The document discusses the key concepts of backward design and Understanding by Design (UbD). It explains the three stages of backward design: 1) identify desired results, including establishing goals, desired understandings, essential questions, knowledge, and skills; 2) determine acceptable evidence, such as performance tasks and other assessments; and 3) plan learning experiences and instruction. It provides guidance on unpacking standards and objectives, identifying big ideas and essential questions, and crafting understandings, knowledge, and skills. The document also discusses the six facets of understanding that can be used to design assessments and ensure true understanding rather than just knowledge.

1. Understanding by Design
Gaining Clarity on Our Goals

2. How to Use Backward Design –
Stage 1
 Use national, state, or provincial content standards
as a starting point.
 “Unpack” the nouns and verbs in the standards to
point to the “big ideas”. Stated or implied Big Ideas
in the Nouns and Adjectives. Stated or implied realworld performances in the verbs.
 Use the template as a tool for developing a
coherent, purposeful, and efficient design for
learning.

3. NETS for Students
http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007

5. Big Ideas…
 It’s the central and organizing notion.
 It’s the core idea in a subject
 It has lasting value and transfers to other
inquiries and requires uncovering because it
is not obvious.

6. Essential Questions…
 Have no simple ‘right answer; they are meant
to be argued and discussed (discovered,
uncovered)
 Designed to provoke and sustain inquiry
 Often address the foundational or historical
issues of a subject
 Lead to more questions
 Naturally come back again when learning
 Encourage ongoing re-thinking of big ideas,
assumptions, prior learning (transference…)
 Could be overarching or topical

7. Understandings…
 Frame the desired understanding as a full-sentence
generalization in response to the phrase, “Students
will understand that…”
 Beware of stating an understanding as a truism or
vague generality. (Triangles have 3 sides – truism or
vague generality?- The U.S. is a complex country –
truism or vague generality?) – Check to see your
stated understandings don’t end with an adjective
(i.e. fractions are important)
 Avoid the phrase, “Students will understand how
to…”
 “Understanding is the ability to transfer learning to
new, different, and unique experiences” - Wiggins

8. Big Ideas, Understandings, and
Essential Questions
Big Idea
Topic or
Content Standard
Understanding
Understanding
Essential
Essential
Question
Question

9. Knowledge…
What we want students to know
 Vocabulary
 Terminology
 Definitions
 Key factual information
 Formulas
 Critical details
 Important events and people
 Sequence and timeline

10. Skills…
What we want students to be able to do
 Basic skills – decoding, arithmetic
computation
 Communication skills – listening, speaking,
writing
 Thinking skills – compare, infer, analyze,
interpret
 Research, inquiry, investigation skills
 Study skills – notetaking
 Interpersonal group skills

11. Unpacking Goals – Method 1
Established Goals: 1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct
knowledge, and develop innovative products and
processes using technology.
Stated or Implied BIG IDEAS
In the NOUNS and ADJECTIVES:
Understandings:
Students will understand that…
Knowledge:
What we want students to know…
Stated or Implied real-world
Performances in the VERBS:
Essential Questions:
Skills:
What we want students to do…
Performance Task Ideas:

12. Stage 1 – Desired Results
Applying Differentiation to the
UbD Framework
Establish Goal (Content Standards)
Should not be differentiated
Understandings
Essential Questions
Knowledge
Skill
May be differentiated
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks
Other Evidence
Key Criteria
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Should be differentiated

13. Six Facets of
Understanding
What to assess?

14. The argument for performance assessment
as a necessity, not a luxury……
“Students must perform
effectively with knowledge
to convince us that they
really understand what
quizzes and short-answer
tests only suggest they
get”

16. Transfer: the link
The six facets link the stages
Use
the six facets as the
test of whether you are
truly measuring
“understanding” of the big
ideas/essential questions

17. Explanation
Insightful connections and
illustrations
Require students to explain
what they know and good
reasons in support of it
Explain “why” it is correct

18. Interpretation: what does it
mean?
Show significance
Reveal importance
Recognize relevance

19. Application: use knowledge
effectively
“show understanding by
using it, adapting it,
customizing it”
New situations, realistic
context

20. Perspective: critical and
insightful points of view
Casting familiar ideas in a
new light
Expose questionable and
unexamined assumptions

21. Empathy: walk in another’s
shoes
Ability to get inside another
person’s feelings and
viewpoint
Differs from perspective
Inside versus outside view

22. Self-knowledge: Wisdom to
know one’s ignorance
How thoughts and actions
inform as well as prejudice
understanding
Must first understand
ourselves before we
understand the world