chapter 12 - the big picture how big is big? –cannot be answered in isolation –partnership with...

Chapter 12 - The Big Picture

• How big is big? – Cannot be answered in isolation – Partnership with state & district standards

along with an interdisciplinary team is best (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006)


• Essential questions as course and program foundations– Essential questions can be used to

provide the backbone of courses and programs into which individual units fit

– Assists in overarching questions


• Cross-disciplinary questions– Crosses curricular boundaries (sometimes

on purpose, sometimes not)


• Framing curriculum by performance tasks – The assessment plan has to involve more high-quality,

application-focused performance tasks constructed around the 6 facets (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006):

• Explanation • Interpretation • Application • Perspective • Empathy • Self-knowledge

– The assesment and rubric must be considered when framing the curriculum (Wiggins & Tighe, 2006)

• It is easier to create these in a team setting...partnering with state & district standards with strong interdisciplinary or other academic teams


• From tasks to rubrics – Wouldn't it be nice if there were a system

of rubrics used: • Good - Department wide • Better - School wide • Even Better - District wide • Best - State wide


• Applying "scope and sequence" to a curriculum for understanding – The flow of learning work in the classroom

should be the same as it is on the athletic field or in the art studio

• In other words, we need to be able to do the subject with understanding - acquire knowledge and skill not for sake of self, but for handling key tasks in the field (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006)


• The logic of content versus the logic of coming to understand content – Goes back to knowledge and

understanding – We can read a text book and know the

content, but do we understand the content


• Rethinking scope and sequence – Original meanings:

• Scope refers to the major functions of social life

• Sequence refers to the center of interest at a particular point in time


• Hook and rethinking, rethought – Do we have to follow a certain sequence

when teaching a certain subject? – Do we need to follow the text book from

chapter 1 to the end?


• The spiral curriculum – Develops curriculum around recurring, ever

deepening inquiries into big ideas and important tasks

– The teacher's task is to design related challenges so that learning results in the "production of new ideas"

– New facts and ideas become the ground for further experiences in which new problems are presented

– This is the continual spiral (Wiggins and McTighe, 2006)


• Toward a better syllabus – Essential questions and core problems at the heart of the

subject – Core performances and challenges hat frame all work and

impy all learning – Rubrics and scoring systems used – Summary and justification of ht eassessment and grading

policies, in reference to institutional goals and state standards

– Summary of the major learning goals in a brief week by week calendar

– Built in flexibility to ensure the syllabus can adapt to feedback based on student performance and understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006)


References

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J.(2006). Understanding by design . Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc..

chapter 12 - the big picture how big is big? –cannot be answered in isolation –partnership with...

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