1. The Backward Design Process
Identify desired results
What should students know, understand, and be able to do? What is worthy of understanding? What enduring understandings are desired?
Consider goals
Examine content standards (district, state & national)
Review curriculum expectations
Teacher/students interests
Determine acceptable evidence
How will we know if students have achieved the desired results and met the standards? What will we accept as evidence of student understanding and proficiency?
Consider a range of assessment methods — informal and formal assessments during a unit
Think like assessors before designing specific units and lessons to determine how/whether students have attained desired understandings
Plan learning experiences and instruction
What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, and principles) and skills (procedures) will students need to perform effectively and achieve desired results?
What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?
What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it best be taught in light of performance goals?
What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals?
Is the overall design coherent and effective?
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe

2. Structure of Knowledge
Topic:
Factual Knowledge Discrete skills
Facts:
Declarative in nature
Straight forward and accepted
‘truths’ upon which a ‘theory’
is based
Do not transfer
Skills:
Procedural in nature
Simple, discrete procedures
Means to a larger goal (eg employability skills)
Limited transfer
Transferable Concepts Complex Processes
Concepts:
Declarative in nature
Abstract mental constructs
Transferable across topics and contexts
Processes:
Procedural in nature
Complex combinations of skills to accomplish intended results
Transferable within disciplines
Big
Ideas
Principles and generalisations
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe

3. Enduring Understandings
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe
Clarifying content priorities
Worth being familiar with
Important
to know and do
Big Ideas
and
Enduring Understandings
Worth being familiar with:
Become aware of
Encounter
Broad-brush knowledge
Important to know and do
Required Knowledge and
Required Skills
An Enduring Understanding
Involves the Big Ideas that give meaning and importance to facts
Can transfer to other topics, fields and adult life
Is usually not obvious, often counterintuitive, and easily misunderstood
May provide a conceptual foundation for basic skills
Is deliberately framed as a generalisation - the ‘moral of the story’.
A Big idea
Provides a conceptual lens for prioritising content
Serves as an organiser for connecting important facts, skills and actions
Transfers to other contexts
Manifests itself in various ways within disciplines
Requires uncoverage because of abstraction

4. Identifying Essential Questions and Understandings
Topics and Big Ideas
What essential questions are raised by this idea or topic?
What, specifically, about the idea or topic do you want students to come to understand?
Why study _____________? So what?
What makes the study of ____________ universal?
If the unit on ______________ is a story, what is the moral of the story?
What’s the Big Idea implied in the skill or process of ____________?
What larger concept, issue, or problem underlies _____________?
What couldn’t we do if we didn’t understand ____________?
How is ___________ used and applied in the larger world?
What is a real-world insight about __________?
What is the value of studying ____________?
Essential Questions
Understandings
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe

5. Big ideas reflected throughout Design
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe
Big ideas reflected throughout Design
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Established Goals:
Big ideas are often implied and sometimes stated in goals or content standards, look for key concepts, consider the ides in key nouns (unit descriptor)
Understandings:
Students will understand that …
Essential Questions:
Big ideas are explicitly highlighted here.
Students will know …
Students will be able to …
Big ideas are implied here.
Consider the larger ideas that connect the facts and the larger purposes for mastering the skill.
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
A constant focus on and effective use of Big Ideas should be at the heart of performance tasks (as reflected in task guidelines and rubrics). 6 Facets of understanding and GRASPS
Other evidence:
Quizzes, tests and prompts should relate to Big Ideas (e.g. oral or written questions on one or more of the Essential Questions
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
Learning activities:
The learning plan should ensure that Big Ideas are uncovered through inquiry activities and explicit instruction. The overall goal is to help learners make sense of the content, content discrete facts and skills to larger ideas, apply this knowledge in meaningful ways, and see the purpose of learning activities. Consider W.H.E.R.E.T.O.

6. Six facets of understanding
Desired Understanding
Explain demonstrate, derive, describe, design, exhibit, express, induce, instruct, justify, model, predict, prove, show, synthesise, teach
Apply Adapt, build, create, de-bug, decide, design, exhibit, invent, perform, produce, propose, solve, test, use
Perspective analyse, argue, compare, contrast, criticise, infer
Empathy assume role of, believe, be like, be open to, consider, imagine, relate, role-play
Interpret create analogies, critique, document, evaluate, illustrate, judge, make meaning of, make sense of, provide metaphors,
Be aware of, believe, be like, be open to , consider, imagine, relate, role-play
Self Knowledge
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe

7. Product, Performance and Purpose Standards and Criteria for Success
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe
GRASPS
Your task is …
The goal is to…
The problem or challenge is to…
The obstacle to overcome is…
Goal
You are…
You have been asked to…
Your job is…
Role
Your client is…
Your target audience is…
You need to convince…
Audience
The context you find yourself in is…
The challenge involves dealing with…
Situation
You will create…in order to…
You need to develop … so that…
Product, Performance and Purpose
Your performance needs to…
Your work will be judged by…
Your product must meet the following standards…
A successful result will…
Standards and Criteria for Success

8. Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe
W.H.E.R.E.T.O.
Source: Understanding by Design Wiggins and McTighe
Will the students know where they are going (the learning goals), why the material is important, and what is required of them?
Where
Will the students be hooked and held – engaged in digging into the Big Ideas?
Hooked
Will the students had adequate opportunities to explore and experience big ideas and receive instruction to equip them for the required performances?
Explore and experience
Will the students have adequate time the rethink, rehearse, revise and refine their work based on timely feedback?
Rethink, rehearse, revise, refine
Will the students have an opportunity to evaluate their work, reflect on their learning and set goals?
Evaluate
Is the learning plan tailored and flexible to address the interests and learning styles of all students?
Tailored
Is the learning plan organised and sequenced to maximise engagement and effectiveness?
Organised