Backwards Design Curriculum Planning

Backwards Design is a lesson planning and curriculum planning framework developed in detail by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe which uses the lesson goals as the guideline for the remaining details of the lesson itself. Throughout the past eight weeks, this framework has dissected and applied to teaching research and analytical skills to high schoolers.

 

The purpose of moving through each step of the Understanding by Design process was to better understand the nuances and flexibility of the Backwards Design perspective, as well as to better gauge how it can be utilized within differing environments. While there are several challenges to using the process, they do not outweigh the benefits of planning lessons with the goal in mind. One of the many benefits is that UbD can be used in conjunction with multiple other lesson planning formats and perspectives.

 

The Completed UbD Lesson Plan exhibits a plan for a unit focused on one standard (Ninth / Tenth Grade Band, Standard 4. Research Inquiry and Design - Synthesize multiple, authoritative literary and/or informational sources, creating cohesive research projects that show an understanding of the subject.), the UbD customized Lesson Plan Template is a more personalized template based off the UbD template that is more applicable to the lessons and lesson planning style of the author, and finally, the Future Lesson Plan Ideas exhibits the framework for four other Colorado State Standards that can be applied in conjunction with Standard 4 detailed above (Colorado Academic Standards Online, n.d.). All three organizers/templates showcase the author’s understanding of the applicability, functionality, and versatility of the Backwards Design framework for their particular teaching environment.