Understanding by Design Versus Traditional Curriculum Development
Outline
I- Introduction
II- Definition and characteristics
III- Six Facets of Understanding
IV- The Backward Design
V- Strengths and Challenges of the UbD
VI- Research Findings
VII- Concluding Remarks
VIII- References
Introduction
The major goal behind school education or any educational experiences is to prepare students for further learning and more effective functioning in their lives. “One of the most important strengths of a country…is its educational systems…provided that the educational system will be directed towards moral, intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual growth.”(Cho, & Trent, 2005, p.9) In Lebanon and all developing countries, most schools still rely heavily on the traditional or coverage approach to teaching which entails pressuring teachers to cover the chronologically of the textbook material. Over the many years of formal schooling, it has been shown that this method does not certainly lead to students’ deep grasp of information. At the same time, the evaluation and assessment schemes used in relation to this method, namely testing, focus predominantly on recalling information. They do not reflect the extent of students’ understanding of the material in question, while good education is the education that really focuses on developing understanding. Furthermore, the problem with the traditional or coverage approach that has been used most so far in local and regional schools is that teachers have rarely the opportunity to answer the following questions: To what end is teaching directed? Do the students understand what the learning targets are? What understanding will emerge from all the activities and will endure? (McTighe & Wiggins, 1998) Realizing these shortcomings of the aforementioned approach of teaching and based on extensive research on the nature of understanding and how people learn, several experts in education proposed alternative teaching frameworks with the aim of improving students’ achievement. This paper focuses
I- Introduction
II- Definition and characteristics
III- Six Facets of Understanding
IV- The Backward Design
V- Strengths and Challenges of the UbD
VI- Research Findings
VII- Concluding Remarks
VIII- References
Introduction
The major goal behind school education or any educational experiences is to prepare students for further learning and more effective functioning in their lives. “One of the most important strengths of a country…is its educational systems…provided that the educational system will be directed towards moral, intellectual, aesthetic and spiritual growth.”(Cho, & Trent, 2005, p.9) In Lebanon and all developing countries, most schools still rely heavily on the traditional or coverage approach to teaching which entails pressuring teachers to cover the chronologically of the textbook material. Over the many years of formal schooling, it has been shown that this method does not certainly lead to students’ deep grasp of information. At the same time, the evaluation and assessment schemes used in relation to this method, namely testing, focus predominantly on recalling information. They do not reflect the extent of students’ understanding of the material in question, while good education is the education that really focuses on developing understanding. Furthermore, the problem with the traditional or coverage approach that has been used most so far in local and regional schools is that teachers have rarely the opportunity to answer the following questions: To what end is teaching directed? Do the students understand what the learning targets are? What understanding will emerge from all the activities and will endure? (McTighe & Wiggins, 1998) Realizing these shortcomings of the aforementioned approach of teaching and based on extensive research on the nature of understanding and how people learn, several experts in education proposed alternative teaching frameworks with the aim of improving students’ achievement. This paper focuses
References: Bower, D. (1991). Designing in Integrated Music Curriculum: What is sound? Retrieved January 5, 2008 from http://www.homepages.nyu.edu/dnb208/what issound.htm. Brown, J.L. (2004). Making the most of Understanding by Design. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Cho, J Educational Techno9logy Services (ETS). (n.d.). Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe: A summary. Retrieved January 5, 2008 from http://www.pixel.fhda.edu/id/six_facets.htm Kelting-Gibson, L Kiernan, L. (Producer), & Foster, F. (Director). (2000). Understanding by Design [Video recording]. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and curriculum Development. McTighe, J McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G. (1999). The Understanding by Design handbook. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. McTighe, J. & Wiggins, G. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Technology for Teaching and Learning (TTL) Academics (2002). Understanding by Design. Retrieved January 10, 2008 from http://www.sdttl.com/2002/udd.htm Walker, D.F