My UbD Design Template

STAGE 1 – DESIRED RESULTS

Established Goals:

Students will utilize technology to reflect on their learning through the creation, management and use of eportfolios.

Students will gain an understanding of their own strengths and characteristics as a learner.

Students will learn how to set and establish goals as well as create a timeline of how they will achieve set goals.

Understandings: Students will understand that…

Students will understand that eportfolios aide and assist in student learning.

Students will understand that evaluating their own work and reflecting on their progress will help them grow and develop as learners.

Students will understand that peer feedback, collaboration and self-reflection furthers the understanding of their own learning.

Potential Misunderstandings

Students may struggle to see the value and benefit in eportfolios at first.

Students may be a little reluctant to share thoughts and ideas with their peers.

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Essential Questions: Students will ask themselves..........

What is an eportfolio?

How can eportfolios contribute to my overall learning process?

What are my strengths as a learner? What are my best attributes or character traits?

How can peer feedback and self-reflection contribute to my learning?

How have I grown and developed as a learner?

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Students will know:

Students will know how to create, use and manage an eportfolio using wix.com.

Students will know their own strengths as a learner.

Students will know how to effectively communicate their thoughts, ideas and goals.

Students will know why an eportfolio and reflections are important.

Students will be able to:

Students will be able to create an eye-catching and self-promoting eportfolio.

Students will be able to organize learning artifacts and processes.

Students will be able to communicate professionally with their peers while networking.

Students will be able to evaluate the feedback that they receive from their peers to implement in their improvement strategy.

Students will be able to create a multi-step process to achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Students will be able to utilize the reflective feedback and strategies that they receive from their eportfolio on their work in other classes and personal activities.

STAGE 2 – ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Performance Tasks: Students will..........

Create an eportfolio using wix.com

Write reflections during and after they complete assignments, activities and projects via blog posts.

Evaluate their own work based on peer feedback.

Provide feedback to peers on assignments, activities and projects.

Assess how their learning quality of work has changed since they have created an eportfolio.

Other Evidence: Students will reflect upon and self-assess their learning by.......

Writing reflections via blog posts

Peer to Peer conferences conferences 

Participating in online peer discussions

Write peer feedback posts in blog posts

Key Criteria: 

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Students will work separately and collectively to use their eportfolios to enhance their learning experience. 

Students are permitted to use research or interview notes but must careful site their sources and maintain academic integrity.

Students must also commit to the daily management of their eportfolios making sure that it is updated weekly.

STAGE 3 – LEARNING PLAN

Summary of Learning Activities:

WHERETO is an acronym for considering and self-assessing the key elements and logic of a learning plan:

• Where: ensuring that the student sees the big picture, has answers to the “Why?” questions, knows the final performance expectations as soon as possible

• Hook: immersing the student immediately in the ideas and issues of the unit, engaging the student in thought-provoking experiences/challenges/questions at the heart of the unitZ

• Equip & Experience: providing the student with the tools, resources, skill, and information needed to achieve the desired understandings; and successfully accomplish the performance tasks

• Rethink: enhance understanding by shifting perspective, considering different theories, challenging prior assumptions, introducing new evidence and ideas, etc. Also: providing the impetus for and opportunity to revise prior work, to polish it

• Evaluate: ensuring that students get diagnostic and formative feedback, and opportunities to self-assess and self-adjust

• Tailor: Personalize the learning through differentiated instruction, assignments and assessments without sacrificing validity or rigor

• Organize: Sequence the work to suit the understanding goals (e.g., questioning the flow provided by the textbook, which is typically organized around discrete topics)

1.      What is a learning ePortfolio and how can it transform the way I learn?  H

2.      Introduce essential questions.  Explain where the course is going and what is expected of them.   W

3.      Students will view samples of quality ePortfolios/comments and poorly constructed

ePortfolios/comments.  E

4.      Students will be equipped with a laptop or iPad. E

5.      Students will create an aesthetically pleasing ePortfolio that is tailored to their personal interests and needs.  T, O

6.      Students will experience the benefits of ePortfolios by posting their writing assignments, reflecting on their work, and participating in peer discussions and reviews.  E

7.      Students will take a survey to discover their own learning style.  Students will blog about their findings and evaluate how this could impact their work with ePortfolios.  E-2

8.      The ePortfolio will be centered around the learner’s needs based on peer feedback and self-reflection.    T

9.      Students will conference with the teacher, review peer feedback, and review their personal reflections.  All of these factors will contribute to revisions on writing assignments and blog posts. R

10.     Students will create a reflective blog post that evaluates their progress as a writer and learner.  Students will also evaluate how they have grown since they began using an ePortfolio. E-2

11.     Students will have designated times to work on ePortfolios during class.  Teachers must provide this structure and hold students’ interests in ePortfolios by modeling ePortfolios, blog posts, and comments.  Teachers should also emphasize the value in revision and reflection on students’ growth. O, H

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Comparing Course Design Methods

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Comparing 3 Column Table to Understanding by Design 2.0

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In using Fink’s 3 Column Table and the UbD Template it is clear there are similarities and differences between the two, but both are useful in designing and planning for courses. Of the two, I prefer Fink’s 3 Table Column in designing a course because it focuses on connecting Learning Goals, Assessments, and Learning Activities while still allowing flexibility. This is helpful because it allows the teacher to observe the major components of the course and how they tie into the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). 

Each section of Fink’s 3 Table Column builds on the previous section and ushers the learners to the BHAG. It starts with fundamentals, moves to application, then integration stages, and has room to include additional stages such as human dimensions, caring, and learning how to learn. This process is important to start with because it breaks down the course into chunks, with each chunk gradually building on the previous, always moving toward the BHAG. 

After the teacher decides on learning outcomes for each section that tie into the BHAG, the teacher moves to link assessments to the learning goals one row at a time. This strengthens the unit because it shows that the students will be properly assessed on the learning goals of the course. Only after the teacher has selected the ways to assess the learning outcome can the teacher list learning activities that will build up to the assessment. Completing each row before moving to the next section is important because it follows a backward design process, starting with the end and moving to the beginning. By completing each section the teacher is creating a strong plan that supports the BHAG, ensurels that learners will be accurately assessed, and ensures the learners will have accurate learning activities to be successful for the assessment. Overall, Fink’s 3 Column Table is my favorite planning tool because it is a blueprint that focuses on the big picture (the BHAG) and moves strategically through well thought out developmental stages.

In reflecting on these two templates, both have influenced me in how I will design and plan for courses in the future. One thing that rings loud and clear about planning courses is to start with the end in mind: think about the learning outcomes, then how these can be accurately assessed, then begin to plan learning activities to prepare students for the assessment which show mastery of the learning objectives. Of the two templates I prefer to use Fink’s 3 Column Table because I am very much a big picture type of teacher, or one that likes to be able to adapt and tweak plans while still focusing on the end learning results. I find that some of my best teaching ideas and connections come in these flexible ‘Aha!’ and ‘What if..’ moments. However, though I like to adapt lessons on the fly I still recognize the benefit of the UbD template. I specifically like the first Desired Results section as it allows the teacher to think about every type of learning outcome angle the students will have. I plan to use Fink’s 3 Column Table along with this section so that I can accurately list the learning outcomes of courses and individual lessons. I will then consult Fink’s 3 Column Table for Assessments and learning activities so that I may keep a little flexibility in my lesson planning. While I feel this is the best option for my teaching style because it allows detailed planning and flexibility, I recognize that other teachers may vary in their desired course planning methods. That is why I am excited to share both of these methods with colleagues, so they may be able to find their unique planning strategies and find success in planning for courses.

Link to My Innovation Plan:

https://shunti618.wixsite.com/website/news-resources

Link to My 3 Column Table:

https://shunti618.wixsite.com/website/blank-page

Resources

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. John Wiley & Sons.

Wiggins, Grant & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, VA : Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

My Response to Creating a Significant Learning Environment

For many years now, educators have been experimenting with the thought, idea and art of promoting, collecting, and assessing student work—just as farmers have explored improvements in the growth and cultivation of plants. While horticultural practices have turned into an extremely complex situations, so has our potential to use new tools and technologies to nurture and develop a wider range of student work.  Unfortunately, dependence on standardized testing strategies is now being seen as the primary means of measuring student knowledge. What is sad is that it often does not adequately prepare students for the evolving technological future. 

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