Understanding

 by  Design    

A  very  brief  introduc5on  

Dr.  Petrosino  
October  21,  2010  
 What  is  it?    
•  Defined  by  Wiggins  and  McTighe,  
Understanding  by  Design  is  a  "framework  for  
designing  curriculum  units,  performance  
assessments,  and  instruc5on  that  lead  your  
students  to  deep  understanding  of  the  content  
you  teach,”UbD  expands  on  "six  facets  of  
understanding",  which  include  students  being  
able  to  explain,  interpret,  apply,  have  
perspec5ve,  empathize,  and  have  self-­‐
knowledge  about  a  given  topic  
 Backward  Design  
•  Understanding  by  Design  relies  on  what  Wiggins  
and  McTighe  call  "backward  design"  (also  known  
as  "backwards  planning").  
Teachers,  according  to  UbD  proponents,  
tradi5onally  start  curriculum  planning  with  
ac5vi5es  and  textbooks  instead  of  iden5fying  
classroom  learning  goals  and  planning  towards  
that  goal.  In  backward  design,  the  teacher  starts  
with  classroom  outcomes  and  then  plans  the  
curriculum,  choosing  ac5vi5es  and  materials  that  
help  determine  student  ability  and  foster  student  
learning  
 Teaching  for  Understanding    
•  "Teaching  for  understanding"  is  another  central  premise  of  
Understanding  by  Design.  It  should  be  evident  in  course  design,  
teacher  and  student  aQtudes,  and  the  classroom  learning  
environment.    
•  There  should  be  coherent  curriculum  design  and  clear  dis5nc5ons  
between  big  ideas  and  essen5al  ques5ons.    
•  Teachers  should  tell  students  about  big  ideas  and  essen5al  
ques5ons,  performance  requirements,  and  evalua5ve  criteria  at  the  
beginning  of  the  unit  or  course.    
•  Students  should  be  able  to  describe  the  goals  (big  ideas  and  
essen5al  ques5ons)  and  performance  requirements  of  the  unit  or  
course.    
•  The  classroom  learning  environment  should  have  high  expecta5ons  
and  incen5ves  for  all  students  to  come  to  understand  the  big  ideas  
and  answer  the  essen5al  ques5ons  
 What  it  is  not  
•  The  proponents  of  UbD  clarifies  that:  
1.  "It  is  not  a  prescrip5ve  program.”  
•   
2.  "It  is  not  a  philosophy  of  educa5on,  nor  does  it  require  a  belief  in  any  single  
pedagogical  system  or  approach.”  
•   
3.  "It  is  focused  on  the  design  of  curricular  units  (as  opposed  to  individual  lesson  
plans  or  broader  programs)."  The  authors  have  discouraged  the  applica5on  of  UbD  
approach  to  a  system  of  daily  lesson  planning  although  it  seems  to  be  a  natural  
way  to  proceed.  In  the  book,  they  provided  examples  on  why  they  discourage  it.  
•   
4.  "Although  teaching  for  understanding  is  a  vital  aim  in  schooling,  it  is  just  one  of  
the  many.  There  are  cases  when  'understanding'  is  neither  feasible  nor  desirable.  
The  developmental  level  of  students  will  determine  the  extent  to  which  
conceptualiza5on  is  appropriate;  at  other  5mes,  it  will  make  in-­‐depth  
understanding  a  lesser  or  tangen5al  goal.”  
•   
5.  The  no5on  is  "built  upon  the  condi5onal  premise:  IF  you  wish  to  develop  greater  
in-­‐depth  understanding  in  your  students,  then  the  ideas  &  processes  of  
understanding  by  Design  apply."