# Understanding by Design  ## Metadata - Author: [[Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe]] - Full Title: Understanding by Design - Category: #books ## Highlights - In addition to Goals, we ask designers to specify the Essential Questions inStage 1. These are not typical “objectives,” to be sure, and some might quibblethat posing a question isn’t really germane to identifying results for learning. Onthe contrary, we argue that the Essential Questions highlight the big ideas thatare central to the design, ideas that the work will require students to address.Because many of the truly Essential Questions recur and have no final resolution, it is appropriate to say that “seriously pursuing the question” as opposedto “answering” it is the desired ([Location 30586](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=30586)) - result. By asking for Essential Questions, we areencouraging designers to avoid coverage and to commit to genuine inquiry—the discussion, reflection, problem solving, research, and debate that are therequisites for developing deep understanding of essential ideas. ([Location 30587](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=30587)) - “Well, it is my understanding that . . .”The beauty of the phrase, we think, is that it appropriately implies insight andfallibility. ([Location 67723](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=67723)) - Tags: [[pink]] - A desired understanding is a priority. A unit should focus on a smallnumber of transferable big ideas about which understandings are stated— ([Location 68597](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=68597)) - Tags: [[orange]] - Given the unobvious, often counterintuitive, and otherwise abstract nature ofbig ideas, the understandings have to be “earned” through carefully designedexperiences that uncover the possible meanings of core content. ([Location 107043](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=107043)) - We can therefore explain uncoverage as bringing a concept to life throughexperiences. ([Location 107481](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=107481)) - At the heart of uncoverage, then, is the designed learning of how to questionthe material. ([Location 109665](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=109665)) - To better understand why goal, evidence, and context matter so much,consider two simple examples. If you are lost while driving and you stop to asksomeone for directions, you want direct instruction. You don’t want JoeSocrates endlessly asking, “And why are you trying to get there as opposed tosome other place? What does it mean that you are driving? How do you thinkyou became lost? Have you considered that maybe you are not lost and havefound something important?” No, you want Joe to inform you on how to get toMain Street. On the other hand, if your goal is to learn how to cook, you wouldbe profoundly disappointed to be given 30 lectures about every angle on cooking without ever setting foot in a kitchen and “doing” some cooking. ([Location 110103](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=110103)) - Teacherswho love to lecture do too much of it; teachers who resist it do too little.Teachers who love ambiguity make discussions needlessly confusing. ([Location 110976](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=110976)) - theapplications are part of the knowledge. For the very meaning of things known is wrapped up in their relationships beyond themselves. Thus,unapplied knowledge is knowledge shorn of its meaning. ([Location 114472](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=114472)) - and a whole-part-whole ([Location 114473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=114473)) - Part to whole, whole to part—that’show we come to understand and use our knowledge. ([Location 114908](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=114908)) - The “mess” is transformed into a recipe through backward design: ([Location 116656](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=116656)) - It may seem surprising for us to suggest that you can start anywhere— ([Location 116657](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=116657)) - Tags: [[pink]] - “If we attempted to eliminate all ambiguity in taskanalysis, we would have to over-proceduralize a complex set of decisions—todevelop a cookbook . . . the design process is largely dependent upon the reasoning ability of the designer. ([Location 121900](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=121900)) - How does a syllabus signal the priorities and immediately arouse learnerinterest in them? ([Location 134134](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=134134)) - A spiral approach develops curriculum around recurring, ever-deepeninginquiries into big ideas and important tasks, ([Location 135005](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=135005)) - discipline. The task is to move back and forthbetween the known and the problematic; otherwise, “no problems arise, whileproblems are the stimulus to thinking” ([Location 135008](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=135008)) - The teacher’s task is to designrelated challenges so that learning results in “the production of new ideas,” asit does for the scholar. ([Location 135008](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=135008)) - “Just in time” teaching wouldbe the mantra, as opposed to “justin case” surveys of content out ofcontext. ([Location 136753](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=136753)) - We must check our bad habit of building frameworks around the logic ofcontent instead of the logic of learning. ([Location 136753](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=136753)) - Tags: [[pink]] - Now suppose we are terribly concerned about the final numbers (e.g.,weight or blood pressure) and that the numbers ultimately link to our personalhealth insurance costs. What we might do, in our panicky state prior to eachannual physical, would be to “practice” for the test—focus all our energy onthe physical exam (as opposed to what its indicators suggest). If our doctorsknew of our actions, their response would surely be something like this “Whoa!You have it backward. The best way to ‘pass’ your physical is to live a healthful life on a regular basis—exercising, watching weight, lowering intake of fats,eating more fiber, getting sufficient sleep, and avoiding tobacco. You’re fixatingon the indicator instead of on the causes of good results.” ([Location 138065](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=138065)) - content. The perceived need to “cover” is typically basedupon two implicit assumptions that we think are quite unfounded: (1) if I“teach” it (e.g., talk about it and assign some work on it), it will be adequatelylearned for tests; and (2) if I don’t address it in a didactic way, it won’t belearned. ([Location 140685](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00BEN1I80&location=140685))