Backward+Design

Presented by Ronda Zelezny-Green and Michael A. Sullivan**
 * Backward Design - Wiggins and McTighe's Design Model

Learning Theory Behind Backwards Design
The Backwards Design by Wiggins and McTighe involves a constructivism learning theory. This is evident as Wiggins and McTighe focus on identifying the desired outcome as stage one, by asking inquiry based questions where the learner is building up to an answer. According to Piaget (1969) learning is engaging building and continually ongoing. This falls away from the thought of acquiring knowledge. The learner is using real life instances and interpretations to apply to a pre assessed understanding of the world around him/her with this specific learning theory applied in the Backward design.

Wiggins and McTighe use action verbs such as “explain, interpret, apply, have perspective, empathize, have self knowledge. Constructivism is evident here as these words are far from a passive style of learning.

Phase 2 of Wiggins and McTighe design allows the learner to demonstrate their knowledge by using various forms of assessment. There is no correct solution. Dick and Carey (2009) point out constructivists use more of a holistic sense of assessing progress. There is less of a focus on testing of subskills, but more of a use of rubrics and portfolios with collaborative exercises and peer reviews. Instructor comments gradually guide the students where thought processing can be altered and molded where the learner is pointed in the right direction.

Phase 3 of the Backwards design states that a sequence of teaching and learning exercises will develop and demonstrate the desired learning. The Constructivist theory aligns with this design as learners are presented with focused materials to better hone in their understanding of materials they have previously collaborated on with one another. Information taken from [] media type="youtube" key="F00R3pOXzuk" height="344" width="425"**
 * Constructivism explained by John Abbott, President of the 21st Century Learning Initiative

Adaptability In Designing e-Instruction
The Backward Design model of instruction is one that is quite useful, especially if the instructor is well-versed in the material to be taught. Because the goal is determined at the beginning of the instructional design process, every step that is planned out must lead back to goal achievement. If the methods and materials that are selected/tested for achieving the goal are found not to work, then they must be discarded and alternatives found so that the goal can be achieved through other options. In this way, Backward Design is reiterative, and does not let the instructor stray too far from the goals to be achieved.

This model can be adapted for either a face-to-face classroom or an e-learning experience because in working back from the goal, the best methods and materials can be collected, tested, and utilized, maximizing the probability that the goal will actually be achieved. As with any instructional design model, e-learning presents its own challenges in the classroom based on limitations that most e-instructors are already aware of (lack of non-verbal cues to see if learners understand, difficulty in monitoring learners' work, etc.). However, all of these potentially problematic factors can be considered before instruction takes place when the goal or standard to be achieved is determined, and everything else can be built around achieving this goal while taking the limitations of e-delivery into consideration.

An example in translating this theory to a unit within an online course would look something like this: media type="custom" key="5363149" Dick, Walter, Lou Carey, and James O. Carey. //The Systematic Design of Instruction//. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2009. Print. Piaget, J. //The Mechanisms of Perception//. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul, 1969. Print.
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