Toolkit 1: Designing Pedagogical Experiments

with the ends in mind

“Good design is not so much about gaining a few new technical skills as it is about learning to be more thoughtful and specific about our purposes and what they imply.” -- Wiggins and McTighe, Understanding by Design

Julie Sievers, Center for Teaching Excellence

Learning Outcomes as Touchstones

• Make purposeful decisions as you design your course

• Focus your own efforts

• Help students learn – by clarifying the “why do we have to do this?” question

• Assessment: Did you accomplish your goal?

• Collaborate with colleagues: clarify shared goals

“If you don’t know exactly where you are headed, then any road will get you there.”

We are quick to say:• what things we like to

teach, • what activities we will do,

and • what resources we will

use;

… but without clarifying the desired results of our teaching, how will we ever know whether our designs are appropriate or arbitrary?” - Wiggins & McTighe

What are Student Learning

Outcomes?

What is a goal? • a destination rather than

the path taken to get there

• the end rather than the means

• the outcome rather than the process

What is a learning goal?

The knowledge, skills, attitudes, and habits of mind . . . that students take from a learning experience

A focus on what students can do

What is a behavioral goal?

• Focus on what students (not professors) will know & do

• Describe what students can know/ do after course or graduation

• use concrete action words

3 categories:

•Knowledge

•Skills

•Attitudes

SLOs: Knowledge & Understanding

What students should be able to do:

• Remember

• Replicate a simple procedure

• Define, summarize, or explain concepts or phenomena

For example:

“Summarize the distinctive characteristics of a particular novelist.”

“Explain how to access the web from computers in campus labs.”

SLOs: Thinking Skills & Other Skills

What students should be able to do:

• Thinking skills

but also, perhaps…• Performance

skills• Interpersonal

skills

Old vs. new versions of Bloom’s taxonomy

Learn more about the revision of the original (1956) taxonomy into the revised (2001) version.

SLOs: Attitudes & Values

What students should be able to do:

• Become aware of their own values, attitudes, and opinions - and how they evolved

• Develop integrity and character

• Enjoy, value learning

For example:

“Appreciate the perspective of people from backgrounds different from one’s own.”

“Choose ethical courses of action.”

Write Your Own Goals

Draft 5 goals for your project or course.

1. Brainstorm / sketch

2. Review your syllabi / project description

3. Revise / refine

Time: 15 minutes

Need to read more? • Suskie pgs 82-86

provides more detail.

Want other taxonomy ideas? • See UCD Dublin

guide.

Peer Review

Peer pairs

• Richard & Chris

• Mary & Jason

• Kate & Jimmy

• Rachael & Alex

• Yuliya & Gary

Peer review process

• 10 min per person• Share each SLO & your

rationale for it.• Ask peer any questions you

have

Reviewer’s job:

• Push peer towards greater specificity and focus on action words

• Use Nilson rubric to evaluate

Design Matters

“Teachers are designers. An essential act of our profession is the crafting of curriculum and learning experiences to meet specified purposes. We are also designers of assessments to diagnose student needs to guide our teaching and to enable us, our students, and others [ . . .] to determine whether we have achieved our goals.”

START with ultimate learning outcomes:

the most challenging, important outcomes

THEN: break these into smaller parts: consider what students will need to be able to do before

the more complex outcomes

FINALLY: consider the most basic,

foundational skills and knowledge students

need to achieve success at the later

levelsLinda Nilson, Teaching At Its Best, 2010

Outcomes-Based Design

recognizes developmental steps required to progress towards complex goals

Backward Design

• It’s hard to achieve a goal you haven’t defined

• Design decision should always come down to goals / outcomes

• Think developmentally

• Think practically: where will I see it? How will I know? What’s the evidence?

• Clarity about goals / purposes helps motivate and unify students and faculty

Project Management & Planning

• Goal 1: Use backward design process to break down course / project into – ultimate outcomes & student work– Mediating outcomes & student work– Foundational outcomes & student work

• Goal 2: Break down your own project work into stages.– Identify tasks– Identify resources needed (including colleagues, support

staff)– Map tasks / resource acquisition against a timeline

Project Planning1. (Optional) Break down course / project into stages:

– Ultimate outcomes & student work– Mediating outcomes & student work– Foundational outcomes & student work 

2. Identify major components of project work and sequence.

3. Identify needed resources (including consults w/ colleagues / staff)

4. Articulate questions that remain that you don't yet know how to answer or solve.

5. Develop a Timeline: Map project work against calendar. Note interactions with other obligations.

– Due dates for each major component– Weekly work plan if you need to structure your progress

6. Reflect: What about your project plan seems most ambitious or challenging? Where do you anticipate problems? What do you see as the components for which you are most prepared already?