Understanding by Design

The best way to learn some of the pros of Understanding by Design (UBD) is to know what exactly UBD is. UBD, also known as “backwards design”, was designed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. It sets the framework for helping students to achieve. This design is broken down into a three-stage curriculum that focuses on teachers planning backwards. The first stage is“Identify desired results”. This entails that the teachers think about what they want the end goal to be, essential question, and big ideas. The second stage is “Determine acceptable evidence”. This includes summary assessments and determining what forms of assessment are necessary to determine how successful the students learned and understood the material. The third stage is “Plan learning experiences and instruction”. This involves considering how to differentiate and develop the learning plan. It also includes what order the teaching and learning will be performed to allow the students to learn and understand the best they can.

According to Authentic Education (http://www.authentic education.org),
Understanding by Design is based on the following ideas:
- A primary goal of education should be the development and deepening of student Understanding
- Students reveal their understanding most effectively when they are provided with complex, authentic opportunities to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and self-assess. When applied to complex tasks, these "six facets" provide a conceptual lens through which teachers can better assess student understanding.
- Effective curriculum development reflects a three-stage design process called "backward
design" that delays the planning of classroom activities until goals have been clarified and assessments designed. This process helps to avoid the twin problems of "textbook coverage" and
"activity-oriented" teaching, in which no clear priorities and purposes are apparent.
- Student and school performance gains are achieved through regular reviews of results (achievement data and student work) followed by targeted adjustments to curriculum and instruction. Teachers become most effective when they seek feedback from students and their peers and use that feedback to adjust approaches to design and teaching.

Teachers, schools, and districts benefit by "working smarter" through the collaborative design,
sharing, and peer review of units of study. It is important to remember that the focus of UBD is understanding, not just teaching according to the books and passing standardized test. Teaching according to the tests is like only practicing to pass a physical. UBD is also a way to help teachers with common lesson plan issues.