Question

What are the three stages of Understanding by Design (UbD)? How would these stages affect your curriculum development?

Answer 1

Understanding by Design is created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, this is a book that provides a framework to the educator to design a curriculum backward that is called Backward Design. In a usual course an instructor or an educator design curriculum in a forward design, In UbD method of teaching the instructors consider the learning goals of the course first. In backward design teaching, the course should be logically inferred to get a proper result and students should be informed about the assessment pattern When the goal is fixed the concentration is given to the lesson and units and the curriculum is set with the result to achieve the goal sought.

The three stages are 1. Identify the desired result 2. Determine Assessment or acceptable evidence, 3.plan learning experience, and evidence,

1. Under stage one that is Identify the desired result in this, the instructor considers the goal of the course or lesson or unit and how they hope students will be able to use what they learn in the unit or in the sessions, the instructor to focus on more important knowledge, the knowledge, and skills that are important to know and do. The educator or the instructor is responsible for selecting the course keeping in mind the ability of the student and his grasping power.

2. Under stage two that is Determine Assessment or acceptable evidence, at this stage, the instructor asses the students understanding and the way they are going to assess the student that depends upon the performance or task have been completed in order to show his understanding. Those results or his achievement helps the instructor to understand how much the student has understood about achieving his goal. At this stage, a wide range of assessment method is used like projects, Homework, practice problem, group projects teamwork or quiz, these multiple methods give the depth of students understanding.

3. Under stage three that is plan learning experience and evidence, the teacher begins to consider how he is going to teach the students contributing the knowledge and skill the teacher has to the students. The student should acquire and demonstrate the acquired knowledge.

There are several benefits of this method 1. The goal is fixed beforehand, 2. The instructor/ educator focused primarily on student learning and understanding.3. When the instructor/ teacher design a program different activities are taken into consideration as a teaching process.4. As the goal is fixed at the beginning of the teaching session, both the teacher and the students act together to achieve the goal. Thus the learning and teaching become successful and comfortable.