Week 2 Assignment #3
After watching both videos on
understanding backward design by Grant Wiggins, I realized that most of my
teachers failed in keeping me engaged as a scholar in their classroom. In the
subjects I was uninterested in, especially Science, I would memorize the
information to obtain a satisfactory grade within the class, but no transfer
occurred beyond the classroom. I grew to master the art of repetition. I mastered
repeating information and formulas but once that class ended, all the
information I stored quickly vanished.
Mr. Wiggins challenged each
instructor with backward design, that is, keeping your long-term goal in the
forefront and inserting your long-term goal into short term ones. Backward design is unattainable through
content headings as he pointed out. The goal is to keep long term goals in
view, blend content and performance while simultaneously engaging each learner.
He also alluded to the fact that completing an entire textbook should not be
the goal of an educator. Backward design is goal oriented with the use of
content as the vehicle to reach the desired goal.
The desired goals of an educator
must be transferrable beyond the classroom. Critical and creative thinking must
be incorporated for the desired result to be obtained. The goal of backward
design is intellectual engagement. How can the interest level be expanded so
that each child, even the uninterested ones become engaged? Usually an educator
can assess whether they’ve achieved their goal by the intellectual engagement
of each student. Mr. Wiggins pointed out that the student meets the goal not
the educator. The benchmark used to determine if the educator has accomplished
their long-term goal is the intellectual engagement of the student and how that
intellectual engagement is transferred beyond the classroom.
Hi Shanakay. Your blog post was a great concise summary of backward design. I liked that you incorporated your personal experience with science class as an example of where backward design might have helped you stay engaged and learn the material better for long term use and transfer. Nice job! -- Keith
ReplyDeleteThank you Keith!
DeleteAs soon as I opened your blog, my attention was grabbed by your design and introductory paragraph. I can connect to your opening paragraph because in elementary and high school, science was never my favorite subject and just to pass the subject I had to memorize the information. I do agree that the backward design approach would have been very beneficial to us. Great share!
ReplyDeleteHey Shanakay. I too agree that Backward Design would have been the ideal planning framework to use. It really does make sense for teachers and students to have a clear picture of what it is they want to accomplish and then work backwards from that point. I enjoyed reading your personal experience as well. I can identify with you. For me it was calculus.
ReplyDelete