Understanding
by Design (UbD) is a conceptual framework for education anchored on the tenet
of teaching for understanding. Introduced by Jay McTighe and Grant P. Wiggins
in 1998, UbD espouses the process of backward design in the development of a
school curriculum.
UbD is
anchored on three points that are actually three interrelated academic goals:
acquiring knowledge, understanding content, and transferring or applying
knowledge as it is understood. UbD also expands on the “six facets of
understanding.”
This means that students,
through UbD, will be able to explain, interpret, apply, have perspective,
emphasize, and have self-knowledge about a given topic. UbD is not a new
concept; rather, it is the
coming together of several teaching approaches and strategies such as higher
order thinking skills (HOTS), constructivism, cooperative, and integrative so
students will have a deeper understanding of concepts and ideas.
UbD is all
about learning in context, as against the traditional learning in isolation. In
UbD, learners do not learn in isolation. In UbD, students learn how one concept
weaves with other concepts from the same discipline, and from other disciplines
(Integrative).
Teaching for Understanding
Teaching
for Understanding is the main tenet of UbD. In this framework, course
design, teacher and student attitudes, and the classroom learning environment
are factors not just in the learning of facts but also in the attainment of an
“understanding” of those facts, such as the application of these facts in the
context of the real world or the development of an individual’s insight
regarding these facts.
This understanding is reached
through the formulation of a “big idea”—a central idea that holds all the facts
together and makes these connected facts worth knowing. After getting to the
“big idea” students can proceed to an “understanding” or to answer an
“essential question” beyond the lessons taught.
Through a coherent curriculum
design and distinctions between “big ideas” and “essential questions,” the
students should be able to describe the goals and performance requirements of
the class. To facilitate student understanding, teachers must explain the “big
ideas” and “essential questions” as well as the requirements and evaluative
criteria at the start of the class. The classroom environment should also
encourage students to work hard to understand the “big ideas” by having an
atmosphere of respect for every student idea, including concrete manifestations
such as displaying excellent examples of student work.
Backward Design Concept
The UbD
concept of “teaching for understanding” is best exemplified by the concept of
backward design, wherein curricula are based on a desired result-an
“understanding” or a “big idea” – rather than the traditional method of
constructing the curricula, focusing on the “facts” and hoping that an
“understanding” will follow.
Backward
design as a problem-solving strategy can even be traced back to the ancient
Greeks. In his book “How to Solve it” (1945), the Hungarian mathematician
George Polya noted that the Greeks used the strategy of “thinking backward” by
knowing that you want as a solution in order to solve a problem.
Backward design is geared to
eliminate two common flaws in the traditional method: coverage-focused teaching and
activity-focused teaching. In
coverage- focused teaching, educators try to cover all topics as specified
by a textbook or teaching manual for the whole school year, but end up with
students who do not understand why they are being taught all this information.
In activity-focused teaching,
educators come up with all sorts of activities that students participate in and
enjoy, but again, students do not completely understand why. This is what
backward design aims to resolve: to make students understand and gain a deeper
insight into why they are being taught these information or made to participate
in these kind of activities.
Three steps of backward design
• Identifying desired results
• Defining acceptable evidence
• Planning learning experiences and instruction
Stage 1 – Identifying desired
results
Identifying desired results
means defining the objectives of the course/class.
Desired results cannot be just
limited to traditional parameters such as a good performance in state
assessment tests, but rather include specific goals that contribute to a deeper
understanding of a topic. One example would be the desired results from an
English literature class, in which students are not only prepared to score well
in national English proficiency exams, but also develop a love for reading and
appreciation for literature.
Stage 2 – Defining acceptable
evidence through the different types of assessment
The second
stage, defining acceptable evidence refers to the process by which the educator
will teach and gauge the level of understanding of a student. The educator should
now choose which assessment methods are suited to track the progress of a
student.
These
Assessment methods are classified by McTighe and Wiggins into three types:
performance tasks, the highest test understanding in which students are given a
real world challenge wherein they must display a critical and effective use of
the knowledge and skills learned in class; criteria referenced assessment such
as quizzes, test and prompts, which provide both instructor and students
feedback on how well the facts/concepts are being understood and unprompted
assessment or self-assessment primarily for students, such as observations and
dialogues.
Going back to the example of the English class, a teacher may ask students to create works-from a parody, and stage adaptation, or even to the extent of fan fiction – based on his/her favorite text.
Stage 3 – Planning learning
experiences and instruction,
The last stage , planning
learning experiences and instruction, details students’ activities throughout
the class, list which resources to be used and evaluates if these activities
and resources follow the WHERETO criteria.
WHERETO stands for
W= Where is the unit going? What is expected? (Students); where are
the students coming from? (Teachers)
H = Hook all students and hold their interest.
E = Equip students, help them experience the key ideas and explore
the issues. R = Provide opportunities to rethink and revise their
understandings and work. E = Allow students to evaluate their work and its
implications.
T = Be tailored to the different needs, interest, and abilities of
learners.
O =Be organized to maximize initial and sustained engagement as
well as effective learning.
The WHERETO criteria are also
the indicators to see if the course fits the idea of “teaching for
understanding.”
This can be illustrated in
some activities for the English class. For example, showing the movie
“Clueless” in class can fulfill the W, H and E criteria—W, showing and example
of creating work from a literacy source (“Clueless” is a modern adaptation of
Jane Austen’s Emma”); H, the movie hooks the attention of the students; and E,
as the students enjoy the film, they are able to experience the key idea that
literature can be enjoyed and is alive.
This does not mean, however,
that backward design does not use traditional methods of teaching. It only
spouses that traditional and alternative methods be used hand in hand, in the
appropriate contexts, to achieve the desired results.
Facets of Understanding
According to Wiggins and McTighe,
students can be said to have understanding when they:
1.
Can explain by providing thorough and
justifiable accounts of phenomena, facts and data;
2.
Can interpret by offering an individual insight
to ideas and events;
3.
Can apply and use that knowledge to diverse
contexts;
4.
Have perspective by seeing things in the context
of the big picture and viewing these critically;
5.
Can emphasize by finding value in what others
may find as implausible, basing a sensitive perception on prior direct
experience.
6.
Have a self-knowledge or self-awareness that
enables them to see what shapes and impedes their own understanding.
UbD in the Philippine Setting
Senate
Resolution 1295, filed by Senator Manuel Villar in August 2009 supports the
implementation of the UbD framework in the Basic Education Curriculum.
The UbD
framework will be formally implemented in the Philippines via the 2010
Secondary Curriculum which will be implemented starting Academic Year
2010-2011.
The 2010 curriculum is
currently under pilot testing in 22 schools all over the country. The
curriculum has included several topics that are similar to the UbD concepts
favoring the application of knowledge in real world situations.
These topics include Consumer
Education, to be applied across all subjects and intended teach students about
the 18 Fair Trade Laws, and the Stock Market Basics topic in Economics for
fourth year students.
Other
revisions in the 2010 curriculum include provisions for a Madaris and
Madrasah-based curriculum for Muslim students in schools in Mindanao, plus an
Indeginous People’s Curriculum, also to be implemented in rural areas.
On February 4-6, 2010, a National Education Conference on Understanding by Design was held at the Manila Hotel. The conference, sponsored by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education, also had a Visayas/Mindanao leg held on February 8- 10, 2010. During the conference, DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus announced that the 2010 Revised Secondary Education Curriculum (RSEC) will be rolled out this June 2010 and will be implemented initially for First Year High School Only.
Accordingly, Department of
Education representatives released the Curriculum Guides for each subject area,
together with the teaching Guides for the First quarter of First Year High
School, thus temporarily assuaging the fear of a lack of materials to use for
the implementation of UbD.
Local
educational publishers have also responded to the need for unstructional
materials aligned UbD. Textbook publishers such as Rex, Phoenix, Diwa, and Vibal
have adapted Teachers Manuals and Teaching Modules to principles and suggested
templates of UbD. Vibal has also launched A UbD website to aid educators in
understanding and implementing UbD in the Philippines.
In the summer
of 2010, the Department of Education will begin intensive mass trainings of
public school teachers all around the country for the implementation of the
2010 Secondary Education Curriculum. The Fund for assistance to Private
Education (FAPE), which has been mandated to conduct training for private
schools under the Educational Service Contracting (ESC) Educational Voucher
System (EVS) programs, has actually begun training private school teachers on
UbD and the RSEC since the summer of 2009. Other private schools are also in
the process of adapting the UbD framework in their curricula, including schools
under De La Salle Philippines and Holy Name University in Tagbilaran, Bohol.