Chapter 3: Understanding by Design

Although I have never seen it in practice, I love the idea behind Understanding by Design. At times, teachers may have difficulty finding the right activities to cover material they are teaching, and I think that UBD helps to direct teachers toward the essence of what their classrooms are all about – the desired academic outcome that students will experience. Beginning the planning process with the desired outcome in mind should help teachers mindfully direct their lessons towards this goal, so that they eliminate the busy work that students so often dislike.

However, the difficult task is actually deciding what this desired outcome should be. Of course, teachers must look at the standards set for them by their school district as well as local, state, and federal governments. Still, more thinking must take place in the teacher’s mind if his or her students are really to take something away from the class at the end of the year. The essential concerns in my mind revolve around the following questions: What did I learn in school that I actually still remember now? What can teachers do to provide lifelong knowledge – things that 10 years from now, students will still use and remember? What material is worth spending valuable instructional time on?

All curriculum requirements and government standards aside, there are things that students will benefit from learning about that should be taught in the classroom. Useful skills, valuable life lessons, and relevant content are the elements that people take away from their school years, and in my opinion, more class time should be taken up with these long-lasting learning experiences, not memorizing information or recalling facts that will be forgotten after the school year ends. The following diagram was created by UBD’s designers Wiggins and McTighe to show how teachers should prioritize their learning goals.

Wiggins and McTighe propose four questions to help teachers decide where particular pieces of information should go:

1. “To what extent does the idea, topic, or process represent a ‘big idea’ having enduring value beyond the classroom?”
2. “To what extent does the idea, topic, or process reside at the heart of the discipline?”
3. “To what extent does the idea, topic, or process require uncoverage?”
4. “To what extent does the idea, topic, or process offer potential for engaging students?"

(This information can be found at http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/teaching-for-enduring-understanding/35243)

Ultimately, teachers will have to work diligently to ensure that their students are receiving a real education where they truly benefit from each day that they spend in the classroom. Although such a task makes for many long nights of planning and a multitude of difficult decisions (and possibly conflicts with what other people want or think you should teach) finding out that students remember so much from your class must make it all worth it.