Featured Resource: Backward Design
Regardless of your academic discipline, at some point you will likely be confronted with a challenging task: the need to design (or significantly revise) a course. We all want our courses to be the best they can be. One option is to “go it alone”— simply rely on your own experience and instinct to make the myriad of decisions required; another option is to use a recognized approach for guidance.
One excellent planning resource you should consider is the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework, which has solidified a reputation as a benchmark approach in the last 25 years. Resting on a strong foundation of theoretical research in cognitive psychology and the results of student achievement studies, UbD’s two key ideas are contained in the title: a focus on teaching and assessing for understanding and learning transfer, and the logic of designing curriculum “backwards” from those ends.
What is Understanding by Design? Author Jay McTighe explains.
Hawker Brownlow Education video
7 minutes
The first edition of Understanding by Design was published in 1998, co-authored by the late Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, and an expanded second edition was released in 2005. In this video, McTighe clearly and succinctly explains the essence of the approach in under four minutes. We particularly like the advice he proceeds to offer to first-time users of the framework: 1) think big; 2) start small; 3) go for an early win.
Backward Design
By Erin Stapleton-Corcoran, Instructional Designer with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence, University of Illinois Chicago, January 25, 2023.
If McTighe’s overview of UbD intrigued you, then this site is ideal for learning more. In scouring the web for excellent primers on UbD, this recently-created resource topped them all. The author briefly summarizes the UbD course design stages and components, augmented by a good use of visuals.
Stage 1: Identify Desired Results
- Identify the Big Ideas
- Transform the Big Ideas into Essential Questions
- Craft learning objectives
- Prioritize content
- Determine knowledge and skill understandings
Stage 2: Determine Appropriate Assessments
- Apply the three-layer conceptual model
- Identify assessment evidence across the Six Facets of Understanding
- Identify the mix of formative and summative assessments
· Stage 3: Formulate a Learning Plan
- Plan the sequence of learning activities (using WHERETO)
- Articulate how you will teach for understanding
The final consideration is ensuring that Stages 1,2, and 3 are in alignment.
Resources from McTighe & Associates Consulting
Resource section of McTighe & Associates site
If you are interested in experimenting with the approach or would like to learn more, this is the site for you. Here you can:
- Explore guiding examples
- Download the UbD Template and other resource files
- Review essential questions by subject area
- Get help for assessment design
- Watch informative videos
- Read relevant articles
If you have questions or would like to learn more about the UbD framework, contact Bill Rose in the Office of Digital learning at bmr1@psu.edu.