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Backward Design is an instructional design approach that begins by first defining the desired outcomes and objectives and then creating the assessments, instructional activities, and materials to help learners achieve those outcomes.
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- Backward Design
- Defining Intended Learning Outcomes
- Qualities of Effective Intended Learning Outcomes
- Ilo Examples from Mit Subjects
- Aligning Assessments & Instruction
- Additional Resources
- References
“Backward Design” is an approach to creating curriculum, subjects, and even single class sessions that treats the goal of teaching as not merely “covering” a certain amount of content, but also facilitating student learning. Backward design prioritizes the intended learning outcomesinstead of topics to be covered. (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) It is ...
The process of designing a subject, then, begins with defining the goals or intended learning outcomes for the subject. Traditionally, learning outcomes often take the form: “By the end of this course students will be able to [ACTIVE VERB]…” This model useful for two reasons: (1) by using active verbs, we articulate actions that students will be ab...
Specific
Since the point of defining ILOs is to provide a design focus for your course and to clarify goals for students, specificity is very important. In your statement of your learning outcomes, it should be clear exactly what the goal is. In particular, beware of words like “understand” or “know.” Exactly what it means to “understand” or “know” something is open to interpretation. An undergraduate’s level of “understanding” of a topic and that of the instructor will vary wildly, and it will be dif...
Measurable
Looking ahead to step two of backward design, you will need to identify evidence that an intended learning outcome has been obtained. If a learning outcome is not measurable, then we will not be able to know whether or not our course successfully achieved its goals. Contrary to a popular assumption, this does not mean that the leaning goal has to be quantitatively measured by some objective instrument (like a multiple-choice test). Valid and accepted measurements will vary from discipline to...
Realistic
Your learning outcomes should be achievable for the students in your class and achievable in the time allotted to your subject. Crafting realistic learning outcomes requires some understanding of students’ prior knowledge and skills in your subject. An unrealistic learning outcome sets students up for failure.
Notice that a general learning outcome (“tease out the laws of electromagnetism…”) is rather non-specific. However, the instructors have analyzed and described what it means to be able to tease out these laws with three much more specific ILOs with active verbs (“describe in words,” “represent…mathematically,” and “predict”) that describe what acti...
With intended learning outcomes in hand, the next step of the backward design process is to create assessments that appropriately measure students’ attainment of intended learning outcomes. Various kinds of assessments can fill this role, as long as the assessment task is closely aligned with the action described in the ILO. The scope of your asses...
Action Verbs using Bloom’s and Fink’s Taxonomy, Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, Syracuse University.
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing : a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman. Biggs, J.B. (2005). “Aligning teaching for constructive learning.” Higher Education Academy Discussion Paper. Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., Krathwohl, D. R. (1956...
This teaching guide will explain the benefits of incorporating backward design. Then it will elaborate on the three stages that backward design encompasses. Finally, an overview of a backward design template is provided with links to blank template pages for convenience.
- Rhett Mcdaniel
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Backward design is a framework that helps educators plan instruction around what matters most—student learning. This topic will walk you through the backward design process step-by-step, giving you an effective model for planning your next course.
Greater coherence among desired results, key performances, and teaching and learning experiences leads to better student performance—the purpose of design. The Backward Design Process. The logic of backward design suggests a planning sequence for curriculum. This sequence has three stages, shown in Figure 1.1.
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When developing your course within a Backward Design framework, it is important to map out your course learning objectives, assessments, and learning activities and instructional materials to ensure alignment across the elements.
Mar 10, 2022 · What is the backward design model? The backward design approach to curriculum development first establishes educational goals and then builds assessment and instruction to serve those goals. The process of planning assignments and lessons by instructors to achieve pre-set instructional goals is called backwards mapping .
