Learning has been the most repeated word that I have read during the last months. Many sentences and words have been used to mention valuable explanations about processes that are carried out to achieve desired results. However, many questions still remain in my ears and eyes. What do we have to teach and how? Why students should do this or that? How learners can provide with evidence of understanding? Which learning experiences are best planned and organized in order to achieve certain educational goals? Answers don´t come easily to my mind. Therefore, I only have some momentarily responses that attempt to explain how we could solve this problem.
According to Wigging and Mc Tighe , there are some elements that make learning more effective and help students and teachers to achieve understanding as an educational goal. That is to say that, teachers have to count with a set of ideas and practices that allow them to engage students in effective learning. What do we have to do ?
First of all, we have to state clear goals that can guide the learning / teaching process. Having a lucid vision of desired results can lead us to plan achievable objectives. If we knew with certainty what students should understand and be able to do as a result of any plan ,we would be able to guide their learning process with more wisdom. Secondly, standards ( national or institutional ) can provide with a useful bodywork that helps to identify teaching and learning priorities. This information is highly convenient when planning what contents and which methodologies are best tools to accomplish desired learning . ( what and how to teach ).Thirdly, we have to take into account the diversity of students sharing the same learning experience day by day. They represent different learning and cognitive styles and psychological types.
These elements are placed in the three stages of backward design :
Step 1 : Identify desired results. What…? / How…?
In this step, we state achievable goals and contents based on standards (national or institutional ). We also establish the priorities and best methodologies to apply in relation to objectives, needs of the students.
Step 2 : Determine acceptable evidence. Why…? What for…?
In this stage, students should show results. Educators should have clear understanding of what students should be able to do as a result of well planned lessons and activities based on educational aims. Besides students should provide sings of the accomplishment of goals .
Step 3 : Plan learning experiences and instruction: Which activities.. ?
With clear identified results, teachers are able to plan a bank of graded instructional activities which enable students to achieve certain accomplishments. Relevant decisions about methods, resources and materials are made in this stage in order to equip students with the necessary tools for achieving understanding goals.
