Backward Design

     Hello friends! It has been a long two weeks, but there is always more topics to be discussed so we are back again. Today I wanted to talk to you about a curriculum design that has always stood out to me as being effective. This is called backward design. Backward design challenges traditional methods of curriculum design and offers a more in depth lesson plan that can effectively teach a concept in a more interesting and engaging manner.  Backward design is a way of creating your course plan which is (as insinuated) the opposite compared to the traditional plan. If you haven’t heard of this before then you’re in for a treat. Let us go through the step by step process on what it means to use Backward Design. The pretext to this method is that an educator must have a thorough understanding of her students and the curriculum. The reasons for this are obvious. As I spoke about in my previous post it is extremely important that teachers do not assume that all students are the same. This is because all students are unique and therefore process information in unique ways. By understanding every student individually a teacher is able to create a lesson plan that is effective for the whole class. It is also important for teachers to understand the curriculum, because otherwise it would be very difficult to create a lesson plan based on it. 

      The first step of backwards design is to identify the KDB of the unit. We’re going to take a minute here to discuss what KDB is and why it is important to our education. KDB stands for know, do, and be. These three aspects are very important when creating a lesson. Knowing is understanding the basic knowledge required for a lesson. The information stated by the curriculum that is necessary for students to learn. It does not matter how original and interesting a lesson plan is. If it does not teach the students what is required then it is not effective. If I am running an English lesson on Shakespeare, there are many interesting activities that I can brainstorm to make his stories come to life (such as them acting it out). I can engage my students and help them understand the story. But all this is useless if I don’t teach them the deeper meaning of Shakespeare’s scripts. The student will remember that Macbeth died, but they won’t understand the lesson about the negative effects of revenge taught through this. The next step is to do. After students know this base knowledge, they can connect ideas together and do hands on projects to help the ideas sink in and gain a deeper understanding of the information and how it can be applied to a real world setting. I think that it is very important in any subject that a student understands the applications of the lesson. If you explain how certain streams of math or science can be applied in everyday life the students will be more engaged. The final step is be. This is a little more abstract than doing. Being is the skills gained from lessons and course plans, such as critical thinking, good work habits, or the importance of social issues.

      The second step in this method is to create a rich performance assessment. This strongly ties in with having a deep understanding of your students. This step requires the educator to create a form of assessment that most accurately depicts what the student has learned. Depending on the student, the assessment could be in the form of a test, a verbal presentation, or a hands on project. This evaluation should also benefit the student. By using assessment for learning, the form of evaluation can be used to progress the students knowledge of a subject and enhance his or her learning. Assessment of learning is much more effective compared to assessment of learning, because you are not simply labeling the student with a grade, but progressing him towards a goal. The final step to backwards design is to work on the daily instruction. This is where you tie in all of the previous thoughts and ideas to create a day to day lesson plan that you will present to your class. this step is about organizing all of your ideas on a subject into daily activities and manageable sizes. I believe that using this method of backwards design an educator can effectively produce a curriculum design that can benefit each and every unique student.