con-

trast, we propose that results-oriented teaching employ the textbook as a resource but not the syllabus.

A backward design template

Having described the backward design process, we now put it together in a useful format-a template for teachers to use in the design of units that focus on understanding.

Many educators have observed that backward design is common sense. Yet when they first start to apply it, they discover that it feels unnatural. Work- ing this way may seem a bit awkward and time-consuming until you get the hang of it. But the effort is worth it-just as the learning curve on good soft- ware is worth it. We think of Understanding by Design as software, in fact: a set of tools for making you ultimately more productive. Thus, a practical corner- stone of Understanding by Design is a design template that is meant to rein- force the appropriate habits of mind needed to complete designs for student understanding and to avoid the habits that are at the heart of the twin sins of activity-based and coverage-based design.

Figure 1.2 provides a preliminary look at the UbD Template in the form of a one-page version with key planning questions included in the various fields . This format guides the teacher to the various UbD elements while visually con- veying the idea of backward design. Later chapters present a more complete account of the template and each of its fields.

Although this one-page version of the template does not allow for great detail, it has several virtues. First, it provides a gestalt, an overall view of back- ward design, without appearing overwhelming. Second, it enables a quick check of alignment-the extent to which the assessments (Stage 2) and learn- ing activities (Stage 3) align with identified goals (Stage 1). Third , the template

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

Figure 1.2

1-Page Template with Design Questions for Teachers

Stage 1-Desired Results

Established Goals:

• What relevant goals (e.g., content standards, course or program objectives, learning outcomes) will this

design address?

Understandings: 4D Essential Questions: CD Students will understand that . .. • What are the big ideas?

• What specific understandings about ther:i are desired?

• What misunderstandings are predictable?

Students will know . ..

• What key knowledge and skills will students

acquire as a result of this unit?

• What should they eventually be able to do as

a result of such knowledge and skills?

• What provocative questions will foster inquiry, under-

standing, and transfer of learning?

0 Students will be able to . . .

Stage 2-Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks:

• Through what authentic performance tasks

will students demonstrate the desired

understandings?

• By what criteria will performances of understanding be

judged?

O Other Evidence: • Through what other evidence (e.g., quizzes, tests, aca-

demic prompts, observations, homework.journals) will

students demonstrate achievement of the desired

results?

• How will students reflect upon and self-assess their

learning?

Stage 3-Learning Plan

Learning Activities: G What learning experiences and instruction will enable students to achieve the desired results? How

the design

W = Help the students know Where the unit is going and What is expected? Help the teacher- W ,ce tile students are coming from (prior knowledge, interests)?

,-, = Hook all students and Hold their interest? E = Equip students, help them Experience the key ideas and Explore the issues? R = Provide opportunities to Rethink and Revise their understandings and work? E = Allow students to Evaluate their work and its implications? T = Be Tailored (personalized) to the different needs, interests, and abilities of ea'TI..,.-.::; 0 = Be Organized to maximize initial and sustained engagement as well as effect ve e,.

Backward Design

can be used to review existing units that teachers or districts have developed. Finally, the one-page template provides an initial design frame . We also have a multipage version that allows for more detailed planning, including, for exam- ple, a Performance Task Blueprint and a day-by-day calendar for listing and sequencing key learning events . The Understanding by Design Professional Development Workbook (McTighe & Wiggins, 2004, pp. 46-51) includes a six- page template that allows for more detailed planning.

We regularly observe that teachers begin to internalize the backward design process as they work with the UbD Te~plate. Stage 1 asks designers to consider what they want students to understand and then to frame those understandings in terms of questions. In completing the top two sections of the Stage 1 portion of the template, users are prompted to identify the Under- standings and Essential Questions to establish a larger context into which a particular unit is nested.

Stage 2 prompts the designer to consider a variety of assessment methods for gathering evidence of the desired Understandings. The two-box graphic organizer then provides spaces for specifying the particular assessments to be used during the unit. Designers need to think in terms of collected evidence, not a single test or performance task.

Stage 3 calls for a listing of the major learning activities and lessons. When it is filled in, the designer (and others) should be able to discern what we call the "WHERETO" elements.

The form of the template offers a means to succinctly present the design unit; its function is to guide the design process. When completed , the template can be used for self-assessment, peer review, and sharing of the completed unit design with others.

To better understand the template's benefits for the teacher-designer, let's take a look at a completed template. Figure 1.3 shows a completed three-page version of the template for a unit on nutrition.

Notice that the template in Figure 1.3 supports backward design thinking by making the longer-term goals far more explicit than is typical in lesson plan- ning, and we can follow those goals through Stages 2 and 3 to ensure that the design is coherent. The focus on big ideas in Stage 1 is transparent, without sacrificing the more discrete elements of knowledge and skill. Finally, by call- ing for appropriately different types of assessment, the template reminds us that we typically need varied evidence and assessments grounded in perform- ance to show transfer, if understanding is our aim.

Design standards

Accompanying the UbD Template is a set of Design Standards corresponding to each stage of backward design. The standards offer criteria to use during development and for quality control of completed unit designs . Framed as questions , the UbD Design Standards serve curriculum designers in the same

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

Figure 1.3

3-Page Nutrition Example

Stage 1-ldentify Desired Results

Established Goals:

Standard 6-Students will understand essential concepts about nutrition and diet. 6a-Students will use an understanding of nutrition to plan appropriate diets for themselves and others. 6c-Students will understand their own individual eating patterns and ways in which those patterns may be improved.

What essential questions will be considered?

• What is healthful eating? • Are you a heathful eater? How would you know? • How could a healthy diet for one person be

unhealthy for another? • Why are there so many health problems

in the United States caused by poor nutrition despite all the available information?

What understandings are desired?

Students will understand that . . . CD • A balanced diet contributes to physical and mental

health. • The USDA food pyramid presents relative guidelines

for nutrition. • Dietary requirements vary for individuals based on

age, activity level. weight, and overall health. • Healthful living requires an individual to act on avail-

able information about good nutrition even if it means breaking comfortable habits.

What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?

Students will know ...

• Key terms-protein, fat, calorie, carbohydrate, cholesterol.

• Types of foods in each food group and their nutritional values.

• The USDA food pyramid guidelines. • Variables influencing nutritional needs. • General health problems caused by poor nutrition.

0 Students will be able to ... • Read and interpret nutrition nformation

on food labels. • Analyze diets for nutritiona value. • Plan balanced diets for ther>1selves and others.

Backward Design

Figure 1.3 (continued)

3-Page Nutrition Example

Stage 2-Determine Acceptable Evidence

What evidence will show that students understand?

Performance Tasks:

You Are What You Eat-Students create an illustrated brochure to teach younger children about the

importance of good nutrition for healthful living. They offer younger students ideas for breaking bad

eating habits.

Chow Down- Students develop a three-day menu for meals and snacks for an upcoming Outdoor

Education camp experience. They write a letter to the camp director to explain why their menu should

be selected (by showing that it meets the USDA food pyramid recommendations, yet it is tasty

enough for the students). They include at least one modification for a specific dietary condition (dia-

betic or vegetarian) or religious consideration.

What other evidence needs to be collected in light of Stage 1 Desired Results? /

Other Evidence: (e.g., tests, quizzes, prompts, work samples, observations)

Quiz- The food groups and the USDA food pyramid

Prompt-Describe two health problems that could arise as a result of poor nutrition and explain how

these could be avoided.

Skill Check- Interpret nutritional information on food labels.

Student Self-Assessment and Reflection:

1. Self-assess the brochure, You Are What You Eat. 2. Self-assess the camp menu, Chow Down.

3. Reflect on the extent to which you eat healthfully at the end of unit (compared with the

beginning).

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

Figure 1.3 (continued)

3-Page Nutrition Example

Stage 3-Plan Learning Experiences

What sequence of teaching and learning experiences will equip students to engage with , develop, and demonstrate the desired understandings? Use the following sheet to list the key teaching and learning activities in sequence. Code each entry with the appropriate initials of the WHERETO elements .

1. Begin with an entry question (Can the foods you eat cause zits?) tc hook students intc considering

the effects of nutrition on their lives. H 2. Introduce the Essential Questions and discuss the culminating unit performance tasks (Chow Down and Eating

Action Plan). W 3. Note: Key vocabulary terms are introduced as needed by the various learning activities and performance tasks. Stu-

dents read and discuss relevant selections from the Health textbook tc support the learning activities and tasks. As an

ongoing activity, students keep a chart of their daily eating and drinking for later review and evaluation. E 4. Present concept attainment lesson on the food groups Then have students practice categorizing pictures of foods

accordingly E 5. Introduce the Food Pyramid and identify foods in each group. Students work in groups tc develop a poster of the Food

Pyramid containing cut-out pictures of foods in each group Display the posters in the classroom or hallway E 6. Give quiz on the food groups and Food Pyramid (matching format). E 7 Review and discuss the nutrition brochure from the USDA Discussion question: Must everyone follow the same diet

tc be healthy2 R 8. Working in cooperative groups, students analyze a hypothetical family's diet (deliberately unbalanced) and make rec-

ommendations for improved nutrition. Teacher observes and coaches students as they work. E-2 9. Have groups share their diet analyses and discuss as a class. E, E-2 (Note: Teacher collects and reviews the diet

analyses tc look for misunderstandings needing instructional attention.)

10. Each student designs an illustrated nutrition brochure tc teach younger children about the importance of good nutri-

tion for healthy living and the problems associated with poor eating. This activity is completed outside of class. E, T 11. Students exchange brochures with members of their group for a peer assessment based on a criteria list. Allow stu-

dents tc make revisions based on feedback. R, E-2 12. Show and discuss the video, "Nutrition and You." Discuss the health problems linked tc poor eating. E 13. Students listen tc, and question, a guest speaker (nutritionist from the local hospital) about health problems caused

by poor nutrition. E 14. Students respond tc written prompt: Describe two health problems that could arise as a result of poor nutrition and

explain what changes in eating could help tc avoid them. (These are collected and graded by teacher.) E-2 15. Teacher models how tc read and interpret food label information on nutritional values. Then have students practice

using donated boxes, cans, and bottles (emptyl). E 16. Students work independently to develop the three-day camp menu. Evaluate and give feedback on the camp menu

project. Students self- and peer-assess their projects using rubrics. E-2, T 17 At the conclusion of the unit, students review their completed daily eating chart and self-assess the healthfulness of

their eating. Have they noticed changes? Improvements? Do they notice changes in how they feel and their appearance?

E-2 18. Students develop a personal "eating action plan" for healthful eating. These are saved and presented

at upcoming student-involved parent conferences. E-2, T 19. Conclude the unit with student self-evaluation regarding their personal eating habits. Have each student develop a

personal action plan for their "healthful eating" goal. E-2, T

Backward Design

·ay that a scoring rubric serves students. When presented to students before

ey begin their work, the rubric provides them with a performance target by identifying the important qualities toward which they should strive. Similarly,

e Design Standards specify the qualities of effective units according to the ·nderstanding by Design framework. Figure 1.4 (p. 28) presents the four UbD

ign Standards with accompanying indicators.

The standards contribute to design work in three ways:

• As a reference point during design-Teachers can periodically check to ee, for example, if the identified understandings are truly big and enduring, or

the assessment evidence is sufficient. Like a rubric, the questions serve as eminders of important design elements to include, such as a focus on Essen- · a1 Questions .

• For use in self-assessment and peer reviews of draft designs-Teachers and peers can use the criteria to examine their draft units to identify needed refine-

ments, such as using the facets to dig deeper into an abstract idea.

• For quality control of completed designs-The standards can then be applied by independent reviewers (e.g., curriculum committees) to validate

he designs before their distribution to other teachers.

Our profession rarely subjects teacher-designed units and assessments

o this level of critical review. Nonetheless, we have found structured peer reviews, guided by design standards , to be enormously beneficial-both to eachers and their designs (Wiggins , 1996, 1997). Participants in peer review

sessions regularly comment on the value of sharing and discussing curriculum

and assessment designs with colleagues. We believe that such sessions are a powerful approach to professional development, because the conversations

focus on the heart of teaching and learning. We cannot stress enough the importance of using design standards to reg-

ularly review curriculum-existing units and courses as well as new ones being developed. It is often difficult for educators, both novice and veteran, to get in

the habit of self-assessing their designs against appropriate criteria. A prevail- ing norm in our profession seems to be, "If I work hard on planning, it must be good." The UbD Design Standards help to break that norm by providing a

means for quality control. They help us validate our curriculum's strengths, while revealing aspects that need improvement.

In addition to using the UbD Design Standards for self-assessment, the qual- ity of the curriculum product (unit plan , performance assessment, course

design) is invariably enhanced when teachers participate in a structured peer review in which they examine one another's unit designs and share feedback

and suggestions for improvement. Such "critical friend" reviews provide feed- back to designers, help teachers internalize the qualities of good design, and offer opportunities to see alternate design models . ("Gee, I never thought about

beginning a unit with a problem. I think I'll try that in my next unit. ")

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

Figure 1.4

UbD Design Standards

Stage 1-To what extent does the design focus on the big ideas of targeted content?

Consider: Are .. .

0 The targeted understandings enduring, based on transferable, big ideas at the heart of the discipline and in need of uncoverage?

0 The targeted understandings framed by questions that spark meaningful connections, provoke genuine inquiry and deep thought, and encourage transfer?

0 The essential questions provocative, arguable, and likely to generate inquiry around the central ideas (rather than a "pat" answer)?

0 Appropriate goals (e.g., content standards, benchmarks, curriculum objectives) identified? 0 Valid and unit-relevant knowledge and skills identified?

Stage 2-To what extent do the assessments provide fair, valid, reliable, and sufficient measures of the desired results?

Consider: Are .. .

0 Students asked to exhibit their understanding through authentic performance tasks? 0 Appropriate criterion-based scoring tools used to evaluate student products and performances? 0 Various appropriate assessrrent formats used to provide additional evidence of learning? 0 The assessments used as feedback for students and teachers, as well as for evaluation? 0 Students encouraged to self-assess?

Stage 3-To what extent is the learning plan effective and engaging?

Consider: Will the students . ..

0 Know where they're going (the learning goals), why the material is important (reason for learning the content), and what is required of them (unit goal, performance requirements, and evaluative criteria)?

0 Be hooked- engaged in digging into the big ideas (e.g., through inquiry, research, problem solving, and experimenta- tion)?

0 Have adequate opportunities to explore and experience big ideas and receive instruction to equip them for the required performances?

0 Have sufficient opportunities to rethink, rehearse, revise, and refine their work based upon timely feedback? 0 Have an opportunity to evaluate their work, reflect on their learning, and set goals?

Consider: Is the learning plan . . .

0 Tailored and flexible to address the interests and learning styles of all students? 0 Organized and sequenced to maximize engagement and effectiveness?

Overall Design-To what extent is the entire unit coherent, with the elements of all three stages aligned?

Backward Design

esign tools

addition to the design standards, we have developed and refined a compre- nsive set of design tools to support teachers and curriculum developers . is is hard work! We have found that an array of scaffolds-prompts, organ- rs, idea sheets, and examples-help educators produce higher-quality igns. A full set of these resources is available in the UbD Professional Devel-

ment Workbook.

We think that a good template serves as an intelligent tool. It provides re than a place to write in ideas. It focuses and guides the designer's think-

g throughout the design process to make high-quality work more likely. In actice, curriculum designers work from a copy of the template, supported

.· specific design tools and numerous filled-in examples of good unit designs . this way, we practice what we preach with students; models and design

andards are provided up front to focus designer performance from the start. 1

But why do we refer to the template, design standards, and corresponding ign tools as "intelligent"? Just as a physical tool (e.g., a telescope, an auto-

obile, or a hearing aid) extends human capabilities, an intelligent tool enhances performance on cognitive tasks, such as the design of learning units. or example, an effective graphic organizer, such as a story map, helps stu- ents internalize the elements of a story in ways that enhance their reading

and writing of stories. Likewise, by routinely using the template and design ools, users will likely develop a mental template of the key ideas presented in

· s book: the logic of backward

MISCONCEPTION ALERT! design, thinking like an assessor,

e facets of understanding, 'HERETO, and design standards.

By embodying the Under- tanding by Design elements in angible forms (i.e., the template

and design tools), we seek to sup- port educators in learning and applying these ideas. Thus, the design tools are like training

Though the three stages present a logic of design , it does not follow that this is a step-by-step process in actuality. As we argue in Chapter 11 , 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. The final outline of a smoothly flowing college lecture rarely reflects the back-and-forth (iterative) thought process that went into its creation.

heels, providing a steadying influence during those periods of disequilibrium brought on by new ideas that may challenge established and comfortable habits. Once the key ideas of Understanding by Design are internalized, how- ever, and regularly applied , the explicit use of the tools becomes unnecessary, just as the young bicycle rider sheds the training wheels after achieving bal- ance and confidence.

Backward desi n in action with Bob ames tting: We are inside the head of Bob James, a 6th grade teacher at Newtown iddle School, as he begins to design a three-week unit on nutrition. His ultimate

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

design will be the unit provided above in Figure 1.3. But Bob is new to UbD, so his design will unfold and be revised over time. Throughout the book we 'II show his thinking-and rethinking-as he considers the full meaning of the template elements.

Stage 1: Identify desired results The template asks me to highlight the goals of the unit, and for me that

means drawing upon our state standards. In reviewing our standards in health, I found three content standards on nutrition that are benchmarked to this age level:

• Students will understand essential concepts about nutrition. • Students will understand elements of a balanced diet. • Students will understand their own eating patterns and ways in which

these patterns may be improved.

Using these standards as the starting point, I need to decide what I want my students to take away from the unit. Knowledge and skill are what I have always focused on: knowledge of the food pyramid, the ability to read labels in the store and at home, and so on. Although I've never deliberately thought about understandings, per se, I like the concept and think that it will help me focus my teaching and limited class time on the truly important aspects of this unit.

As I think about it, I guess what I'm really after has something to do with an understanding of the elements of good nutrition so students can plan a bal- anced diet for themselves and others. The big ideas have to do with nutrition and planning meals in a feasible way. Then, the important questions are, So, what is good for you? What isn't? How do you know? What makes it difficult to know and to eat right? (fhe good taste of junk food makes it difficult!)

This idea is clearly important, because planning nutritious menus is an authentic, lifelong need and a way to apply this knowledge. I'm still a little unclear about what "an understanding" means, though, in this context. I'll need to reflect further on what an understanding is and how it goes beyond specific knowledge and its use. The basic concepts of nutrition are fairly straightforward, after all, as are the skills of menu planning. Does anything in the unit require, then , any in-depth and deliberate uncoverage? Are there typi- cal misunderstandings, for example, that I should more deliberately focus on?

Well, as I think about it, I have found that many students harbor the two misconceptions that if food is good for you, it must taste bad; and if it is sold in famous and popular places, it must be okay. One of my goals in this unit is to dispel these myths so that the students won't have an automatic aversion to healthy food and unwittingly eat too much unhealthy stuff. In terms of the potential for engagement-no problem there. Anyt hing having to do with food is a winner with 10- and I I-year-olds. And there are some points to menu plan- ning (such as balancing cost, variety, taste, and dietary needs) that are not at all obvious . This way of thinking about the unit will enable me to better focus on these points.

Backward Design

~tage 2: Determine acceptable evidence This will be a bit of a stretch for me. Typically in a three- or four-week unit

ike this one, I give one or two quizzes; have a project, which I grade; and con- clude with a unit test (generally multiple choice or matching). Even though

his approach to assessment makes grading and justifying the grades fairly easy, I have always felt a bit uneasy that these assessments don't reflect the point of the unit and that the project grade sometimes has less to do with the

ey ideas and more to do with effort. I think I tend to test what is easy to test ·nstead of assessing for my deeper goals, above and beyond nutritional facts.

In fact, one thing that has always disturbed me is that the kids tend to focus

on their grades rather than on their learning. Perhaps the way I've used the assessments-more for grading purposes than to help shape and document learning-has contributed somewhat to their attitude.

Now I need to think about what would serve as evidence of the ideas I'm

ocusing on. After reviewing some examples of performance tasks and dis- cussing "application" ideas with my colleagues, I have decided tentatively on

the following task: Because we have been learning about nutrition, the camp director at the out-

door education center has asked us to propose a nutritionally balanced menu

for our three-day trip to the center later this year. Using the food pyramid

guidelines and the nutrition facts on food labels, design a plan for three days,

including three meals and three snacks (a.m., p.m., and campfire). Your goal:

a tasty and nutritionally balanced menu.

I'm excited about this idea because it asks students to demonstrate what I really want them to take away from the unit. This task also links well with one of our unit projects: to analyze a hypothetical family's diet for a week and pro-

pose ways to improve their nutrition. With this task and project in mind, I can now use my quizzes to check students' knowledge of the food groups and food pyramid recommendations, and a lengthier test to check for their understand- ing of how a nutritionally deficient diet contributes to health problems. Hey! This is one of the better assessment plans I have designed for a unit, and I

think that the task will motivate students as well as provide evidence of their

understanding.

Stage 3: Plan learning experiences and instruction This is my favorite part of planning-deciding what activities the students

will do during the unit and what resources and materials we'll need for those activities. But according to what I'm learning about backward design, I'll need to think first about what essential knowledge and skills my students will need

if they're going to be able to demonstrate in performance the understandings I'm after.

Well, they'll need to know about the different food groups and the types of foods found in each group so that they'll understand the USDA food pyramid

Understanding by Design 2nd Edition

recommendations. They'll also need to know about human nutritional needs for carbohydrates, protein, sugar, fat, salt, vitamins, and minerals, and about the various foods that provide them. They'll have to learn about the minimum daily requirements for these nutritional elements and about various health problems that arise from poor nutrition. In terms of skills, they'll have to learn how to read and interpret the nutrition-fact labels on foods and how to scale a recipe up or down, because these skills are necessary for their culminating project-planning healthy menus for camp.

Now for the learning experiences. I'll use resources that I've collected dur- ing the past several years-a pamphlet from the USDA on the food groups and the food pyramid recommendations; a wonderful video, "Nutrition for You"; and, of course, our health textbook (which I now plan to use selectively). As I have for the past three years, I'll invite the nutritionist from the local hospital to talk about diet and health and how to plan healthy menus. I've noticed that the kids really pay attention to a real-life user of information they're learning.

My teaching methods will follow my basic pattern-a blend of direct instruction, inductive methods, cooperative-learning group work, and individ- ual activities.

Planning backward to produce this new draft has been helpful. I now can more clearly see and state what knowledge and skills are essential, given my goals for the unit. I'll be able to concentrate on the more important aspects of the topic (and relieve some guilt that I'm not covering everything). It's also interesting to realize that even though some sections of the textbook chapters on nutrition will be especially useful (for instance, the descriptions of health problems arising from poor nutrition), other sections are not as informative as other resources I'll now use (the brochure and the video). In terms of assessment, I now know more clearly what I need to assess using traditional quizzes and tests, and why the performance task and project are needed-to have students demonstrate their understanding. I'm getting a feel for back- ward design.

Comments on the design process

Notice that the process of developing this draft nutrition unit reveals four key aspects of backward design:

1. The assessments-the performance tasks and related sources of evi- dence-are thought through prior to the lessons being fully developed. The assessments serve as teaching targets for sharpening the focus of instruction and editing the past lesson plans, because they define in very specific terms what we want students to understand and be able to do. The teaching is then thought of as enabling performance. These assessments also guide decisions about what content needs to be emphasized versus that which is not really essential.

Backward Design

2. It is likely that familiar and favorite activities and projects will have to be rther modified in light of the evidence needed for assessing targeted stan-

ards. For instance, if the apples unit described in the Introduction were lanned using this backward design process, we would expect to see revisions

n some of the activities to better support the desired results. 3. The teaching methods and resource materials are chosen last, with the

eacher keeping in mind the work that students must produce to meet the tandards. For example , rather than focusing on cooperative learning because ·s a popular strategy, the question from a backward-design perspective comes, What instructional strategies will be most effective in helping us ach our targets? Cooperative learning may or may not be the best approach,

·ven the particular students and standards. 4. The role of the textbook may shift from being the primary resource to

ing a support. Indeed, the 6th grade teacher planning the nutrition unit real- ed the limitations of relying on the text if he is to meet his goals . Given other

·aluable resources (the USDA materials, the video, and the nutritionist), he no nger felt compelled to cover the book word for word.

This introductory look is intended to present a preliminary sketch of the ig picture of a design approach. Bob James will be refining his unit plan (and hanging his thinking a few times) as he gains greater insight into understand- g, essential questions, valid assessment, and the related learning activities.

A preview Figure 1.5 presents the key elements of the UbD approach and thus an outline of points to come in the book. In the following chapters we "uncover" this design process , examining its implications for the development and use of assessments, the planning and organization of curriculum, and the selection of powerful methods of teaching. But a few explanatory points about each col- umn in Figure 1.5 are appropriate to prepare you for what is to come through- out the book.

The chart is best read from left to right, one row at a time, to see how the three stages of design might look in practice. An outline of the three-stage design process for each of the three basic elements (the desired results , the assessment evidence , and the learning plan) is highlighted in the column head- ings. Begin with a key design question; ponder how to narrow the possibilities through intelligent priorities (Design Considerations); self-assess, self-adjust, and finally critique each element of design against appropriate criteria (Fil- ters); and end up with a product that meets appropriate design standards in light of the achievement target (What the Final Design Accomplishes).

In summary, backward design yields greater coherence among desired results , key performances, and teaching and learning experiences , resulting in better student performance-the purpose of design.

t I Figure 1.5 The UbD Design Matrix

Key Design Questions Chapters of the Book

Stage 1 • Chapter 3-Gaining Clarity • What are worthy and on Our Goals

appropriate results? • Chapter 4-The Six Facets of

• What are the key desired Understanding

learnings? • Chapter 5-Essential

• What should students come Questions: Doorways tc

away understanding, knowing, Understanding

and able tc do2 • Chapter 6-Crafting

• What big ideas can frame all Understandings

these objectives?

Stage 2 • Chapter 7-Thinking like • What is evidence of the an Assessor

desired results? • Chapter 8-Criteria and • In particular, what is appropri- Validity

ate evidence of the desired

understanding?

Stage 3 • Chapter 9 - Planning for • What learning activities Learning

and L,eaching promote • Chapter 10-Teaching for

1111dcrst,anding, knowledge, Understanding

6kill. st;udent interest-, and

exce llence?

Design Considerations Filters (Design Criteria)

• National standards • Focused on big ideas and

• State standards core challenges

• Local standards

• Regional tcpic

opportunities

• Teacher expertise

and interest

• Six facets of • Valid

understanding • Reliable

• Continuum of assessment • Sufficient

types

• Research-based repertcire Engaging and effective, using of learning and teaching the elements of WHERETO: strategies • Where is it going?

• Appropriate and enabling • Hook the students knowledge and skill • Explore and equip

• Rethink and revise • Exhibit and evaluate • Tailortc student needs,

interests, and styles

• Organize for maximum engagement and effectiveness

What the Final Design Accomplishes

• Unit framed around

enduring understandings

and essential questions,

in relation tc clear

goals and standards

• Unit anchored in credible and

useful evidence of the

desired results

• Coherent learning activities

and teaching that will evoke

and develop the desired

understandings, knowledge,

and skill; promote interest;

and make excellent

performance more likely

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