Understanding by Design: Teaching framework

Mariett L. Bergantin

“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” (Covey, 1994)

Effective and engaging pedagogy coupled with meaningful assessment of student performance amounts to effective learning. This paradigm is espoused by Understanding By Design (UBD). Understanding by design is not a teaching method teaching framework, which is not a teaching method or pedagogy, rather it is a framework developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe which aims to improve student’s learning performance.

Traditionally, teaching starts from setting learning goals and ends in assessment which is according to the content of textbooks and Learning Competencies (PSSLC) specified by Department of Education following the Revised Basic Education Curriculum. With the new framework, Ubd focuses on the “backward design process” of presenting material and assessment. The idea of planning “backward” is emphasized by starting from results or outcomes and then proceeds to goals/objectives. The process focuses on how the student will have deeper understanding by identifying what the student know already and what the student need to know. The teacher’s role then is two-fold: as a designer and as a coach/facilitator. As a designer, the teacher design or plan student learning and teaching methods at the same time facilitates the learning process in classroom. The new framework forces the teacher to be creative thinkers and designers in what she wanted for her students to learn/know and what she expect her student to do/perform on the said lesson. This minimizes the problem of “textbook coverage” and rote memorization.

Wiggins and McTighe provide a useful process for establishing curricular priorities. They suggest you ask yourself three questions as you progressively focus in on the most valuable content:

1. What should participants hear, read, view, explore or otherwise encounter?   This knowledge is “worth being familiar with.”
2. What knowledge and skills should participants master?  Sharpen your choices by considering what is “important to know and do” for your students.  What facts, concepts and principles should they know?  What processes, strategies and methods should they learn to use?
3. What are big ideas and important understandings participants should retain?  These choices are the “enduring understandings” that you want students to remember after they’ve forgotten the details of the course.

The second part of the backward design process deals with the construction of suitable assessment methods. This will be covered in the second part of this article.

References

Wiggins, G. and McTighe J.. Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd Edition. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2005.p 242.

Note:
Mariett L. Bergantin obtained a Masters degree in Physics Education from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2010. Her research interests are geared towards curriculum and instruction. She is currently affiliated with the Basic Education Department, Colegio de San Juan de Letran.