Understanding by Design Grant Wiggins and Jay Mc Tighe

We offer guidance on how to tackle any educational design problem

related to the goal of student understanding we help you better focus
on how to achieve understanding of the important ideas (big ideas) that
you target.
Backward Design
1. Teachers are designers
2. Why backwards is best.
3. The 3 Stages
Teachers are Designers
We design
Curriculum, Learning Experiences, Assessments
Students/
Client/
Audience
To make
learning
more
effective.
Who? Why?
PYP curriculum model, Scope and
sequences, 5 essential elements.
Our students needs: interests,
developmental stages, class sizes,
background knowledge.
We are quick to say what things we like
to teach, what activities we want to do,
what resources we will use, but without
clarifying the desired result how will we
ever know whether our designs are
appropriate or arbitrary?
Focused on the desired
RESULTS.
How will we
distinguish
Interesting from
Effective learning? All about the PURPOSE.
What guides our designs?
Good designs are?
Why Backwards is Best.
Shift in thinking
To: The learning sough and the
evidence of such learning.

The results we want.
Learning
Output
What will the learner need to achieve
the required goals?
From: Learning Activities
The methods
The books
The content we want
Teaching
Input
What materials and
activities will I teach?
If there is not a purpose work becomes confusing and frustrating.
Topic: Prejudice
Resource: Book
Method: Discussion
Quiz
But what was the purpose
for reading the book?
We can fall into
Activity fun: The purpose is lost
Coverage: textbooks, cover an
amount of topics.
1. No clear purpose frames the learning
experiences
2. Students cant answer questions like:
What is the point?
What is the Big Idea?
What does this help us understand or do?
What is this related to?
Why should we learn this?
Goals
(Big Ideas)
Evidence
(Assessment)
Learning experiences
The 2 Sins:
Clear Progression:
The 3 stages of Backwards Design
IB Planner step 1 and 2
Set Goals (Central Idea)
Review curriculum expectations (transdisciplinary themes)
Make choices (less is more) (Concepts, Related Concepts
and lines of inquiry
IB Planner Step 1 and 3
How will we know if students have
achieved the desired results.
The evidence.
Pre-assessments (what they already
know)
IB Planner Step 4
What knowledge
and skills will
students need to
achieve the
desired results.
The 5 essential
elements needed
to achieve the
desired results.