Tuesday, 22 September 2015

Introduction & Backward Design

I decided to create a wordcloud that represented the concepts and ideas that best sumarize the first two readings (Introduction and Chapter 1 on Backward Design). 
Wh questions represent the questions we should ask ourselves when teaching and planning. However, according to the author, we should start designing our classes with the question why. Why understanding what students are asked to understand,  why are students doing things, what for, etc.

Backward design would be a goal-oriented approach, in which teachers plan their classes with a specific objective in mind. The three steps given in this chapter are achievable and easy to apply, and much more importantly, make perfect sense together.

I created a graphic version of what I understood from these chapters:

The blue sequence is what the author traduces as the traditional method when planning a class. Teachers first think of the topic/content they are going to teach, then decide on the materials/methods they are using to finally decide what students will do.

The green graph instead, represents the author's proposal: Backward Design. The idea is to first identify what teachers want students to learn/know/understand and why (What is this lesson for?, what do I think students should learn? why are students supposed to learn/know this?), then what are the expected results/evidence from that to finally plan their lessons.

It's always difficult to go out from our comfort zone and decide to change the way we do things. However, as the text suggests at the beginning, there are things we need to consider before planning the method we are going to use. There will always be constraints and other macro factors that seem to limit/shape our teaching practices, but thinking out of the box and trying new things in our micro-context is always an experience to keep learning/practicing.



3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. It's good that you created the word cloud; my brain was melting a little because of the amount of concepts reviewed om UbD's introduction + Ch 1.

    I've never thought of myself as a designer; I suppose teaching is a lot more than this "coverage-oriented" approach described by the authors. In this sense, I consider you are right when you say that "teachers plan their classes with a specific objective in mind" in this backward design. Since teachers are designers, shouldn't we then be the first ones to have a clear idea of our goals?

    It's worth repeating; stepping out the comfort zone shouldn't be comfortable.

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  3. I liked the word cloud and comparative chart that you created to summarize the main ideas in the introduction and chapter 1. However, I think that traditional teachers do plan their courses based on objectives and not only topics/contents as described by you in the traditional model. This objectives are most of the time taken from the oficial curriculum. The problem, though, is that teachers move directly to selecting materials and planning activities instead of designing assessment instruments that would show clear evidence of the objective being achieved by their students.

    I agree with you that teachers need to be able to step out of their comfort zones and explore new ways of planning their courses. The authors said that much of what their propose is regarded as common sense but still teachers struggle when putting UbD into practice.

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