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UbD Peer TrainingOctober 10, 2008Hilary EvansLaura HiltonBev Moshier

Kristie SchmidtSara Wasley

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Understanding:Transfer

It is the essence of understanding and

the point of schooling

Understanding:via big ideas

that’s how transferhappens, makes

learning more connected

Students fail to apply, poor results on tests

Learning is fragmented, more difficult, less engaging

UbD big idea

Why important?

If not…

‘Backward’ Design

Plans need to bewell aligned to be

effective

Aimless activity & coverage

The big ideas of UbD

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2 key ‘understandings’

You must design ‘backward’ from understanding if you want to achieve understanding ‘by design’

Without transparent and important priorities - stated as performance, not content - neither teacher nor student can be effective; nor can they make wise decisions when inevitable adjustments have to be made.

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Goodlad’s Research"What do students perceive themselves to be learning? We asked [them] to write down the most important thing learned in school subjects...Most commonly students listed a fact or topic...

Noticeably absent were responses implying the realization of having acquired some intellectual power…

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Learning vs. teaching

Teaching does not cause learning. Successful attempts by the learner to learn and use what they have learned to achieve a goal causes learning.

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3 useful Q’s to ask in class as kids work:

What are you doing?Why are we doing it? What will it help us be able to understand/do (that matters)?

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3 different but inter-connected learning aims

All effective units of study balance these three goals: Acquisition of knowledge and skill

Ability to make meaning from challenging/puzzling facts, texts, and situations

Transfer of prior learning to new situations

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Forms of learning

You acquire facts; you figure out what they mean; you transfer your prior learning to new challenges

You acquire a skill; you figure out a good strategy; you apply all your skills to a new task, in context

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Backward Design:

I want them to learn____[content]__________ so that, in the long run, they will be able, on their own to __________[a long-term desired accomplishment, involving important transfer or extension of learning]

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Transfer defined and justified

What is ‘transfer of learning’?

‘Transfer of learning’ is the use of knowledge and skills (acquired in an earlier context) in a new context. It occurs when a person’s learning in one situation influences that person’s learning and performance in other situations.

When transfer of learning occurs, it is in the form of meanings, expectations, generalizations, concepts, or insights that are developed in one learning situation being employed in others

Bigge & Shermis, 1992.

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How people learnA major goal of schooling is to prepare students for flexible adaptation to new problems and settings. The ability of students to transfer provides an important index of learning that can help teachers evaluate and improve their instruction.

Students develop flexible understanding of when, where, why, and how to use their knowledge to solve new problems if they learn how to extract underlying principles and themes from their learning exercises.

- How People Learn, Natl Academy of Sciences

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The Transfer Question:

What should the student be able to do effectively with a repertoire of knowledge and skill, increasingly on their own, in future tasks at the heart of true expertise?

How, then, will transfer ability be developed over the course of the course?

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example:getting your driver’s

license

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The transfer goal we are designing backward from:

STAGE 1: Passing the driving test, I.e. you are now modestly competent at driving on your own in real-world conditions, handling key challenges likely to confront you as a driver.

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Transfer over time: increased –

Autonomy: the student is less and less reliant on teacher-provided scaffolding

Repertoire: the challenge demands greater control over a bigger repertoire

Task difficulty: the required tasks become more and more ‘realistically messy, noisy, complex’ - in contexts

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Autonomy = ‘gradual release of

responsibility’ as in reading

I do, you watchI do, you helpYou do, I helpYou do, I watch

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Note how this goal changes our view of time

use!

What will we do to achieve the performance goal - given the very limited time we have?We do NOT say: sorry, no time for performance-based learning and assessment - there is too much information to cover!

Nor do we make this mistake in the arts, athletics, writing, speaking a language

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What follows for long-term planning?

Make clear the goal is autonomous performance in context

Students need many formative assessment experiences where they must increasingly self-prompt, with fewer and fewer teacher prompts, cues, scaffolds, graphic organizers

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Repertoire useThe focus is thus on strategy: can the student wisely choose from all available knowledge and skill?

Developing and assessing strategic use of repertoire requires complex tasks - I.e. tasks with student decision-making about various possible approaches & solution paths“Research shows that transfer is especially difficult when a subject is taught only in a single context.”

How People Learn, Chapter 3

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Transfer = the real ‘game’ of using content on your

own

Applying prior learning to -a novel and increasingly new and unfamiliar-looking task

An increasingly challenging context & situation (in terms of purpose, audience, dilemmas, “noise” etc.)

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We often confuse the drills with the game

‘Drills’ - test itemsShort-term objective

Out of contextDiscrete, isolated element

set up and prompted for initial simplified learning

Doesn’t transfer to new situations on its own

The ‘game’ - real taskThe point of the drills

In context, with all its messiness and interest value

Requires a repertoire, used wisely

Not prompted: you judge what to do, when

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We often confuse an exercise with a problem

‘Exercise’Familiar lookReinforce your learning

Approach should be obvious

1 or 2 steps, using only a targeted skill

‘plug and chug’

‘Problem’Non-routine lookChallenge your learningNot clear how to proceed - or even what the right way to frame the problem is

Requires drawing wisely upon a repertoire

Creative and careful thought required to clarify & frame the problem, check your approach for efficiency & effectiveness

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So, what follows for the textbooks?

The textbook CANNOT be the syllabusIt is a limited resourceIt almost never focuses on transfer; rather it provides mostly ‘logically’ organized content and drills only

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So? What follows for local assessment?

“If that is the goal, then local assessments must regularly find out if…”This is the essence of Backward DesignMarching through the indicators in isolation will not meet these standards, nor prepare students for the transfer demanded. You are confusing ‘indicator’ with the goal.

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Irony: that’s what the difficult problems on state, AP, IB exams are - TRANSFER

problems

Unfamiliar reading passages and writing prompts

Unfamiliar-looking versions of math and science problems

No obvious prompts or ‘clues’ as to which ‘content’ applies (since there is no teacher or textbook ‘heads-up’ available as to what this is about)

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A big idea, framed as an Essential Question…

Provides a clear priority for teaching and learning of content

Makes clear that the goal is inquiry not passive learning of knowledge

Enhances transfer by making clear the kinds of connections sought to other content studied

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Transfer based on big ideas permits future

learning“The first object of any act of learning, over and beyond the pleasure it may give, is that it should serve us in the future.... In essence, it consists in learning initially not a skill but a general idea which can then be used as a basis for recognizing subsequent problems.... This type of transfer is at the heart of the educational process-the continual broadening and deepening of knowledge in terms of...ideas.”

Bruner, Process of Education p. 17

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A ‘big idea’ is a working ‘theory’,

‘schema’ or ‘theme’Think of -

the detective - and historian or mathematician - sifting clues to find the best-fit “story” of the facts

The big idea in Watergate, as recounted in All the President’s Men: Follow the Money

Harvard TfU refers to this as the ‘throughline’; we would say: ‘the overarching understanding’

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Big ideas: 4 examples of useful year-long

‘theories’History is written by the winnersThe key to solving problems is to make the unfamiliar & complex familiar and manageable. Re-grouping, factoring and converting - these are all ways of making hard problems simpler, using another big idea - ‘equivalence’

You need to “converse with” and “Question” the text and its author, to understand - even if the author is not physically present!

Success in ball games depends upon making unpredictable or confusing moves

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No big ideas in skill areas? Not so...

“equivalence” is key to problem solving in math

“does it work for this audience and purpose?” in writing

“create space and uncertainty in your opponent” in sports

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worth being familiar with

important to

know & do

Big ideas& core transfer

tasks

Toward Valid Curriculum: Focus on Priority

outcomes

“big ideas”& core transfer tasks

at theheart of the subject

importantknowledge & skill

“nice to know”

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So, how can UbD help?

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‘by design’ it addresses the problems

Unprioritized ‘coverage’ & state standards

Aimless activitiesNo focus on transferDrill vs. game focusTeaching the textbook instead of focus on learning goals

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How?

Template of questions to change habits

Design tools and resources to re-focus planning

Powerful strategies to prioritize content around big ideas and important tasks, to make learning more engaged, focused, and long-lasting

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1. Identify desired accomplishments

2. Determine acceptable evidence

3. Plan learning experiences

& instruction

KEY: 3 Stages of (“Backward”) Design

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Identify content

Brainstorm activities & methods

Come up with an assessment

What we typically (incorrectly) do:

Without checking for alignment

Without checking for alignment

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Stage 1 - Desired Results

Performance Tasks

Other Evidence:Stage 2 - Assessment Evidence

Other Evidence:Stage 3 - Learning Plan

Other Evidence

UBD Template

The Template– Reflects the logic

Addresses the problem

Understandings Essential Questions

Long-term goals

Knowledge & Skills

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Stage 1 Design QuestionsWhat are the long-term transfer goals? In the end, students should be able, on their own, to...

What are the desired understandings? (What misunderstandings must be avoided, overcome?)

What are the essential questions to be continually explored?

What knowledge & skill should they leave with?

pp. 60 ff.

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Stage 2 Design QuestionsWhat evidence for assessment is required by our Stage 1 goals?

What performances are indicative of understanding - transfer of learning and understanding of content via big ideas?

What other evidence is required by the goals?

What scoring rubrics/criteria/indicators will be used to assess student work against the goals?

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Stage 3 - design Qs

If those are the desired results in STAGE 1 and the tasks of STAGE 2- What do they need to acquire? What inquiries and meaning making must they actively be made to engage in?

What transfer must they practice and get feedback on?

What formative assessments are essential for feedback, adjustment, meeting goals?

What sequence is optimal for engagement and success?

How will the work be differentiated - without sacrificing goals - to optimize success of all?

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Key Design ‘moves’

Making content fit under (a few) key questions

Making skills fit under (a few) key transfer goals

Thinking through ‘evidence of understanding’ BEFORE developing (any old) activities & quizzes

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Understanding:Transfer

It is the essence of understanding and

the point of schooling

Understanding:via big ideas

that’s how transferhappens, makes

learning more connected

Students fail to apply, poor results on tests

Learning is fragmented, more difficult, less engaging

UbD big idea

Why important?

If not…

‘Backward’ Design

Plans need to bewell aligned to be

effective

Aimless activity & coverage

The big ideas of UbD