Understanding by Design (UbD)

Last call for boarding! As an avid traveler, these words are truly music to my ears any time I hear them because they indicate that I will soon be transported to my next destination to explore a whole new world of sights, history, and even languages, cultures, and cuisines (when I’m feeling fancy!). But how do I get to this point? Do I just hop on a plane, train, or bus without paying and say “take me to your next stop”? No, of course not! There is a lot of important planning I have to do beforehand to make my travel dreams come true. The first of these steps is to...well, decide where I am going! Before I can pick a travel date, buy a ticket, choose activities to do, or even decide which outfits to wear, I first have to know the destination to which I am traveling. Knowing my destination first allows me to decide the most appropriate and effective steps I need to take to get there and how to continue my journey even after I arrived at my destination. Makes sense, right? Well, effective course design and planning in education works in a similar manner. The 3 Column Table and Understanding by Design (UbD) course design models demonstrate how starting from the end goal(s) and working backwards helps develop a course that is intentional and, thus, very powerful.

In my experiences designing courses with both the 3 Column Table and UbD, I was able to notice many similarities between the two methods. When designing courses with a 3 Column Table model, the first step I had to take was to establish a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” or “BHAG”. This is the overall broad goal I want learners to achieve once they have completed the unit or course. It acts as the destination I want my learners to reach. From here, I worked backwards to establish learning goals that would help my students reach this overall goal. Then, I determined which assessments aligned with the learning goals I established and, finally, which activities students could engage in that would align with the assessments. In other words, establishing a BHAG first created a sort of trickle down effect in my course design process which resulted in the formation of a very strong course because every learning goal, activity, and assessment is aligned to reach the major end goal. Similarly, with the UbD course design model, I had to determine the desired results for the course first. These came from the content standards established by my state. Once these goals were established, I worked backwards to determine acceptable evidence of learning for these goals and which activities would allow students to attain the knowledge and skills necessary to demonstrate understanding sought after in the learning goals. Therefore, with the UbD model, all of the learning content is, once again, aligned to meet the goals established from the beginning.

Although I witnessed many similarities between 3 Column Table and Ubd course design models during my course design experience, I did notice one major difference. The most pronounced difference I noticed between these two course design models is the level of detail involved in creating them. The 3 Column Table is a broader course design model. It is concerned with the “big picture” goals and the major skills, knowledge, and experience learners need to have to achieve that goal. The UbD course design model, on the other hand, is very detailed. Unlike the 3 Column Table, it is concerned with every step that should be taken for learners to develop a true understanding of the learning goal (s).

After working with both of these course design models, I cannot say that I favored one over the other. I can see the value of each one. However, I think there are definitely particular situations when one may be more desirable to use than the other. Because of its broad, “big picture” nature, I believe the 3 Column Table would be much more beneficial when designing a course around the completion of a major project or activity. The UbD course design model, because of its detailed outline and goals, I believe would be more beneficial to utilize when designing a course whose main objective is for learners to gain understanding of certain concepts. When I begin my implementation plan, this will be a major project that aims to completely change the educational set up on my campus by creating significant learning environments. However, within my implementation process, I will also need to perform certain tasks (as indicated on my six sources of influence matrix) to achieve the smaller goal of getting my colleagues to understand the relevance, importance, and need for my innovation plan on campus. Therefore, I think the ideal design for my implementation plan would be a combination of both design models. I would utilize the 3 Column Table to focus on the major steps I need to take to successfully implement my plan and use the UbD model to help me focus on the specific tasks I need to have my colleagues perform in order for them to understand the importance of my innovation plan.

REFERENCES

(1997). Texas essential knowledge and skills for kindergarten-grade 12 : 19 TAC Chapter 111, mathematics. Austin, Tex. :Texas Education Agency.

Harapnuik, D. (n.d.). Disruptive innovation in tech EDLD-5305. Retrieved from https://luonline.blackboard.com/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp?course_id=_154176_1

Harapnuik, D. (2015, August 15). Connecting the dots vs collecting the dots. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=85XpexQy68g Harapnuik, D. (2016, June 16). Mapping your learner’s journey.

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Harapnuik, D. (2017, October 31). Csle + cova explained. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6988

Fink, L.D. (2003) A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Finks Taxonomy [Spiral graphic]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.byui.edu/outcomes-and-assessment-old/the-basics/step-1-articulate-outcomes/dee-finks-taxonomy-of-significant-learning

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2006) Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development ASCD.