Course Planning

What is Backwards Design?

Backwards Design, also referred to as Understanding by Design, is a learner-centered approach to teaching wherein the instructor starts with the desired outcomes and then designs the course around those outcomes. This is different than a traditional approach where an instructor bases the course upon a textbook or starts with the content. 

Instead of focusing on covering a certain amount of information over the duration of a course,—or even an individual lesson—Backwards Design  starts by identifying the desired results and learning outcomes an instructor hopes to achieve or impart and uses that information to plan their course structure, lessons, and assessments.

The framework behind Understanding by Design was published by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in Understanding by Design (1997, 2005). In it, they identify the three key stages of UbD:

1. Identify desired results. What are your goals for the course? What learning outcomes are you hoping to have your students achieve? What information is crucial for students to walk away from the course or lesson with?
2. Determine acceptable evidence. How will you assess student learning? What assessments or other documentation will you incorporate into the course or lesson to evaluate students' understanding of the material?
3. Plan learning experiences and instruction. How will you impart this information to students? What teaching methods will you use? Where should you use direct instruction or participatory activities?

The videos below provide more information about Backwards Design and its importance in the course development process.