Understanding by

Design Template

As teachers, we often find ourselves questioning the best approach to creating meaningful learning environments and ensuring our students feel comfortable in the classroom. In this subject, I had the opportunity to learn two effective ways to plan and establish goals that foster significant learning.

There are two methods that can be used in teaching: Fink’s 3-column table and the UbD Template. Both methods have their own benefits for both teachers and students. It's not necessary to choose one over the other, but it's important to know how to use them appropriately.

We can describe Fink's 3-column table as being divided into six sections, each one explaining a part of the process for achieving your BAGH (i.e., your goal), which outlines what you aim to achieve in the long term for your class. According to McTighe & Wiggins (2005), the Understanding by Design framework provides a systematic approach and framework to assist in developing curriculum, assessments, and instruction; the UbD template is divided into three stages of equal importance to reach a specific goal. It is more focused on governing educational standards, such as Prekindergarten Guidelines or TEKS for higher grades.

I suggest that we adopt Fink's 3-column table to set our long-term goals, which will help us determine what we want to achieve by the end of the school year. For the specific goals in each unit, we can use the UbD template to establish them in a more detailed manner.

According to Fink (2003), teaching involves two closely related but distinct activities. Firstly, designing the course by gathering information and making decisions about how it will be taught. Secondly, getting involved in the teacher-student relationship through various interactions such as lecturing, directing debates, carrying out experiments, providing advice, and communicating through email. The concept of teacher-student interaction is broad and encompasses various forms of communication. To be an effective teacher, one must be competent in both course design and teacher-student interactions. When it comes to seeking out authentic learning experiences and creating an encouraging educational atmosphere, both tools are incredibly valuable. It's essential, however, to discover the most suitable method for utilizing each tool to ensure it provides maximum assistance in our teaching endeavors. By doing so, we can make the most of these powerful resources and create an optimal learning environment for our students.

In my previous assignment, I presented a 3-column Fink table.
My UbD concentrates on teaching prekindergarten students about number sense through the rotation station. I invite you to examine and compare both assignments. I hope that they will be extremely helpful for your teaching planning.

TEKS

Assesments

References

Fink, L. D. (2003). A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning.

Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to

Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Texas Education Agency. (2022). 2022 Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines.

https://tea.texas.gov/academics/early-childhood-education/2022-texas-pkg-comprehensive-guide.pdf

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (expanded second ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.