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Ellis Reeves IV, M.Ed.
Director of Online Learning and Support
Beginning at the End
"To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are not so that steps you take are always in the right direction."
- Stephen R. Covey. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Backward course design is a planning framework to help educators teach in a more goal focused, effecitve way by better aligning short-term plans and actions with long-term goals, blend content and performance, and better engage learners.
This framework can be applied to a traditional classroom or online classroom setting.
Introduced by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in Understanding by Design in 1998.
Daugherty KK. Backward course design: making the end the beginning.
What should students walk out the door able to understand, regardless of what activites or texts we use?
What is evidence of such ability?
What texts, activites, and methods will best enable such a result?
1. Identifying the desired results
2. Determing acceptable evidence
3. Planning learning experiences and instructions.
Daugherty KK. Backward course design: making the end the beginning.
What knowledge and skills students will need to achieve the desired results.
Consider teaching methods, sequence of lessons, and resource materials.
Focus on the question: "What must students be able to think and do to successfully complete the assessments?"
What the students should know, understand, and be able to do at the end of the course.
Consider the goals and curriculum expectaions for the course.
Focus on the big ideas that the students should take away from the course (theories, point of views, concepts)
Focus on the question: "How will my students be different when they complete this course?"
What assessments and activites will prove the students have met the desired goals and objectives.
By planning assessment activies before the content of the lecture, it makes it easier to know what content should be taught.
Consider a range of assessment methods (observations, quizzes, projects, tests, etc.)
For Final Assesment, consider: "How will my students have changed from their course knowledge?"
Daugherty KK. Backward course design: making the end the beginning. Am J Pharm Educ. 2006 Dec 15;70(6):135. doi: 10.5688/aj7006135. PMID: 17332861; PMCID: PMC1803709.