Final Reflection on Learning by Design

Contemplating Understanding by Design over coffee….
UbD is a common sense approach to any project---whether you’re planning a wedding, a curriculum unit or you planning to build a shopping center. The process of UbD/backward mapping is a valuable tool.

I had a hard time initially wrapping my brain around the text, but that’s because I started reading the book thinking only k-12 and since I have no experience in k-12 I naturally couldn’t relate to the reading. Once, I put aside that idea and thought about k-12, and thought about UbD and it’s implications in other parts of my work, it started to make sense.

If you take the UbD template and use it as a project management tool, it’s a guideline:
Stage 1 – Desired Result – Essential Questions > gaining understanding of participants in the overall project goal is critical.
Stage 2 –Assessment Evidence > Designing evaluative Cycles - calibrating members understanding and progress
Stage 3- Learning Plan > the actual project design – the work flow.

Similar to the classroom, the workplace has a diversity of learners (understanding). In project planning or workflow design, the models of differentiated instruction can also be applied. Identifying and understanding each team member’s strength in creating workgroups assures productivity. It also allows a project manager to design the project in a way that clearly communicates the goal, structure and timeline. Simple example, if Jack doesn’t pay attention to emails or work well with text, it’s a given that after a memo, email or project timeline is sent, that his supervisor may then pull jack and verbally communicate those expectations.

Eureka!
UbD = action research- Hypothesis -> lit review -> cycles, research, assessment -> results

Moving Forward in Understanding by Design

What were your desired results? Why did you choose these results? (Backward Design 1/14)

When I conduct workshops, I start by putting the key points of the presentation on the white board. Although, I generally provide the audience with a copy of my Powerpoint presentation, I find that this gives the audience a chance to know up front all of the areas that will be covered, but more importantly, it gives them time to think about how it relates to them, formulate any questions, comments or concerns that they may. This in essence is communicating the goals up front, providing them the "end result" of our time together, so that the audience understand the value of our time and what they will walk away with.

(Goals & Essential Questions 1/21 -1/28)

Recently at the F2F meeting in Orlando we had a number of sessions with our OMET professors. In each of the meetings, the expectations of the day were presented to us prior to the day’s activities. The problem was in some of the activities there was still confusion. Clearly the concept of backward design was not present. Confusion stemmed from contradictory information given by different participants in the process, of course then chaos ensues, confusion, and time wasted. Interestingly what I noticed is that some people checked out (disengaged) from the experience. I think as learners, since the goals of the experience were not clear, it distracted from the experience and ultimately the value of the experience.