Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design, or UbD, is an educational theory for curriculum design of a school subject, where planners look at the desired outcomes at the end of the study in order to design curriculum units, performance assessments, and classroom instruction. UbD is an example of backward design, the practice of looking at the outcomes first, and focuses on teaching to achieve understanding. It is advocated by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins (1950-2015) in their Understanding by Design (1998), published by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Understanding by Design and UbD are registered trademarks of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Backward design Understanding by Design relies on what Wiggins and McTighe call "backward design" (also known as "backwards planning"). Teachers, according to UbD proponents, traditionally start curriculum planning with activities and textbooks instead of identifying classroom learning goals and planning towards that goal. In backward design, the teacher starts with classroom outcomes and then plans the curriculum, choosing activities and materials that help determine student ability and foster student learning. The backward design approach has three stages. Stage 1 is identification of desired results for students. This may use content standards, common core or state standards. Stage 1 defines "Students will understand that..." and lists essential questions that will guide the learner to understanding. Stage 2 is assessing learning strategies. Stage 3 is listing the learning activities that will lead students to your desired results.