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Week 2 Assignment #3

What is Backward Design?

Backward Design is an approach to creating curriculum, subjects, and even single class sessions that treat the goal of teaching as not merely covering a certain amount of content, but also facilitating student learning. 

Backward Design prioritizes the intended learning outcomes instead of the topics to be covered. It means planning instruction with the end goals in mind. The Backward Design framework was developed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins.

How is UbD different from what you may already know about curriculum design?

Understanding by Design, or UbD, is an educational planning approach. UbD is an example of Backward Design, the practice of looking at the outcomes in order to design curriculum units, performance assessments, and classroom instruction. UbD focuses on teaching to achieve understanding.

The main difference between UbD and conventional curriculum design is that UbD includes understanding and essential questions for students whereas the latter does not.

UbD creates an organized system for designing instruction and provides a clear expectation of student learning. This structure promotes a well thought out lesson from the instructor, thus promoting student achievement and mastery of understanding.


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