\u201cTeaching is a means to an end. \u00a0Having a clear goal helps us educators to focus our planning and guide purposeful action toward the intended results.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In their excellent book, Understanding by Design<\/em>, Wiggins and McTighe propose the \u201cBackward Design<\/em>\u201d framework for course design. This framework is \u201cbackward\u201d only to the extent that it reverses the typical approach, so that the primary focus of course design becomes the desired learning outcomes. Only when one knows exactly what one wants students to learn should the focus turn toward consideration of the best methods for teaching the content, and meeting those learning goals.<\/p>\n See also: Instructional Design Models and Theories<\/a><\/p>\n The Backward Design approach consists of three phases: identify the desired outcomes; determine the acceptable criteria for evaluating students\u2019 progress; <\/em>and plan the instructional methodologies<\/em>. For each of these phases, there are a number of benchmarks to help guide the course design process.<\/p>\n In order to define the goals or learning outcomes for the course, you will need to formulate a clear idea of what students should know, understand, and\/or be capable of doing. In addition, it is helpful to ask yourself what the impact of the course will be on students, and how you hope they will be different by the end of it.<\/p>\n In defining specific course goals, many teachers make use of A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing (Anderson, Krathwohl, 2001) as a guide. This taxonomy describes cognitive learning processes with respect to increasing levels of abstraction and complexity, from basic to advanced, around which goals can be organized.<\/p>\n In addition to these guidelines, it is also helpful to categorize the goals you have for the course in order of importance. The reason for this is because within the limits of the course, such as time, it is likely that you will need to prioritize certain goals over others to ensure that the most important learning outcomes are achieved. To help you define the curricular priorities for the course, Wiggins and McTighe suggest the following three questions to help you progressively narrow in on and define the most important content areas.<\/p>\n Identifying where various aspects of your course content fit within these three categories will help you clarify the specific, concrete learning outcomes that you have for your students, and will also help you decide how to structure the course to assist your students in achieving these goals.<\/p>\n This phase is essentially a way of helping you structure evaluative strategies into the course design so that you are able to gauge students\u2019 progress towards the desired learning outcomes. In other words, this phase is intended to help you determine what criteria you will use to evaluate how well students are \u201cgetting it,\u201d and what evidence you will accept with respect to evaluating their individual progress in mastering the course content.<\/p>\n There are, of course, numerous evaluative methods (i.e. essays, term papers, quizzes, lab projects etc.) that can give you feedback on students\u2019 progress, knowledge, and skill level. However, not all of them are appropriate for every type of course, \u00a0\u00a0and knowledge. However, not all of them will be appropriate for every course, so it is important to choose those that align most closely with your learning goals, so that you can be sure you are testing for exactly what you want them to learn.<\/p>\n For instance, if a high priority goal of the course is to help students develop their problem-solving skills, an assessment designed to demonstrate these skills by having them write down the steps they took in resolving a problem, or an explanation of how they would approach an abstract problem (and why) will provide you with good insight into how skillful they are becoming at using problem-solving tools and strategies. On the other hand, if one of your important goals is to help students develop their ability to master mechanical tools, a problem-solving test may not provide you with the type of evidence of progress that you require.<\/p>\n It is worthwhile to keep in mind that certain teaching methods, such as lectures, facilitate learning at the more basic end of the taxonomy spectrum, while problem-solving, writing, and interactive strategies such as discussions and debates, encourage higher-order learning processes, such as analysis and evaluation. In choosing the strategies for your course, then, it is important to consider the levels of thinking, understanding, and reasoning that will best serve your desired learning goals for the course.<\/p>\n Once you have clearly defined and prioritized your goals for the course, and have decided on how you will evaluate students\u2019 progress toward achieving them, the final step is to plan the instructional strategies and methodologies you will use in teaching the course. The most important question at this stage is \u201cHow can I create a learning experience for students that encourages them to engage with the content so that they are truly learning, and not simply passing assessments through rote memorization?\u201d<\/p>\n Again, there are numerous strategies for enhancing students\u2019 learning experience, and again, the ones you choose should align well with the goals you\u2019ve defined for the course. For instance, exercises that are active and collaborative allow students to explore new concepts and idea in a relaxed way that encourages them to \u201cown\u201d them. Exercises designed to allow students to practice using new knowledge, or gain new skills, will give them a sense of mastery over the content that mere memorization cannot. Posing hypothetical questions or problems designed to allow students to apply new knowledge, or to practice newly acquired skills, will give them a sense of mastery that mere memorization cannot.<\/p>\n We suggest that the Backward Design framework (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) represents a more effective approach to both course design and redesign, and is appropriate regardless of whether the course takes the form of a lecture, discussion, or lab. The Backward Design framework puts student learning outcomes at the center, and offers teachers the flexibility to structure both the learning experience and the evaluative tools used to gauge students\u2019 progress, so that they align appropriately with the course content, and so that they foster desirable learning outcomes.<\/p>\nStages of backward design<\/h2>\n
![\"backward](\"https:\/\/educationaltechnology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/backward-design.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI. Identify the desired outcomes<\/h3>\n
![\"stage](\"https:\/\/educationaltechnology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/desired-results.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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II. Determine appropriate criteria for evaluating students\u2019 progress<\/h3>\n
![\"assessment](\"https:\/\/educationaltechnology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/backward-design-assesment.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIII. Plan the instructional methodology and learning experience<\/h3>\n
Forward Design Process vs Backward Design Process<\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/educationaltechnology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Screen-Shot-2017-10-15-at-8.07.21-PM.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"The](\"https:\/\/educationaltechnology.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Screen-Shot-2017-10-15-at-8.17.07-PM.jpg\")
<\/a>Backward Course Design<\/h2>\n