Understanding By Design:A “Backward Design” Approach

to Teaching and Learning

Unlocking the keys to

success and understanding

Chuck McWilliams, MRH School District

June 2nd, 2008

"There is nothing so terribleas activity without insight."

-Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGerman Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832

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My Background

• I’m originally from Iowa

• Teaching emphasis: Biology

• Past 14 Years in St. Louis and at MRH:– First 6…

– Past 8…

• UbD was the event that sparked the new beginning of my role as a teacher and leader

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A Brief History of UbD at MRH: Year 1 - 4

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2000to

2001

Intro to UbD Summer Leadership Seminar; Design teams form to write unit/study UbD

2001to

2002

Adv UbD Summer Training; Continue writing units/courses; Focus on assessment

2002to

2003

More UbD summer workshops; Peer Assessment/Unit revision; Reading in Content Area

2003to

2004

Continue work on Unit Revisions; Pedagogical study teams form; Study/Research: Reading in Content Area, Coop. Learning, and Critical Thinking

Pedagogical Study at MRH

Cooperative LearningCritical Thinking

Reading in the Content Area

Developing

Teacher

Competencies

2004-2008+

1:1 Laptops

in ‘07-’0

81:1 Laptops

in ‘07-’0

8

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UbD

Study

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A Brief History of UbD at MRH: Year 5 - 8

2004to

2005

Summer UbD conference; Write Teacher Pedagogical Competencies; Begin working in PAT team study groups; Finish ALL unit designs

2005to

2006

Summer UbD/DI Conference; Work on competencies in PAT teams; “Polishing the Stone” UbD Workshop

2006to

2007

Misc. Summer workshops/curriculum development; PAT team work; Cognitive Coaching training/implementation w/ PAT specialists; eMINTS training begins at Middle School

2007to

2008

MRH hosts AbD w/ Parkway & Bayless; continue working in PAT teams; eMINTS training at MS and HS; Orientation to D2L environment

Year 9: The Future of UbD Study at MRH

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Taking MRH Curriculum to the web

Year 9: The Future of UbD Study at MRH

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Taking MRH Curriculum to the web

Benefits of Using UbD

• It’s a framework for research-based

practices- it’s the GLUE that binds all we do!

• Promotes teamwork - DESIGN TEAMS!

• Promotes professional conversation about

WHAT should be taught - ID Essentials!

• Increased insight about the purposefulness

of curriculum and its impact on students.

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Even MORE Benefits...

• Implementing UbD units helps me re-evaluate my priorities - throughout daily instruction!

• Emphasis is on assessment! Helps students prepare for MAP and other tests.

• Analyzing unit design and student work leads to improved curriculum.

• My curriculum is living and breathing - Never something that’s finished.

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Learning and Cognition

“Learning with understanding is more likely to promote transfer than simply memorizing information from a text or lecture.”

-Bransford, et. Al., How People Learn, p.224

Research:

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UbD Supports Learning and Cognition

• Teachers need to recognize and draw-out

preconceptions from their students and base

instructional decisions on the information they

get from their students.

• Teachers need to teach their subject matter in a depth

so that facts are conveyed in a context with examples

and a conceptual framework.

• Teachers need to integrate metacognitive skills into

the curriculum and teach those skills explicitly.

From How People Learn (National Research Council, 2000):

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Some important questions...

What is worth understanding?

What is understanding? How will we

know that students really understand?

Why are the best curriculum designs

“backward”?

How might teachers “work smarter”

(not harder!) in curriculum design?

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“Backward Design”

The “Understanding by Design” Approach

by Wiggins and McTighe

Stage 1 - Enduring Understandings, Essential

Questions, Key Knowledge and Skills

Stage 2 - Assess Enduring Understandings

Stage 3 - Design Meaningful Learning Activities

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How It All Fits Together

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Workshop

Understanding by Design

is not…

a prescriptive program

an instructional model

opposed to traditional testing

and grading

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Key to Backward Design

Think like an assessor!

View: “A Private Universe”

Note: Provide an example in your own

experience when you thought everyone

understood the lesson, but students still

couldn’t explain.

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A Private Universe

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Key to Backward Design

Think like an assessor!

Be clear about what evidence of

learning you seek.

Design assessments before you design

lessons and activities.

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Structure of Knowledge

Facts and Skills

Key Concepts and Core Processes

Principles

andGeneralizations

Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.

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Declarative Knowledge

Knowing WHAT

Procedural Knowledge

Knowing HOW

More specifically… What is knowledge?

Structural Knowledge

Knowing WHY

-Jonassen, Computers as Mindtools for Schools, 2000

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Matters of Understanding

• Big ideas or core processes

at the “heart” of the discipline

• “Enduring” - lasting value

beyond the classroom

• Transferable to other topics and inquiries

• Require “uncoverage”

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Two Types of Understandings

• Overarching - Example: Great artists often break with established traditions, conventions and techniques to better express what they see and feel.

• Topical - Example: Impressionist artists used novel painting techniques to represent everyday life. They used color, light, and shadow to convey the impression of reflected light at a particular moment.

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Concepts - Transferable “Big Ideas”

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JusticeMigrationPatternsPowerSymbolSystems

Adaptation Change Energy Exploration Freedom Interaction

examples...

Junk Bags

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Establishing Curricular Priorities

Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.

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worth being

familiar with

important to

know and do

“big ideas”

worth

understanding

foundational concepts &

skills

foundational concepts &

skills

“nice to know”“nice to know”

enduring understandings

enduring understandings

Establishing Curricular Priorities

Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.

• Identify “Big Ideas”

•Then,frame them as generalizations and essential questions

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worth being

familiar with

important to

know and do

“big ideas”

worth

understanding

Content StandardsContent Standards

Finding “Big Ideas” in the Content Standards

Ask:

• Why? So what?

• What is the “moral of the story”?

• How is ____ applied in the world beyond the classroom?

• What couldn’t we do if we didn’t understand ____ ?

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Superficial Coverageversus

Uncovering the Big Ideas

What is Understanding?

Six Facets of Understanding:

ApplicationExplanationInterpretation

EmpathyPerspectiveSelf-Knowledge

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The Six Facets of Understanding

Inte

rpre

tatio

n

Em

pathy

Self-Knowledge

Explanation

Per

spec

tive

Application

_______

Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.

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Using UbD in a Sophomore Biology Class

Chuck McWilliams, Biology Teacher

Maplewood-Richmond Heights HS Maplewood, MO

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Planning For a “New” Course

• Develop Course Enduring UnderstandingsEx.) Life functions as a complex system that exists at many

different levels

• Develop Essential QuestionsEx.) How can scientists lead us to understanding how life

functions as a system?

• Develop course assessments - semester exams

• Develop individual units and assessments

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• How does a(n) ________ come to know the world and humans’ place in it?

• Each of the eight instructional units focuses on the Perspective of a scientist

• During the year, each student will become a:

– Biologist– Ecologist– Biochemist– Cell Biologist

– Molecular Biologist

– Geneticist

– Naturalist

– Taxonomist

A “New” Biology Course

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Biology: Exploring Multiple Scientific Perspectives

Learning from Different Perspectives

StudentStudentBiologistBiologist

EcologistEcologist

Cell BiologistCell Biologist

BiochemistBiochemist GeneticistGeneticist

NaturalistNaturalist

TaxonomistTaxonomist

Molecular BiologistMolecular Biologist

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Sample Unit: Unit 6 - Geneticist

1. Patterns of inheritance can be predicted in living things.

2. Genetic and environmental factors determine the physical characteristics of living things.

3. As genetic research continues, society will face ethical challenges. Participating in the ethical decision making process will require carefully analyzing scientific research and understanding different points of view.

Enduring Understandings: EU

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Essential Questions

• If offspring inherit their parents genes, then why don’t they look exactly like their parents?

• What effect does the environment have on gene expression?

• How will scientists use the information from generated the Human Genome Project?

What will Guide My Students?

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Performance Assessment

• PersonaGen® Array 119™ Genetic Test• Students receive a simulated genetic test (multiple tests all at

once)

• They must interpret their profile

• Research and learn about their assigned “mutations”

• Write a 6 paragraph essay detailing their profile and the effect it

would have on their personal and career life

• Also included in the essay is a discussion/analysis concerning

genetic testing in general

• In class discussion and rubrics included

How will I know my students understand?

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How It All Fits Together

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How It All Fits Together

W

H

E

R

E

T

O

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How will we organize and sequence the learning?O

How will we tailor the learning plan?T

How will students self-evaluate and reflect on their learning?E

How will we help students rethink and revise?R

How will we equip students for expected performances?E

How will we hook and hold student interest?H

Where are we going? Why? What is expected?W

How It All Fits Together

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Some Lessons Learned About Stage 3

• Protecting your favorite activities?

• Including FUN activities?

• Be aware of TIME and pacing

• Scaffold toward the Performance

Task and other assessments

• Unit Planning vs. Lesson Planning

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How It All Fits Together

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Table Talk - Essential Questions

• What makes essential questions essential about learning?

• What are the characteristics of effective essential questions?

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Ideally, Essential Questions should…

• Go to heart of discipline

• Recur naturally throughout ones learning and in the

history of the field

• Raise further questions into the unit’s “Big Idea”

• Have no one right answer (debatable)

• Be deliberately framed to provoke and sustain student interest

and engage the students in attempting to answer the questions

• Be derived from the enduring understandings

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Tips on writing EQs:

• Organize units around questions• Design assessment tasks that are explicitly linked

to the questions• Frame questions in “kid language” to make them more

accessible• Sequence the questions so that they naturally lead to

one another• Post the essential questions in the classroom and refer

back to them throughout the unit• Allot sufficient time for discussion of questions with

students• Through a survey or informal checks, ensure that every

child understands

Tips!Tips!

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Examples of good ones...

• How can a diet be healthy for one

person and not another?

• Why do people move?

• How does where we live influence how we

live?

• What makes places unique and different?

• What is the relationship between cooperation and

competition?

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Not so good ones…

• Is the weatherman always right?

• Is Huck Finn a hero?

• How many legs does a spider have?

• How does an elephant use its trunk?

• How do you measure 3-D objects?

• How are fractions and percentages related?

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Assessing Essential Questions

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Is the unit focused on important and engaging questions?

Level 3:Important and thought provoking;more than single

“correct” answer, promote inquiry rather than recall, great potential for student engagement, unifying focus to guide teaching/learning

Level 2:Appropriate for topic; not clearly focused on most

important ideas/concepts; do not have single “correct” answer, may not require much inquiry or engage students

Level 1:Do not focus on big ideas/core processes; not

thought provoking; unlikely to engage students; may have one “correct answer” and be too narrow to guide unit

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Barriers to Making UbD Work?

Lessons from Chapter 13:

• Misconception #1 - “Yes, but… we have to

teach to the test.”

• Misconception #2 - “Yes, but… we have to

much content to cover.”

• Misconception #3 - “Yes, but… this work is

too hard and I just don’t have the time.”Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.

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Challenges using UbD

• UbD takes TIME to become part of the

culture of the learning community.

• It can create tension and anxiety!

• Success requires ongoing professional

dialogue, sharing, support, and

encouragement

• It’s for every teacher! Peer support!

• It works WITH high stakes testing!

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Process vs. Product: Asking Questions

• I finished writing this unit and/or lesson. Am I finished now?

• Is curriculum “living and breathing?”• How do I find time? Time!?! Reflective

practitioners take time to assess, rethink, and revise unit designs.

• ALWAYS ASK: What keeps students most engaged in meaningful work?

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Lessons Learned About UbD

• Implementing UbD units helps me re-evaluate my priorities - throughout daily instruction!

• Emphasis is on assessment! Helps students prepare for state tests.

• Analyzing unit design and student work leads to improved curriculum.

• My curriculum is living and breathing - Never something that’s finished.

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The Key to Success!

“We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.”

-Galileo Galilei 16th century Italian scientist

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Have a Great Journey This Year!

Enjoy learning in your curriculum teams!

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