Backward design, also referred to as “understanding by design,” is a method of designing learning experiences by setting goals before choosing instructional methods and assessments.
The 3 Steps of Backward Design
Wiggins and McTighe, in their book Understanding by Design (2nd ed., 2005), describe the three steps of backward design:
- Identify desired results. What should students know and be able to do at the end of the course? These are your learning outcomes.
- Determine acceptable evidence that will demonstrate students have achieved these learning outcomes. These are your formative and summative assessments.
- Plan learning experiences, instruction, and resources that will help students be able to provide evidence that they have met the learning outcomes.
Dee Fink (2013) describes the steps of backward design as making three key sets of decisions:
- What do you want the students to learn?
- How will students (and the teacher) know if they are learning?
- What will the teacher and students need to do for students to learn?
Alignment (Wiggins and McTighe) or integration (Fink) of desired learning outcomes, assessments, and teaching and learning activities provides consistency for students and supports more accurate construction of course concepts.
It’s about beginning with the end in mind. Start with desired learning outcomes, clearly stated in measurable terms, then work backward from them through assessment activities, teaching and learning activities, and content delivery.
In the following video, a University of Wisconsin faculty member describes how they are using the backward design process to improve courses.
Prioritizing and Organizing
Once you have a list of desired learning outcomes for your students, you may see that you have more than is practical in a single class. This is quite common for outcomes related to content coverage. Fink (2013) identifies the heart of the issue as designing a “content-centered” course versus a “learning-centered” course.
A content-centered course is what everyone is used to—you were a student in them and you likely teach them as well. They start with a list of topics (not uncommonly based on textbook chapters), then work through them over the semester focusing on coverage. Alternatively, a learning-centered course begins with the answer to the question: “What can and should students learn in relation to this subject?” Then, they move forward to organize activities, assessments, and content presentation in a way that supports that learning.
By starting from a learning-centered approach, you’ll find it easier to prioritize content-oriented learning outcomes into three groups: critical, important-but-not-critical, and nice-to-know. As you prioritize, you’ll normally see a structure emerging that may not be in the same order or with the same emphasis as before. You’ll also likely see that there isn’t enough time to include all of the learning outcomes you’ve identified. Asking yourself questions like the following ones can help you sort and prioritize:
- What am I including so that students have the prerequisite knowledge and skills to continue in the discipline?
- What am I including only because it’s in the textbook?
- What am I including in my course because it’s central to the discipline, included on a licensure exam, or because I would be personally embarrassed if a student left this course not knowing these things?
- What am I including because the person who taught this course before me included it?
- What am I including because it’s something I’m really passionate about?
Once you have grouped and prioritized your outcomes, you’ll need to think about how to order them in the course. While you’re doing this, it’s a very good time to also explicitly call out how the different concepts link together. These are the first steps to creating a course map.
Writing Measurable Outcomes
Learning outcomes (also known as learning objectives) are statements that describe what students should learn, phrased as measurable goals. Miami’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) introduces the basics on their Writing Student Learning Outcomes page.
Learn more about the levels of cognitive skills from Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives from the University of North Carolina’s Center for Teaching and Learning. Apply Bloom’s Taxonomy to write effective learning objectives with this University of Arkansas resource.
Use action verbs to reflect different cognitive skill at different levels. CTE has a sample listing of Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs that will help you write measurable learning outcomes and ensure rigor in your course.
