Written by Marcy Austin
Adult Education Teacher/Technology Director
- Defining Backward Design
When defining backward design, adult education instructors and all teachers see it as a way of structuring the curriculum that will foster specific results. This means that we look at what we want our students to learn first, instead of what we are going to teach. Backward design gives teachers the ability to possess specific, clear, and logical learning objectives to produce the desired results. Therefore, we start to see a shift toward designing curriculum and unit plans to focus on the learner, what her or his learning goals are and develop our plans starting with what students will need to accomplish the objectives.
- Key Features of Backward Design
- Formulate desired results
- Determine acceptable evidence
- Plan learning experiences and instruction
I begin with setting learning goals. This includes what I want students to understand by the end of a lesson or unit of study, how I will guide that learning, what they will learn, and what they will be able to do with that knowledge (meaning, how they will apply it) though completing a specific set of tasks. Next, I move on to what content I will use to bring it all together.
- Putting Methods into Practice
I used the backward design method in a miniaturized version during a writing class when I wanted my AEL students to work on word choice in their writing. I identified that I wanted students to use precise wording in their paragraphs. Next, students reviewed their paragraphs they were working on and replaced four words in the paragraph with more precise language. Students then explained why they altered the words chosen.
The result I defined for my students appeared at the beginning of the process, and I could have taken other routes of planning and instruction to get there, but what proves critical here was students worked on creating precise wording, and could identify and explain how they sharpened this specific writing skill.
- The Takeaway
At times, it is not enough to state you want students to write a paragraph about a certain topic. When designing backward in this instance, I thought about specifics in terms of what I wanted students to do with that particular paragraph. Backward design is versatile and easy to use for the novice to the master teacher. In fact, from the beginning of my teaching career, I have implemented this technique to create lesson plans, design units, and develop curriculum. In my view, designing backward just seems to make sense. It is student centered in that it focuses on the learner’s needs to be successful in completing specific goals. Additionally, I find that when the instructor begins with a set of clear and specific goals, choosing content later on in the planning process becomes easier and fun for both the teacher and learner.
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