One of the most important phases of designing instruction happens before activities, assessments, or even content have been chosen. It is the establishment and articulation of the desired learning goals or outcomes of the instruction. Often instructors are faced with the challenge of abundance—too many chapters to cover and too much content that is seen as indispensable—and covering such content in a small time frame.
In their book Understanding by Design (2006), authors Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins advocate a framework for educational planning that focuses on "teaching for understanding." The goal of this framework, also named "Understanding by Design," is for instructors to help students achieve a deep understanding of important ideas and concepts.
This circle image uses three rings to depict what content to target.
- The most important is the innermost ring (“big ideas and core tasks”). These are the core ideas that students should understand and be able to apply, even long after the course is over.
- The middle ring (“important to know and do”) represents knowledge that is necessary as direct context for the innermost ring, such as prerequisite knowledge.
- The outermost ring ("worth being familiar with") can be interpreted as the contextual knowledge, the big picture, or the broad strokes, familiarity with which forms a foundation for more targeted investigation of the concepts and understandings that reside within the innermost circle.
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Big Questions to Consider
In this video, McTighe asks important questions to consider when planning a course to help achieve deeper learning.
What are the big ideas? Providing larger themes or issues helps students make sense of what can seem like disconnected content elements. Making these big ideas clear throughout the course helps to prioritize what needs to be taught.
What is worth understanding in all of the content that we could teach? The Understanding by Design framework asks questions to plan backward from the end—and the end being understanding and transfer. It is not, however, covering content, marching through textbooks, or only doing fun activities. Instead it is planning backward to teach the key concepts that lead to understanding.
How do you know students understand? McTighe also emphasizes the importance of assessing for understanding. Just because a student "knows" things does not mean that he or she understands them. Students should be able to show that they understand and be able to use the information in new situations.
Knowledge vs. Understanding
McTighe also talks about the difference between knowledge and understanding. He points out that the ultimate goal of most instruction is not memorization; instead it is understanding. Take a look at this table to compare the difference between knowledge and understanding.
There is a clear difference between "knowing" the facts (memorization) and "understanding" the facts (and what those facts mean).
For a more in-depth explanation of "understanding" and what differentiates it from "knowledge," review "Developing Goals and Objectives" from the Educational Research Service website.
| Knowledge | Understanding |
|---|---|
| The facts | The meaning of the facts |
| A body of coherent facts | The "theory" that provides coherence and meaning to those facts |
| Verifiable claims | Fallible, in-process theories |
| Right or Wrong | A matter of degree of sophistication |
| "I know something to be true." | "I understand why it is, what makes it knowledge." |
| "I respond on cue with what I know." | "I judge when to and when not to use what I know." |
Optional Resources
Video: Grant Wiggins (2013). Understanding by Design, Part 1 and Part 2.