{"id":1096,"date":"2019-05-17T15:03:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T15:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/olemiss-education\/?post_type=chapter&p=1096"},"modified":"2019-05-20T16:04:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-20T16:04:06","slug":"foundational-understanding-backward-design","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/olemiss-education\/chapter\/foundational-understanding-backward-design\/","title":{"raw":"Backward Design","rendered":"Backward Design"},"content":{"raw":"Backward design<\/strong>, also called\u00a0backward planning<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0backward mapping<\/i>, is a process that educators use to design\u00a0learning experiences<\/a>\u00a0and instructional techniques to achieve specific learning goals. Backward design begins with the objectives of a unit or course\u2014what students are expected to learn and be able to do\u2014and then proceeds \u201cbackward\u201d to create lessons that achieve those desired goals. In most public schools, the educational goals of a course or unit will be a given state\u2019s\u00a0learning standards<\/a>\u2014i.e., concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education.\r\n\r\nThe basic rationale motivating backward design is that starting with the end goal, rather than a starting with the first lesson chronologically delivered during a unit or course, helps teachers design a sequence of lessons, problems, projects, presentations, assignments, and\u00a0assessments<\/a>\u00a0that result in students achieving the academic goals of a course or unit\u2014that is, actually learning what they were expected to learn.\r\n\r\nBackward design helps teachers create courses and units that are focused on the goal (learning) rather than the process (teaching). Because \u201cbeginning with the end\u201d is often a counterintuitive process, backward design gives educators a structure they can follow when creating a\u00a0curriculum<\/a>\u00a0and planning their instructional process. Advocates of backward design would argue that the instructional process should serve the goals; the goals\u2014and the results for students\u2014should not be determined by the process.\r\n\r\nWhile approaches may vary widely from school to school or teacher to teacher, a basic backward-design process might take the following form:\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. A teacher begins by reviewing the learning standards that students are expected to meet by the end of a course or grade level. In some cases, teachers will work together to create backward-designed units and courses. For a related discussion, see\u00a0common planning time<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. The teacher creates an index or list of the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts that students need to learn during a specific unit. In some cases, these academic expectations will be called\u00a0learning objectives<\/a>, among other terms.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. The teacher then designs a final test, assessment, or\u00a0demonstration of learning<\/a>\u00a0that students will complete to show that they have learned what they were expected to learn. The final assessment will measure whether and to what degree students have achieved the unit goals.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. The teacher then creates a series of lessons, projects, and supporting instructional strategies intended to progressively move student understanding and skill acquisition closer to the desired goals of the unit.<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. The teacher then determines the\u00a0formative-assessment strategies<\/a>\u00a0that will be used to check for understanding and progress over the duration of the unit (the term\u00a0formative assessment<\/i>\u00a0refers to a wide variety of methods\u2014from questioning techniques to quizzes\u2014that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course, often for the purposes of modifying lessons and teaching techniques to make them more effective). Advocates typically argue that formative assessment is integral to effective backward design because teachers need to know what students are or are not learning if they are going to help them achieve the goals of a unit.<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. The teacher may then review and reflect on the prospective unit plan to determine if the design is likely to achieve the desired learning goals. Other teachers may also be asked to review the plan and provide constructive feedback that will help improve the overall design.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n
    While backward-design strategies have a long history in education\u2014going back at least as far as the seminal work\u00a0Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction<\/i>, by\u00a0Ralph W. Tyler<\/a>, published in 1947\u2014the educators and authors\u00a0Grant Wiggins<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jay McTighe<\/a>\u00a0are widely considered to have popularized \u201cbackward design\u201d for the modern era in their book\u00a0Understanding by Design<\/i>. Since its publication in the 1990s,Understanding by Design<\/i>\u00a0has evolved in series of popular\u00a0books, videos, and other resources<\/a>.<\/div>\r\n

    Reform<\/h2>\r\nAs a strategy for designing, planning, and sequencing curriculum and instruction, backward design is an attempt to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, college, or the workplace. In other words, backward design helps educators create logical teaching progressions that move students toward achieving specific\u2014and important\u2014learning objectives. Generally speaking, strategies such as backward design are attempts to bring greater\u00a0coherence<\/a>\u00a0to the education of students\u2014i.e., to establish consistent learning goals for schools, teachers, and students that reflect the knowledge, skills, conceptual understanding, and work habits deemed to be most essential.\u00a0For a related discussion, see\u00a0curriculum mapping<\/a>.\r\n\r\nBackward design arose in tandem with the concept of learning standards, and it is widely viewed as a practical process for using standards to guide the development of a course, unit, or other learning experience. Like backward designs, learning standards are a way to promote greater consistency and commonality in what gets taught to students from state to state, school to school, grade to grade, and teacher to teacher. Before the advent of learning standards and other efforts to standardize public education, individual schools and teachers typically determined learning expectations in a given course, subject area, or grade level\u2014a situation that can, in some cases, give rise to significant educational disparities.\r\n\r\nFor related discussions, see\u00a0achievement gap<\/a>,\u00a0equity<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0high expectations<\/a>.","rendered":"

    Backward design<\/strong>, also called\u00a0backward planning<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0backward mapping<\/i>, is a process that educators use to design\u00a0learning experiences<\/a>\u00a0and instructional techniques to achieve specific learning goals. Backward design begins with the objectives of a unit or course\u2014what students are expected to learn and be able to do\u2014and then proceeds \u201cbackward\u201d to create lessons that achieve those desired goals. In most public schools, the educational goals of a course or unit will be a given state\u2019s\u00a0learning standards<\/a>\u2014i.e., concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education.<\/p>\n

    The basic rationale motivating backward design is that starting with the end goal, rather than a starting with the first lesson chronologically delivered during a unit or course, helps teachers design a sequence of lessons, problems, projects, presentations, assignments, and\u00a0assessments<\/a>\u00a0that result in students achieving the academic goals of a course or unit\u2014that is, actually learning what they were expected to learn.<\/p>\n

    Backward design helps teachers create courses and units that are focused on the goal (learning) rather than the process (teaching). Because \u201cbeginning with the end\u201d is often a counterintuitive process, backward design gives educators a structure they can follow when creating a\u00a0curriculum<\/a>\u00a0and planning their instructional process. Advocates of backward design would argue that the instructional process should serve the goals; the goals\u2014and the results for students\u2014should not be determined by the process.<\/p>\n

    While approaches may vary widely from school to school or teacher to teacher, a basic backward-design process might take the following form:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. A teacher begins by reviewing the learning standards that students are expected to meet by the end of a course or grade level. In some cases, teachers will work together to create backward-designed units and courses. For a related discussion, see\u00a0common planning time<\/a>.<\/li>\n
    2. The teacher creates an index or list of the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts that students need to learn during a specific unit. In some cases, these academic expectations will be called\u00a0learning objectives<\/a>, among other terms.<\/li>\n
    3. The teacher then designs a final test, assessment, or\u00a0demonstration of learning<\/a>\u00a0that students will complete to show that they have learned what they were expected to learn. The final assessment will measure whether and to what degree students have achieved the unit goals.<\/li>\n
    4. The teacher then creates a series of lessons, projects, and supporting instructional strategies intended to progressively move student understanding and skill acquisition closer to the desired goals of the unit.<\/li>\n
    5. The teacher then determines the\u00a0formative-assessment strategies<\/a>\u00a0that will be used to check for understanding and progress over the duration of the unit (the term\u00a0formative assessment<\/i>\u00a0refers to a wide variety of methods\u2014from questioning techniques to quizzes\u2014that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course, often for the purposes of modifying lessons and teaching techniques to make them more effective). Advocates typically argue that formative assessment is integral to effective backward design because teachers need to know what students are or are not learning if they are going to help them achieve the goals of a unit.<\/li>\n
    6. The teacher may then review and reflect on the prospective unit plan to determine if the design is likely to achieve the desired learning goals. Other teachers may also be asked to review the plan and provide constructive feedback that will help improve the overall design.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      While backward-design strategies have a long history in education\u2014going back at least as far as the seminal work\u00a0Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction<\/i>, by\u00a0Ralph W. Tyler<\/a>, published in 1947\u2014the educators and authors\u00a0Grant Wiggins<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jay McTighe<\/a>\u00a0are widely considered to have popularized \u201cbackward design\u201d for the modern era in their book\u00a0Understanding by Design<\/i>. Since its publication in the 1990s,Understanding by Design<\/i>\u00a0has evolved in series of popular\u00a0books, videos, and other resources<\/a>.<\/div>\n

      Reform<\/h2>\n

      As a strategy for designing, planning, and sequencing curriculum and instruction, backward design is an attempt to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, college, or the workplace. In other words, backward design helps educators create logical teaching progressions that move students toward achieving specific\u2014and important\u2014learning objectives. Generally speaking, strategies such as backward design are attempts to bring greater\u00a0coherence<\/a>\u00a0to the education of students\u2014i.e., to establish consistent learning goals for schools, teachers, and students that reflect the knowledge, skills, conceptual understanding, and work habits deemed to be most essential.\u00a0For a related discussion, see\u00a0curriculum mapping<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      Backward design arose in tandem with the concept of learning standards, and it is widely viewed as a practical process for using standards to guide the development of a course, unit, or other learning experience. Like backward designs, learning standards are a way to promote greater consistency and commonality in what gets taught to students from state to state, school to school, grade to grade, and teacher to teacher. Before the advent of learning standards and other efforts to standardize public education, individual schools and teachers typically determined learning expectations in a given course, subject area, or grade level\u2014a situation that can, in some cases, give rise to significant educational disparities.<\/p>\n

      For related discussions, see\u00a0achievement gap<\/a>,\u00a0equity<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0high expectations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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      Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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      CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div>