Reading Response: Wiggins: Chapters 7 & 8

Minda Moskowitz

Reading Response:  Wiggins: Chapters 7 & 8

EDU 6011: Integrating ELEM Methods

Due: Tuesday, September 8, 2015 / Posted on 9/6/15

Based on my reading of chapters 7 and 8 of Understanding by Design (Wiggins, 2005), the second stage of backward design is assessment.  Before we plan the classroom activities, we need to decide what will count as evidence of understanding.  It is not enough to have students accurately memorize facts; students must be able to use the acquired knowledge and skills effectively. In addition, we need to provide clear and appropriate criteria and present it in an easy-to-use format, such as a rubric.

Evidence of understanding should include a variety of methods and formats, including informal checks, traditional tests and quizzes, academic prompts and performance tasks.  Informal checks, which are not typically scored or graded, include teacher questioning, observations, examination of student work, and think-alouds.  Traditional tests and quizzes should be used to assess for factual information.  After all, how can we expect students to apply knowledge that they haven’t successfully acquired? In addition, academic prompts provide open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically.  Finally, performance tasks should be authentic, in that they require judgement and innovation and simulate the ways in which a person’s knowledge and abilities are tested in real-world situations.

I recently observed teachers who did all that.  The students wrote down the following question in their notebooks and brainstormed how they could go about finding the answer: What makes up the ecosystem of 5672 (the school’s address)? A student suggested that they could go outside and look around.  To the student’s surprise, that is exactly what we did.  The students took their notebooks with them and either made a list or drew pictures of what they observed.  To wrap up the lesson, the students returned to their classroom, shared their ideas and wrote down their responses in their notebooks.   These responses provide their evidence of understanding.  I didn’t see a rubric, but from my experience in this classroom thus far, I am certain that there is one.