CORE DECISIONS 1
Curriculum Change Plan: Part 4 - Core Decisions
Kimberly Holmes
School of Education, Liberty University
Word Count (body only): 1822
CORE DECISIONS 2
Curriculum Change Plan: Part 4 - Core Decisions
Curriculum Model
In 1998, backward design was introduced by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe via their
book, (Button, 2021; Gonzalez, 2020). Traditionally, teachers tend to Understanding by Design
begin lesson planning by determining how to convey the content, or learning activities, create
learning activity assessments, and then try to make correlations to the learning objectives
(Button, 2021). However, the overall concept of backward design is to plan instruction beginning
with the end in mind (Davis et al., 2021). Meaning, teachers will decide the learning objectives
of the course or unit first. The intent of the learning goals is to encompass the skills and
knowledge that teachers desire students to have ascertained once they exit the class. After the
learning goals have been identified, determining an assessment, which is required in stage two,
occurs. With backward design, teachers are to think about the learning goals and how they will
assess students prior to teaching the actually content. Hence the reason that backward design is
deemed more of a purposeful method to designing a course, as opposed to a traditional approach.
Burnham (2021) describes backward design, commonly known as understanding by
design (UbD), as a model grounded on cognitive psychology, through the use of ideas and
research. Overall, the goal is to afford students with learning experiences that are engaging, in
order to assist their comprehension while upholding coalition to existing curriculum standards.
Because UbD is an iterative process, it is used to endorse consistent consideration and procession
of curriculum.
