Research & Subject Guides: RSOM Faculty Development Guide: Start a Teaching Renaissance: Backward Design for Learning

Introduction

“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 outcomes instead of topics to be covered. (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005)

Below is a recording of the session on facilitating small groups that was given as part of the RSOM Faculty Development Series.

Backward Design in Everyday Life

You use backward planning in your everyday life. Here’s an example. Mary works at the Renaissance School of Medicine. She knows that she must be at work every day at 8:30. So she works backwards to find out what time she must wake up. She knows it takes about 10 minutes to walk to her car from the HSC parking lot. So, she knows she must be on campus by 8:20. It usually takes her 30 minutes to commute from Patchogue to campus. So, she knows that she must leave her house by 7:50 the latest. She knows that it takes her about 2 hours to get ready and eat breakfast, and she wants to work out for an hour before work. So, she now knows to set her alarm for 4:50. If she started with the beginning setting her alarm first then she wouldn’t set it for the correct time.

If backward planning can help in everyday life, then it makes sense to use it to plan your teaching. We call this backward design.

Stages of Backwards Design

Generally, when we think of course design, we focus on the teaching methods and activities first; however, we should be using assessment and learning outcomes to drive how we teach. This method is called Backward Design. The diagram below illustrates the three stages of Backwards Design.

The video below demonstrates the three stages.

Examples of Backward Design in Medical Education

Here are examples of how backward design works. This shows why starting with the learning outcomes is crucial.

Identify Desired Results	Determine Acceptable Evidence	Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction
Students will identify all components of a patient medical history.	Students will complete a multiple-choice quiz about medical history components.	Students will read pages 3-6 in their course primer about History of Present Illness. Students will watch the Chief Complaint and HPI" lecture on Echo360.
Students will recite the 7 attributes of the history of present illness (HPI) and use that list to obtain a thorough HPI.	Students will be recorded obtaining an HPI on a standardized patient in the clinical skills center. This recording will be evaluated according to criteria set forth in a rubric.	Students will read pages 3-6 in their course primer about History of Present Illness. Students will watch a recorded lecture on the History of Present Illness (HPI). Students will watch the "Chief Complaint and HPI" patient interaction video on Echo360. Students will review the History Checklist.
Students will successfully use open-ended questions to elicit chief complaints from patients.	Students will be recorded obtaining a chief complaint on a standardized patient in the clinical skills center. This recording will be evaluated according to criteria set forth in a rubric.	Students will read pages 7-11 in their course primer about the chief complaint. Students will watch the “Chief Complaint and HPI" lecture on Echo360. Students will watch the "Chief Complaint and HPI" patient interaction video on Echo360. Students will review the History Checklist.
Students will accurately record the chief complaint and HPI	Students will complete the Chief Complaint and HPI portion of the ICM Note Template.	Students will read pages 3-11 in their course primer about the chief complaint and HPI. Students will watch the Chief Complaint and HPI" lecture on Echo360. Students will watch the "Chief Complaint and HPI" patient interaction video on Echo360. Students will review the ICM note template.

Resources for More Information on Backward Design

Below are resources on backward design.

Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching: Understanding by Design
This page provides an introduction to backward design and an overview of the three stages.
University of Illinois Chicago: Backward Design
This page provides detailed information and strategies about implementing the three stages of backward design.
Jay McTighe & Associates Consulting
One of the pioneers of backward design, Jay McTighe, has a page on his website that contains useful free resources and templates.
Understanding by Design: Professional Development Workbook
This workbook has templates to help you plan out your course, unit, or lesson using backward design. This is the link to purchase the book on Amazon.

Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins; Jay McTighe
ISBN: 1416600353
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

This book is available at the Stony Brook University main campus library. If you can't get over to the main library ask one of the librarians at the HSC library to reserve it for you.

RSOM Faculty Development Guide: Start a Teaching Renaissance

Introduction

Backward Design in Everyday Life

Stages of Backwards Design

Examples of Backward Design in Medical Education

Resources for More Information on Backward Design

Library

Resources

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