Technology Teacher 09/07/2016

• Backward Design Definition - The Glossary of Education Reform

  • is a process that educators use to design learning experiences and instructional techniques to achieve specific learning goals
  • The basic rationale motivating backward design is that starting with the end goal, rather than a starting with the first lesson chronologically delivered during a unit or course, helps teachers design a sequence of lessons, problems, projects, presentations, assignments, and assessments that result in students achieving the academic goals of a course or unit—that is, actually learning what they were expected to learn.
  • Because “beginning with the end” is often a counterintuitive process, backward design gives educators a structure they can follow when creating a curriculum and planning their instructional process.
  • The teacher then determines the formative-assessment strategies that will be used to check for understanding and progress over the duration of the unit (the term formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods—from questioning techniques to quizzes—that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course, often for the purposes of modifying lessons and teaching techniques to make them more effective).
  • Advocates typically argue that formative assessment is integral to effective backward design because teachers need to know what students are or are not learning if they are going to help them achieve the goals of a unit.
  • The teacher may then review and reflect on the prospective unit plan to determine if the design is likely to achieve the desired learning goals.
  • backward design is an attempt to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school, college, or the workplace.

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