- Backward Design
Backward Design is a method of designing pedagological curriculum by setting goals before choosing activities or content to teach. The idea is to teach towards those goals, which ensures that the content taught remains focused and organized, promoting a better understanding for students.
Backward Design challenges the traditional methods of
curriculum planning. In traditional curriculum planning, one sits down and write down the list of content that will be taught. In backward design, one starts with goals, then assessments and finally lesson plans. A metaphor used by proponents of backward design is a roadSteps of Backward Design
Established Goals
First the educator chooses the goals of the curriculum or the unit to be taught. This is divided in 5 sections:
# The established goals (usually national or local standards to meet)
# The essential questions to consider
# The enduring understandings that students should have (Students will understand...)
# Content knowledge acquired (Students will know...)
# Skills acquired (Students will be able to...)Assessment
The second part of curriculum planning with backward design is finding an assessment. This is usually the most difficult part for traditional educators switching to backward design because it is hard to conceptualize an assessment before deciding on lessons. The idea is that the assessment (formative and summative) should meet the goals set in the first section. This is to avoid assessing something that was not a goal and ensure that the goals are assessed. A metaphor to illustrate the reason for putting the assessment second could be to avoid soccer practice to prepare a team for a basketball tournament. Coaches would not deny the value of soccer practice, but it is clear that it does not fit the goals set out by the team. In backward design, educators approach the situation in very much the same way
Learning Plan
Finally, educators list the essential questions to be considered in individual lessons or unit (in the case of a curriculum planning). This ensure that lessons and units flow towards the goals set in the first section and learning and understanding is assessed properly.
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