backward design

[tnteacher]

Is anyone familiar with the Principles of Backward Design? I have been coming across these terms on different district websites and am not sure what it is. Can anyone help?

[irish223]

Is anyone familiar with the Principles of Backward Design? I have been coming across these terms on different district websites and am not sure what it is. Can anyone help?

Very simply put, it's just a way of lesson planning that begins with identifying what your students will learn and how you will assess that learning, then planning your lesson to match your goals and assessment. There's a good overview here:
http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Planning/models/princbackdesign.htm

[jsfowler]

How else would you do it? You look at your goals and objectives, choose the best way to assess those goals and objectives and then design lessons that will help your students be successful. How else would you do it?

[irish223]

Yeah, it sounds simple, but backward design has many layers that go beyond stating a goal, choosing an assessment, and planning a lesson. That's why I began with the phrase, "Very simply put," and ended with a link to a site that outlines and explains the process.

It also isn't all that uncommon to find teachers who plan a lesson that addresses objectives, then decide on an assessment after planning the instruction. In fact, when I was studying to become a teacher, that's how lesson planning was taught.

[Clix]

Well, rather than "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop," as the King advised the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, with backward design, you think about where it is you want to end up, and make a plan for how you're going to get there.

So you ask yourself, "what do I want my students to have learned once this course/unit/chapter/etc. is finished?" Then you ask, "Okay. What can I do to measure how much of that they've learned?" You need to make your assessments match your learning goals.

Once you've done that, you make a plan for "teaching to the test," which in this case is a good thing, because you have a good test!

There's also lots of information and good linkage at the Understanding by Design wiki. You'll have to google it, because for some reason, when I try to post a link, it activates the spam filter. :mad:

[irish223]

I think you need a certain number of posts to link. Here's that lilnk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_by_Design

[Boxcar]

I guess I kind of do backward design. Never heard it called that though...