Which of the following best explains how backward design is different from traditional planning?
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The idea of Backward Design (BD) comes from McTighe & Wiggins’ (2005) Understanding by Design. The authors suggest that educators should plan learning
experiences with the final assessment in mind. In this model, you start with the end - the desired results, goals, or standards - and then grow your curriculum from student learning called for by your assessments and the teaching needed to equip students to perform. Show Stage 1: Identify Desired Results: Identify the desired outcomes for your course. In other words, identify the knowledge and skills that students must achieve by the end of the course. Use Bloom's Taxonomy to help you construct learning objectives. Stage 2: Determine Acceptable Evidence of Learning: Determine how you will evaluate students' performance and the criteria on which students will be evaluated based off the desired results. Stage 3: Design Learning Experiences & Instruction: Design and develop learning materials and activities that help students to achieve stated learning objectives. Many instructors begin designing their courses thinking of which materials or favorite activities to use, but that leads to thinking about the teaching first. The goal of BD is to help instructors think about learning outcomes first. Wiggins & McTighe (2005) offer the following example: "The teacher might base a lesson on a particular topic (e.g., racial prejudice), select a resource (e.g., To Kill a Mocking-bird), choose specific instructional methods based on the resource and topic (e.g., Socratic seminar to discuss the book and cooperative groups to analyze stereotypical images in films and on television), and hope thereby to cause learning (and meet a few English/language arts standards). Finally, the teacher might think up a few essay questions and quizzes for assessing student understanding of the book." It’s a traditional approach, but does it lead to critical thinking/learning? In contrast, the backward design approach has instructors consider the learning goals of the course first. These learning goals embody the knowledge and skills instructors want their students to have learned when they leave the course. Once the learning goals have been established, the second stage involves consideration of assessment. The backward design framework suggests that instructors should consider these overarching learning goals and how students will be assessed prior to consideration of how to teach the content. For example, if you wanted to adapt the topic of racial prejudice to a backward design framework, you would first decide what you wanted the students to learn about racial prejudice. Then, you would formulate an essential question to guide the assessments, such as, “What is the relationship between morality, behavior, and justice?” In Stage 2, you would create the assessment based on how a student could show that they have learned the relationship between morality, behavior, and justice and are able to answer the essential question. Using To Kill a Mockingbird, you could have the students write an essay to show comprehension of the concepts within the resource or have them conduct their own mock trial with a similar court case. In Stage 3, you would finally design and develop materials and activities that help the students achieve the mastery of the essential question so they can participate effectively in the final assessment (either an essay or mock trial for this example). For this reason, backward design is considered a much more intentional approach to course design than traditional methods of design. As noted previously, there are three stages to BD. The stages are not prescriptive and do not have to be followed in exact order, but being thorough in completing the template will help you organize your design.
Students will be able to read and interpret nutrition information on food labels, analyze diets for nutritional value, plan balanced diets for themselves and others. Generally, these identified priorities contribute to your learning outcomes. Stage 2 – Determine Acceptable Evidence What authentic
tasks will students perform to demonstrate the desired understandings? What criteria will I use to judge those performances? What other evidence will demonstrate students' understanding?
How does traditional lesson plan differ from backward lesson plan?In traditional curriculum planning, a list of content that will be taught is created and/or selected. In backward design, the educator starts with goals, creates or plans out assessments and finally makes lesson plans.
What is Backwards Design in lesson planning?This type of lesson planning is called Backwards Design, a method of lesson planning that is derived from student-centric learning objectives rather than solely focusing on state and national standards.
What is the purpose of backward planning or backward design?Backward design is the process to design a lesson, unit, or course by first determining what the final outcomes are and then planning assessment strategies and finally determining methods of instruction and assignments. It allows instructors to plan lessons and courses with a focus on student learning.
What are the benefits of using the backward design in instructional planning?Backward Design helps instructors determine what material is necessary for students to meet the stated learning objectives. This makes it easier to decide what content to include and what is not as important. It is more efficient as well.
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