1. This work is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration between the Directorates for Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Geosciences (GEO) under grant DUE - 1125331 Backward design: An approach to module development Webinar for new module authors October 31, 2014 Anne Egger and Josh Caulkins

2. Introductions Anne EggerJosh Caulkins

3. Introduction to Adobe Connect Raise your hand! Put your hand down. Find the chat window. Learn how to share your screen.

4. A story I suspect you’ll find familiar I was teaching a new course in an unfamiliar content area (Human Geography) I found a textbook and looked at the titles of the chapters, looked around on the web Developed a syllabus organizing the topics in the time given Figured out what readings, activities, projects, exams, would fit in when Sighed with disappointment at final grades. How many of you have done something similar? (Raise your hand.)

5. Why doesn’t this work better? Focus is on the instructor presenting the content, rather than the student learning new skills and knowledge.

6. How could this be better? Start with student-centered goals: What do you want students to know and be able to do at the end of the course/module? Knowledge: I want students to be able to describe the differences between the major religions and why some are growing while others stay the same. Skill: I want students to be able to read a newspaper article about a conflict in another part of the world and assess the demographic and geographic factors that are influencing that conflict.

7. Caveat about my example: I was not familiar enough with the subject area to know what I wanted my students to know or be able to do. You are here because you are very good at what you do. Think about what you do as a professional in the context of your module that you want students to start to do as well.

8. Some of Anne’s goals for students Student-centered goals: What do you want students to know and be able to do at the end of the course/module? Knowledge: I want students to be able to describe the characteristics of a plate boundary in enough detail to discriminate different types. Skill: I want students to be able to read and interpret maps showing global and regional earthquake distributions.

9. Back to Human Geography… Start with student-centered goals: What do you want students to know and be able to do at the end of the course/module? Knowledge: I want students to be able to describe the differences between the major religions and why some are growing while others stay the same. Skill: I want students to be able to read a newspaper article about a conflict in another part of the world and assess the demographic and geographic factors that are influencing that conflict.

10. How will I find out if they can do that? Essay question on an exam about major religions. Give them a newspaper article to analyze and turn in that analysis. These are assessments. There are a wide variety of assessment types – it does not need to be an exam at the end of the module.

11. How do I prepare them to do well on my assessments? In-class activity where we look at data about number of adherents of major religions, discuss the differences between them, and a follow-up reading. Current events activities where we analyze conflicts as a class or as small groups on a regular basis (weekly?). The point is that they need to practice retrieving the knowledge and using the skills in order to show mastery.

12. How is this approach different? Start with the end product  what you want students to know and be able to do at the end Determine how you will know that they know and can do these things Figure out how to help them learn how to do these things BACKWARD DESIGN Wiggins and McTighe, 1999

13. Backward design 1.Identify desired results  learning outcomes a.What knowledge is worth being familiar with? b.What knowledge and skills should students master? c.What concepts or skills should students retain well beyond the course? 2.Determine acceptable evidence  assessment a.Consider a wide range of assessments b.Match assessments to learning outcomes 3.Plan learning experiences a.Use instructional strategies that foster engagement b.Design activities that give students practice

14. This is the process you will go through with InTeGrate November face-to-face meeting starts with learning outcomes, then assessments, then instructional strategies (you will have time to work on each one). Module development checkpoints are based on moving stepwise through the backward design process.

15. Thoughts?

16. Time to practice! We are not going to spend time writing learning outcomes here, so we are giving one to you in Part I. Your job in small groups is to decide on acceptable evidence and the instructional strategies you would use. Small groups today aren’t module groups; it’s just practice.

17. What you will see in your small groups: You each have a workspace page with prompts. One person should volunteer to take notes in the workspace and share their screen so that everyone can see their notes. We will give you a 2-minute warning and then bring you back.

18. Learning outcome Students will be able to describe and interpret trends in 20 th -century climate data.

19. Next task: Write your own learning outcome for a skill that you want students to master – agree on one within your group. Move backward  acceptable evidence and instructional strategies We’ll come back together for the last few minutes for a quick summary.