Education Atlas

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Learning Theory and Concepts

Understanding by Design

Also Known As Backward Design
Backward Design Framework

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Understanding by Design, often called backward design, is a curriculum planning framework developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe and published in 1998. It reverses the usual order of lesson planning: rather than starting from a textbook or a sequence of activities, a teacher first identifies the understanding students should walk away with and the essential questions that frame it, then decides how that understanding will be assessed, and only then designs the specific learning activities that will get students there. The framework's central test of real understanding is transfer, whether a student can apply what was learned to an unfamiliar situation, rather than merely reproduce it on a test resembling the ones practiced in class.

Facts
Core Claim
Curriculum is best designed backward from the understanding students should demonstrate and how that understanding will be assessed, rather than forward from a sequence of textbook content or activities. 1
Origin Year
1998 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Developed By

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Understanding by Design
Wikimedia FoundationDefinition / Three-Stage Process
Quote, Definition / Three-Stage Process
UbD is an educational theory for curriculum design where planners look at desired outcomes to design curriculum units, assessments, and instruction.
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1. Wikipedia: Understanding by Design
Wikimedia FoundationCore Principle
Quote, Core Principle
If a student is able to transfer the skills they learn in the classroom to unfamiliar situations, they are said to truly understand.
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1. Wikipedia: Understanding by Design
Wikimedia FoundationDevelopers & Timeline
Quote, Developers & Timeline
It is advocated by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their Understanding by Design (1998), published by ASCD.
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1. Wikipedia: Understanding by Design
Wikimedia FoundationDeveloped By: Grant WigginsView the Source
1. Wikipedia: Understanding by Design
Wikimedia FoundationDeveloped By: Jay McTigheView the Source
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