The twentieth book that I’ve finished reading this year is Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe’s “Understanding by Design” (UbD). Pointing out the twin sins of activity-oriented and coverage-oriented traditional curriculum design, UbD advocates for backward design, where desired results are first identified then exemplified through appropriate evidence, around which learning experiences and instructions are planned. This design strategy urges teachers to put the big ideas of the curriculum at the core of their planning, serving to ignite students’ curiosity towards the subject and develop motivation to acquire knowledge and skills to apply and transfer in relevant real-world contexts.?

Thinking back to my own student experience, especially at the earlier stages, I’ve held the notion that as long as I follow the teacher’s pace and memorize all the information provided, be it theory, facts or mathematical equations, I would be able to succeed in academics. However, as I grew older, I realised that several pieces of knowledge that I once considered as ultimate truths are open to discussion and not set in stone; in fact, many theories and viewpoints are still under strong debate, and there may not be a single correct answer. It is the process of analysing and evaluating evidence related to these issues and topics before coming to a conclusion that really constitutes as learning, since learning is an experience. Spoon-feeding does not foster learning; learning has to be enacted by students themselves. Thus, it is important for students to remain curious about the world and be open to changes in ideologies; after all, there rarely are any fixed answers. As I made my way through the chapters and reflected on my own learning experience, I was intrigued by the debates behind the mathematical theories that I never knew but were so integral to understanding the arithmetic applications. If only we saw teaching and learning as a joint exploration for new knowledge and understanding rather than a pursuit for established correct answers to gain better grades!

When designing a curriculum, it is also important to consider the variety of essential questions, evidence of understanding, as well as learning activities. Essential questions function best when there is a mix of overarching (general and transferable) and topical (specific to the unit) questions that tap into the key concepts, purpose and value, strategy and tactics, as well as the context of use of the target knowledge/skills. Once acquired, understanding can be evaluated from six facets (not entirely different from Bloom’s taxonomy but with some modifications): explanation, interpretation, application, perspective, empathy and self-knowledge, the last one a strong indicator of metacognition, which can be developed through feedback and reflection. Thus, a diverse range of assessments should be designed to gain evidence of these facets, pressing for a wide array of learning activities that lead to these assessments. The authors developed a WHERETO acronym to assist teachers in analysing the effectiveness and engagingness of their learning activities (see pic below).

Of course, there is no single panacea that can be applied to curriculum planning of each sort, and there are different successful ways to design a well-threaded curriculum just as there is often no single correct answer. To quote from the book, “Learning, true learning, is always difficult. It always upends old learning, leading to disequilibrium and resistance.” As we feel the pain of learning through adjusting our curriculum designs, we are also putting ourselves in the shoes of students who are acquiring new knowledge and applying new skills. With stronger empathy, we may be able to design lessons better suited to students’ needs and allow them to see the purpose of learning more clearly.