Backwards Design Info-graphic

• Benefits of student centric learning - development of problem solving skills, enables personalized learning, and promotes collaboration.
• Wiggins and McTighe fear teachers focus too much on teaching and not enough on learning.

Backwards Design

Example

• Founders: Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
• Grant Wiggins wrote extensively about the benefits and theories behind Backwards Design in his book, "Understanding by Design."

• A teacher comes up with some goals for their students. The teacher's main goal is for the students to identify the political differences between the three phases of Roman civilization.
• Traditionally, this sort of lesson would end with an exam asking to identify the political differences bewtween the the three phases of Rome, but instead, backwards design dictates that the students will come up with a model that exhibits the major differences on their own. The teacher can scaffold the students' research by providing them with a museum walk filled with relevant content.

Overview

Backwards design is a design method that identifies goals prior to creating lessons, cirriculum, content, assessments, and teaching methods. The identified goals inspire how content, cirriculum, assessments, and teaching methods will be utilized.

Strengths

• Student Centered Learning
• More focus on learning, less on teaching
• Helps to establish focus and purpose prior to creating instructional materials
• Not focused on covering large amounts of content at one time.

Founders and Proponents

Description of What Grounds the Model

Sources

Relevance and Shortcomings for My Work Context

• Makes assumption that students will comprehend self-explored content
• Potentially less room for differentiation
• Assumes all students will benefit from reaching same goal

Larson, M. B., & Lockee, B. B. (2020). Chapter 7 Design Outcomes and Alignment. In Streamlined ID: A practical guide to instructional design. essay, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Mcdaniel, R. (1970, June 10). Understanding by design. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved February 12, 2023, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/#benefits Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2008). Understanding by design. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

• Backwards design works great for secondary education professionals. It allows for student centered learning, which meets the new NYS learning standards, gives the teacher a more focused approach for what the learning goals are, Most public schools want to see learning objectivers posted in the front of the classroom and see engaging student centered learning environments.

Backwards Design

Weakness