2.1 Course Planning with Backward Design

What is Backward Design?

Both OSU's Center for Teaching and Learning and Ecampus use course design methodology based on backward design, a very useful model for planning or revising a course. Backward design is about beginning with the end in mind: starting with desired student learning outcomes and working backward through assessments, learning activities, and content delivery. Taking time to think through your course planning in terms of backward design and maintaining attention on the desired student learning outcomes throughout the process, will help to improve the effectiveness of your teaching.

The intent of backward design is that assessments (and everything else in your course) are aligned to desired learning outcomes instead of creating learning outcomes based on what you are assessing.  Starting with assessments and extrapolating learning outcomes from them is the definition of "teaching to the test."  This may be necessary if your course is preparing students to sit for a licensure or registry exam, but those cases are the exception more than the rule.

What are the steps of the Backward Design process?

As you work your way through the rest of Module 2, you'll be engaging in the process of Backward Design for your course. So, what are the steps?

Wiggins and McTighe, in their book Understanding by Design (2nd Ed., 2005), describe the three steps of backward design.

1. 1. Identify desired results. What should students know and be able to do at the end of the course? These are your learning outcomes.  (You should already have your course learning outcomes - if not, please ask your department to provide these.)
   2. Determine acceptable evidence that students have achieved these learning outcomes. These are your formative and summative assessments.  
   3. Plan learning experiences, instruction, and resources that will help students be able to provide evidence that they have met the learning outcomes.  

Dee Fink (2013) describes the steps of backward design as making three key sets of decisions:

1. 1. What do you want the students to learn?
   2. How will students (and the teacher) know if they are learning?
   3. What will the teacher and students need to do for students to learn?

Additional Resources: Backward Design

• This article in The Scholarly Teacher (Zakrajsek, T., 2016) compares the approach of backward design to that of a journey: Backwards Design as a Way Forward
• This guide from the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching (Bowen, R., 2017) elaborates on the three stages involved in backward design and provides a planning template: Understanding by Design Links to an external site.. 

Finished here?

Click "Next" to move on to Aligning and Developing Assessments.