It is extremely important to make sure outcomes, assessments, and activities are aligned when you are trying to create significant learning environments in the classroom. In a previous post, I looked at Fink's 3 column table and used the template to plan out a Human Impact Unit.
I then took a piece of that unit and applied the Understanding by Design (UbD) template (attached below) to help me plan out a portion of that unit. UbD caused me to take a look at my lessons backward. Instead of looking at the lessons and what is going to be taught, I had to think about what I want the students to walk away with at the end of this lesson. I am planning with the end in mind. Planning this way can feel unnatural at first if you are not used to it. That is because the focus is being taken off of the teaching and being put more on the learning. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Instead of making the learning fit the lessons I teach, the learning is guiding what lessons I teach. This way of planning is a better fit for smaller parts of units and helps teachers have a clear road map of where they want to take their students. Without planning with the end in mind we are running the risk of using our valuable time on a part of the unit that may not be beneficial to the students in the end. It can also lead to holes in the curriculum that may not be addressed or are not realized until it is too late and there is not enough time to squeeze it all in. Wiggins and McTighe (2005) use the WHERETO acronym to help highlight elements that should be used in planning.
When comparing the two templates, I can see where both can be useful. The 3 column table is best used to plan out whole courses or big units. It helps you to focus on the big ideas of what needs to be taught in that course. It is a broad look at outcomes and what needs to happen to help achieve those outcomes. In contrast, with UbD, you are caused to zoom into one or a few of those outcomes and focus on the learning and understanding that needs to happen to meet each of those outcomes. You could create a few UbD templates for each 3 column table that you create. Background information such as environment, expectations, nature of the subject, and characteristics of the learners are taken into consideration in Fink's 3 column table to help teachers think about other influences that they may have not realized before. Both frameworks have you plan with the goal in mind and I think both should be used together. The 3 column table should be used first to help establish the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAD). By focusing on this BHAD, you can align all of your outcomes, assessments, and activities to be more streamlined to ensure significant has room to take place. The UbD can then be used in planning to map out the lessons and the unit since it takes a more zoomed-in look at the outcomes. Using these two designs together can be a vital tool for myself to create significant learning environments in my classroom. This help me maintained focus on my outcomes and goals when I am implementing my Innovation Plan with my students.
References:
Fink, L. D. (2003). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (expanded second ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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