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1. Backward Design
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com
www.thelearningsciences.com

2. Background
• Professor, Harvard University Extension School: Psych 1609 “The
Neuroscience of Learning: Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education
science”
• OECD: Member of the expert panel on Teachers New Pedagogical
Knowledge based on contributions from Technology and Neuroscience
• Latin American Social Science Research Faculty, Ecuador: Educational
Researcher and Professor
• Interdisciplinary researcher in neuroscience, cognitive psychology and
education (cultural anthropology and linguistics).
• Associate Editor of the Nature Partner Journal Science of Learning
• Boston University: BA, BS, magna cum laude; Harvard University:
Master’s in International Educational Development; Capella University: Ph.D.
In Professional Studies in Education (Mind, Brain and Education Science)
• Former Director of the Teaching and Learning Institute at the Universidad
San Francisco de Quito Ecuador
• Former Dean of Education at the Universidad de las Américas, Quito,
Ecuador
• Teacher at all levels of education (K-University, continuing education) with
more than 29 years of experience in 31 countries.
2

3. Thank you!
3
Jeannie!
Tracey!

4. www.thelearningsciences.com
www.traceytokuhama.com
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com

5. Challenge: 3-2-1
• 3 things that impacted you today
• 2 two things so interesting you will share
them with someone else
• 1 thing you will change about your
practice based on the information
shared today

6. “Not another new idea?!”
18 September 2017 Tokuhama-Espinosa 6

7. HIGH self-knowledge
(clear concept of self, understanding of students and methods of teaching)
LOW self-knowledge
(clear concept of self, understanding of students and methods of teaching)
LOW level of understanding
of the suject matter
HIGH level of understanding of
the suject matte
Ideal Teacher Development
Powell y Powell, Bangkok, 2004

8. The Fink’s Four Teaching Components
L. Dee Fink (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences, p.22

9. • Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998/2005). Understanding by
design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
Backward Design

10. Three steps to ensuring understanding
(backward design)
Adopted from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding
by Design.
Objectives
“At the end of the
day, what do I hope
I achieved”?
Evaluation
“What do I accept as
evidence that I am meeting
my objectives?”
Activities
“What do I do”?

11. 18 September 2017 Tokuhama-Espinosa 11

12. Think of your favorite teacher

13. Charcteristics of a good teacher
• In groups: Put the characteristic in order of inportance:
Caring
Knowledgeable
Experienced
Intelligent
Planner
Organized
Just
Happy
Dedicated
Balanced
Good values
Creative
Professional
Concerned
Reflective
Respectful
Active
Sure
Didactic
Dynamic

14. There are lots of ways to be a great
teacher…
• What do you value?
• What will you measure yourself again?
• What characteristics top your list?
• What do you want to work (personally) this year?
Tokuhama-Espinosa 08/03 14

15. “Education”
•Why teach?
18 September 2017 Tokuhama-Espinosa 15

16. Rip van Winkle

17. Transportation

18. Banks

19. Government

20. Supermarkets

21. Schools….

22. Change 1:
Different expectations of school

23. Changes in Educational Goals
(OECD, 2014; Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2014)
1. From equal access (everyone goes to school) to equal quality.
2. From teaching in silos (one subject separate from another) to
transdisciplinarity.
3. From standards to creativity.
4. From “passing a class” to life-long learning.
5. From traditional resources to technology integration.
6. From bettering “self” to enhanced collaboration, cooperation,
communication, cultural awareness, building communities, and wider
contextual application (bettering “the group”).
7. From content knowledge to critical thinking.
8. From brick-and-mortar classrooms to Flipped Classrooms
9. ?

24. Change 2: New expectations of both
students and teachers

26. Change 3: Technology and Better
Knowledge of the Brain

27. Better knowledge about the brain
and learning
• Improvements in technology since The Decade of the Brain (1990s) have
yielded greater insights about healthy brain functioning. Early models
promoted neuromyths.

29. Refined technology
(healthy subjects)
Simple modelsReplicas of connections
Actual computer enhanced connections

30. Change 4: Better Insight as to What
Really Influences Student Learning

31. Better knowledge about what really
influences teaching and learning outcomes
• Longitudinal studies (age
comparative)
• International comparative studies
(independent of cultural context=what
is true for “all”)
• Methodologically comparative scale

32. John Hattie (2009; 2012; 2013; 2014)
Starting point: High quality educational research
900 meta analyses; 50,000 studies; 2.4 million students

33. Competencies:
Objectives
Educational
Competencies
Knowledge + Skills
+ Attitudes

34. Worth knowing (knowledge)
Important to know and be
able to do (skills)
Significant learning
(attitudes)
Content-area knowledge (dates,
facts, formulas, theories,
concepts, places, names, etc.)
(“to know”)
Skills (strategies, methods, class
activities) (“to know how to
do”)
Big Ideas: What students
remember long after the course
ends (values) (“to know how to
be”).
For example, “appreciate problems
as opportunities”; “perseverance
and grit”; “value Mathematical
thinking as another way of
approaching about problems”;
“value teamwork,” etc.
Based in Grant Wiggins y Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding by Design

35. Backward Design and Differentiation

36. Decide:
1. Ideal society
2. Ideal citizen
3. Philosophy of the institution
4. Mission and vision of the institution
5. Profile of the ideal graduate
6. Teacher profile
7. Profile of students at each level
8. Curriculum
• Objetcives
• Evaluation
• Activities
9. Syllabus
10. Unit planning
• Objetcives
• Evaluation
• Activities
11. Planificación de lecciones
• Objetcives
(Ideal) educational planning
] Backward Design
]Backward Design
] Backward Design

37. Three steps to ensuring understanding
(backward design)
Adopted from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding
by Design.

38. Step 1. Objectives

39. Global vs. Specific Objectives
• Globals: general, achieved over the
entire course, semester, year or school
career (graduate profile).
• Specific: for each class.

40. 1. Backward Design can be conducted at all levels
of planning: yearly, unit, theme, or class.
• Today we focus on a single class.
2. Determine objectives based on competencies
• Knowledge?
• Skills?
• Attitudes?
Backward Design: macro vs. micro

41. Step 2. Evaluation

42. • Backward design’s focus forces us to think about
each unit of the class in terms of assessment
evidence to document and validate desired
learning objectives.
• How do we know if the students are achieving the
results we desire and the standards we need?
• What will we accept as evidence of learning (the
achievement of the competencies)?
Step 2. Determine Acceptable Evidence
(Evaluation activities)
Adopted from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe (1998), Understanding by Design.

43. Philosophy of evaluation
1. What is the purpose of evaluation?
2. What is the difference between evaluation
and feedback?
3. Should we evaluate students based on
standards, or on a student’s individual
potential in your subject?

44. What is the purpose of evaluation?
• Can evaluation help learning?
• Is evaluation used to rank?
• Can exams be used to indicate errors in
teaching?
Guskey (1996), Reporting on Student Learning: Lessons from the Past, Prescriptions for the Future en Communicating
Student Learning, capítulo 3. Bain (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do, p. 152.

45. What is the difference between
evaluation and feedback?
Bain (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do, p. 33-34 y Halpern & Hakel, 2003 citado en Giordano (2004), “Teaching
and Learning When We Least Expect It: The Role of Critical Moments in Student Development”.
 What has more impact on learning?
 What a student thinks the teacher
thinks about him will impact his
learning (even if it is an incorrect
perception on the part of the student
(Halpern & Hakel, 2003; Procter,
1984).

46. Should we evaluate students based on
standards, or on a student’s individual
potential in the subject?
• PRODUCT: What does the student produce?
• PROCESS: How did the student come about the product?
• PROGRESS: How much did the student gain producing the
product?
• All of the above?
Kovas (1993) citado en Guskey (1996) “Reporting on Student Learning: Lessons from the Past, Prescriptions for the Future” en
Communicating Student Learning, capítulo 3.

47. Evaluation methods and what they really
measure:
Based on Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. (1998), Understanding by Design. Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, p.12.
Knowledge
Skills
Attitudes
Open ended tests
Observations (evaluation informal)
Multiple choice tests
Informal (oral) review
Academic hints
Projects
Simulations and dramatizations

48. How do we choose the right evaluation
methods?
Criteria:
1. Is the evaluation method the most appropriate to
measure progress towards the objective?
2. Can the instrument be “differentiated”?

49. Types of informal and formal evaluation
methods (summative and formative)
•Observations, conversations and
feedback
•Tests and exams
•Academic hints
•Projects, simulations

50. Examples of academic hints
 What do we know about…?
 How do we know…?
 Why do we accept or believe…?
 Is there evidence for…?
Bain (2004) What the Best College Teachers Do, p. 85.

51. Criteria for essential questions:
1. Arrive at the heart of the subject
2. Don’t have a single correct answer (yes or no)
3. Cross disciplines
4. Naturally lead to other questions

52. • “How do you cultivate and sustain cultures of high expectations and
goodness?”
• “Why do we need to learn a foreign language?”
• “Why do we need to learn how to add (read)?”
• “Why care?”
• “Why is sound important?”
• “Why do we read, write and tell stories?”
• “Why do we need need to learn about different countries?”
• “How does energy change?”
Essential questions (examples)

53. The art of questioning
Paradigm shift:
• The teacher does not have to
answer all the questions.
• Start a habit of answer a question
with a question.
• Habit of centering all classes on the
student (on learning vs. on teaching)

54. Rubrics and criteria
• Rubrics can be simple or detailed.
Basado en el Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, OR ©2000

55. Three considerations in making rubrics:
1. Holistic or analytic?
2. Generic or specific?
3. Scale?

56. Holistic or analytic?
• Whole product • Divides product into
various characteristics and
awards each part.
For example, in a math class the teacher can choose to give a grade based
on the final answer, or to give partial credit for steps in the resolution of the
problem
Holistic Analytic

57. Generic of specific?
• Use the same rubric to
grade daily activities…
• While specific rubrics are
designed for a specific
activity.
For example, a language teacher can design a rubric for class
participation which is used on a daily basis, or she can design a rubric
for a specific class presentation.
Generic Specific

58. Scale?
• Scales be from 1 to 1000,
depending on the local criteria.
• The decision about the number
of points is determined by the
range of you want to reflect.
• Typical: 5 points, but…

59. Applications
Options:
• Some teachers give rubrics to
student at the beginning of the
semester or unit.
• Others give rubrics at the start of
each graded activity.
• Others develop the rubric with the
students.

60. What are evaluations accomodations?
According to A Mind at a Time:
• Accomodations are small adjustments in
the way we teach or grade in order to
help each student find success in class.
• (If they are extreme, they neither help the
student nor the teacher, however.)
Source:: Mel Levine, 2000.

61. Simple accomodations
• SPACE: Change a student’s seat (to improve concentration).
• PERSON: Permit feedback or evluation in small groups or by peers,
parents or the student himself.
• TIME: Give more time to the student (so long as the task is not time-
dependent). (For example, if the purpose is to value the quality of
writing, does it really need to be timed?)
Source:: Mel Levine, 2000.

62. To differentiate in evaluation…
1. Start with a good diagnosis: What aspect of learning
troubles the student?
2. Choose the correct evaluation tool based on the
objectives (competencies).
• Use rubrics to consider Product, Process and
Progress.
3. Apply accomodations.

63. Step 3. Activities

64. DAILY PRACTICE

65. L. Dee Fink (2003) Creating Significant Learning Experiences, p.22

66. Seven factors in a good learning environment:
1. Safe environment
2. Intellectual freedom
3. Respect
4. Self-directed
5. Paced challenges
6. Active learning
7. Feedback
Billington, D. (1997). Seven characteristics of highly effective learning programs

67. 1. Student centered
2. Active
3. Holistic
4. Authentic
5. Expressive
6. Reflexive
7. Social
8. Collaborative
9. Democrative
10. Cognitive
11. Developmental
12. Costructivist
13. Challenging
14. (Fun)
Best Practice
by Steven Zemelman, Harvey Daniels, y Arthur Hyde (2005):

68. “The one who does the work is
the one who learns.”

69. “Never tell what you can ask.”
Socratic Method

71. Characteritsics of a person who thinks critially
• Intellectual curiosity
• Intellectual courage
• Intellectual humility
• Intellectual empathy
• Intellectual integrity
• Intellectual perseverance
• Faith in reason
• Act justly: Have the disposition and be conscience of
the necessity to consider improbable outcomes.
Paul (1992) cited in Muñoz & Beltrán 2001, tranalated by

72. Examples of activities that stimulate critical
thinking
1. Debate
2. Problem-based learning
3. Case studies
4. Stories, fables
5. Dramatization
6. Role play
7. Crossword puzzels
8. Questioning
• The Art of Questioning
• Essential Questions

73. The “5 Es” (7 Es)

74. 5 Es: Engage, Explore, Explain,
Elaborate, Evaluate
Links:
• Constructivism and the 5 E’s from the “Miami Museum of Science”
http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html
• The 5 E’s – from the “Afterschool Training Toolkit, Southwestern Educational
Development Laboratory”
http://www.sedl.org/afterschool/toolkits/science/tk_5Es.htmlOnline
• Cursos para profesores: La evolución de la enseñanza – excelentes ejemplos
de la utilización de las cinco E’s en una unidad – de “PBS Online”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/educators/course/

75. E1: “Engage”
• Each class should begin with an
event that captivates the attention
of the students.
• This awakens the natural curiosity
that they might have about the topic
and helps them make links with
past knowlegde.

76. E2: Explore
• Students then do an activity that
allows them to explore a new concept
or skills.
• Students looks for solutions to
problems or to explain a phenomena
in their own words.
• This stage permits students to gather
a group of shared experiences and
work together to find a solution.

77. E3: Explain
• Only after the students have
explored the concept on their
own should the teacher then
explain using the correct
terminology.
• Remember: Explanations after
the experience!

78. E4: Elaborate
• In this stage give the students to
deepen their understanding and
to apply what they have learned
to new situations.
• Here, be sure to allow students to
discuss their ideas.

79. E5: Evaluate
The final unit of the class has two
objectives:
• First that students develop a clear
understanding.
• Second, to evaluate what they think
they can now do.
• At this point it is logical to evaluate key
concepts and skills.

80. Summary
• Backward Design
• Why Teach?
• What makes a great teacher?
• Deciding the objective of Education
• Changes in educational expectations in the 21st century
• Some concrete examples of Objectives, Evaluation
and Activities
• And now…3-2-1
18 September 2017 Tokuhama-Espinosa 80

81. Challenge: 3-2-1
• 3 things that impacted you today
• 2 two things so interesting you will share
them with someone else
• 1 thing you will change about your
practice based on the information
shared today

82. Contact:
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
Quito, Ecuador
www.traceytokuhama.com
www.thelearningsciences.com
www.lascienciasdelaprendizaje.com
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com
82