UBD:
The three readings for this week built off one another so much that the first reading was referenced in the second. After reading all three it really stuck in my mind because they each enforced the same concepts. The idea of the backward teaching and starting with the end result first. After reading the chapters it is obvious why research shows that it works. When you teach a topic and then end with coming up with the assessment, it is harder to make sure the student understood everything. Whereas starting with the goal it is easier to fit the instruction with the end results. When teaching about the Civil War, a major part of American history there are a lot of details so having an end goal to start focuses the topic more. In History dates and events maybe important but it is more important for the students to see the larger picture in the end. If they cannot remember the date of a certain battle but they understand it happened during the Civil War they can put it into context and explore the details. On the other hand if they remember the date of the certain battle, there is no saying that they understand that it happened during the Civil War and the significance. The second two readings built off of the idea of the backward teaching, it explored the significance of asking the right questions. It is easy to ask yes or no questions or close ended as a teacher because the assessment is simple. The problem is are the students truly learning or just recalling facts. Open ended questions are harder to asses but allow the students to really dig deep for the information and explore many different views on one topic. In my opinion, some close ended questions are necessary for learning some topics and should not be completely disregarded. However, it is more important to let the students really explore a topic because the conclusion they draw themselves have a way of sticking with them for the long term.
The three readings for this week built off one another so much that the first reading was referenced in the second. After reading all three it really stuck in my mind because they each enforced the same concepts. The idea of the backward teaching and starting with the end result first. After reading the chapters it is obvious why research shows that it works. When you teach a topic and then end with coming up with the assessment, it is harder to make sure the student understood everything. Whereas starting with the goal it is easier to fit the instruction with the end results. When teaching about the Civil War, a major part of American history there are a lot of details so having an end goal to start focuses the topic more. In History dates and events maybe important but it is more important for the students to see the larger picture in the end. If they cannot remember the date of a certain battle but they understand it happened during the Civil War they can put it into context and explore the details. On the other hand if they remember the date of the certain battle, there is no saying that they understand that it happened during the Civil War and the significance. The second two readings built off of the idea of the backward teaching, it explored the significance of asking the right questions. It is easy to ask yes or no questions or close ended as a teacher because the assessment is simple. The problem is are the students truly learning or just recalling facts. Open ended questions are harder to asses but allow the students to really dig deep for the information and explore many different views on one topic. In my opinion, some close ended questions are necessary for learning some topics and should not be completely disregarded. However, it is more important to let the students really explore a topic because the conclusion they draw themselves have a way of sticking with them for the long term.
" If they cannot remember the date of a certain battle but they understand it happened during the Civil War they can put it into context and explore the details. On the other hand if they remember the date of the certain battle, there is no saying that they understand that it happened during the Civil War and the significance."
ReplyDeleteJodi, I think this portion of your post really captures what UBD is all about. I can't tell you how grateful I have always been for teachers (particularly history teachers) who insist that remembering dates and names isn't the most important thing, because knowing those dates and names isn't necessarily demonstrating actual understanding. To elaborate on your point that dates might be important, this is true: in some cases, knowing the date of a battle might increase contextual understanding. To keep with your example of the civil war, a student might very well know about the reasons why many southern states decided to secede and understand why the civil war occurred, but knowing the dates of say Lincoln's appointment to presidency and when the emancipation proclamation was issued might help a student put battles into historical context. It would actually appear that such "facts" that usually lead lessons are more useful later, as a way to fill in the big picture.
I am on the same page as you coming from a history background. This is what learning about history is about. Who cares if you remember the date? Remember why it is important. Where I disagree with you is in the idea that open ended questions are harder to assess. Why do you think that? Are you concerned that you would not be able to tell whether they also learned the dates and other facts? This was a concern that came up in my head. Maybe one way we can make sure that they got all of that while making assessments creative would be to require that students include those types of things in papers and essays. If they have to include particular facts then it may not be so hard to assess.
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