learning goals, backwards design, and connections....Oh My

 Our readings this week we're all about instructional and course design, as I reflect back on them, I realize that they all have connections to my experiences. 

 

Student teaching connections: 

 

One big theme of the readings was connections to the learning goals. As I start writing my lesson plans and unit plans this is something I need to keep in mind. If my teaching/learning activities are not connected well to my learning goals then my students won’t reach the goals that I have set. This also goes along with assessments, if the assessment is not connected to the learning goal, they might learn but won’t be critically thinking about the subject.  

 

For example, say I’m teaching small gas engines and my learning goal for students is to know how to pull apart an engine and put it back together. My activity would be having the students get hands on experience pulling apart engines and putting it back together. If I used a multiple-choice exam at the end of the lesson is that the best way for students to show what they learned? No, it’s not the assessment should align to the activity to show that they actually know how to do the learning goal. 

 

Second connection, there should be dialog and feedback after assessments and teaching/learning activities. Why is this important? Because we want our students to think critically not just know answers for a test. Feedback is very beneficial for students to know what they are doing great at and know what they should work on. It encourages students to take the next step and work on improving themselves while also keeping open dialog in the classroom. 

 

Third connection, backwards design while creating lessons and unit plans. This is an interesting concept that I haven’t thought about but it actually makes sense. I should be thinking about the end goals that I want my students to reach and keep that in mind while writing my plans. Starting with the end goal then figuring out what the best way to teach that is, then going to the objectives of the lesson, it ensures that the goals are met. 

 

Connections to other courses: 

 

Leading off of my last point of backwards design I believe that this can correlate to our 413 class which focuses on program planning not specifically lesson or unit plans but the program as a whole. If I ever do create a program from scratch, I think the backwards design would be something to keep in mind. By focusing on the programs end goal you can build back from that. I’m interested to see if we touch on this method in 413 over the semester. 

 

Second connection, the readings also talk about transferable skills in the classroom. While they use math, English and other common core classes as their transferable skills which is great. I think about our 350 Ag mech class and how this is used as a transferable skill. Even if you are not going to be welding for the rest of your life or getting a job in construction, I believe these skills are useful especially for me in my everyday life. If I want to build a shelf for my home, I know that I can because I learned the skills needed to be able to do to that. By me learning how to do these different processes I can teach my students these transferable skills that can be used on the farm, home, or potentially in their future job. 

 

Triangular connection: 

 

Since I read about how backwards design can be beneficial and know that this is something I can use in my lesson plans and unit plans or even creating a program. Here is a resource that I think will be helpful https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/ . This resource provides the why, how, and a template to use for backwards design. I think it’s helpful because I read about what backwards design is and why it’s used and a little about how to make it happen, but this template creates a starting point that I can use. 

 

Reference:

Mcdaniel, R. (1970, June 10). Understanding by design. Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/.