Angélica Padrón
Understanding by desing
Understanding by Design (UbD) is an educational framework created by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe that focuses on curriculum planning with a clear emphasis on desired learning outcomes. The approach encourages educators to begin with the end goals in mind, ensuring that teaching is purposeful and aligned with student understanding. By identifying key concepts and skills, determining appropriate assessments, and planning engaging learning experiences, UbD promotes deeper learning and critical thinking. This method aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of the material, moving beyond rote memorization to enable students to apply their knowledge meaningfully.
As educators, we play a crucial role in providing our students with the best strategies to promote learning. To create a productive and engaging learning environment, it is essential to emphasize student-centered activities, including inquiry-based learning, that allow students to interact with hands-on activities; encourage collaboration through group projects to promote social skills; and the implementation of blended learning to tailor our students’ needs.
Using Fink’s 3-column table and the UbD template, I recognized the importance of establishing learning objectives, student learning outcomes, activities, and assessments to ensure everything is aligned and that I keep my focus on what is essential.
After completing worksheets one and two, I found the three-column table very useful. It provides a comprehensive overview of the objectives needed to accomplish across the six dimensions:
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Foundational knowledge
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Application
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Integration
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Human Dimension
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Caring
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Learning How to Learn
The Understanding by Design Framework, as outlined by McTighe and Wiggins (2005), offers a structured methodology to aid in creating curriculum, assessments, and instructional strategies. This framework is organized into three equally significant stages to achieve a defined objective. It places a greater emphasis on aligning with educational standards, including the Kindergarten Guidelines and TEKS.
For our long-term objectives, I propose implementing Fink’s 3-column table, which will help us identify our desired outcomes by the end of the academic year. We can use the UbD template to define the specific objectives within each unit with greater precision.
References:
Bowen, R.S. (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved (2024)
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/
Fink, L. D. (2003). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Texas Education Agency. (2022). Texas Kindergarten Guidelines https://tea.texas.gov/academics/curriculum-standards/teks/kinderteks0817.pdf
Wiggins, G.&McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (expanded second ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.