Understanding by Design

In today's educational landscape there are many teaching strategies out there. However this is not a teaching strategy, it is a is a framework for improving student achievement by structuring learning in a way that allows students to create meaningful connections. This is known by Understanding by Design (UbD) or backward design. Developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, the basis of UbD is that the teacher creates units by first designing the end of the unit or the assessment part. From here, the teacher designs the rest of lessons based on what the intended outcome is supposed to be. This is different from what most teachers do in which you design lessons first, then assess based on what you covered. It has made my assessments better as I am able to plan out my lessons better since I know what to expect at the end. I know I have not done this topic justice, so I have included four videos for you watch. The first video is by the developer Jay McTighe. Here he explains UbD. The following two are from a workshop that Grant Wiggins facilitated at the Avenues School in New York.