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Module 1:

Student-Centered Teaching & Backward Design

Dr. Amy Pistone, Gonzaga University

Dr. Ellen Lee, University of Pittsburgh

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Goals & Objectives!

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

Define concepts like:

Backward course design
Instructor-centered vs. student-centered teaching
Learning objectives
Bloom’s taxonomy
Alignment

Articulate learning objectives for your class(es)
Begin considering instructional & assessment strategies that align with your learning objectives

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Backward Course Design

“Our lessons, units, and courses should be logically inferred from the results sought, not derived from the methods, books, and activities with which we are most comfortable. Curriculum should lay out the most effective ways of achieving specific results… in short, the best designs derive backward from the learnings sought.”

Understanding by Design, Wiggins & McTighe

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Learning Objectives:

What are the most important things students will learn in your course?

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Set learning objectives that are:

student-centered
clear & specific
measurable

What skills and knowledge do you want students to develop and demonstrate in this course?
How can you articulate those objectives in a way that clearly indicates to students what they will achieve in the course?

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Revisions of Bloom’s Taxonomy

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Revisions of Bloom’s Taxonomy

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Alignment:

How will students’ learning experiences help them achieve these learning objectives?

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Align learning experiences with your learning objectives

Consider:

Assessments
Instructional Activities
Course Content

What learning experiences (readings, lectures, activities, assignments) would best help students achieve these objectives?

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Assessment Alignment

How can you best assess whether students have progressed toward or achieved learning objectives successfully?

You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy categories to align assessments with learning objectives.

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Learning Objective What specific knowledge/skills should students develop in your course?	Assessment Activity What kinds of tasks will reveal whether students have achieved the learning objective?	Instructional Activity What teaching methods or strategies will you use to help students practice and achieve the learning objective?
Closely read and analyze ancient and modern literary texts	Journal assignments (in which students choose a brief passage to analyze each week) Students generate discussion questions	Assign appropriate readings (not too long, to allow students to read for detail) Lead in-class discussion about readings, modeling close reading strategies
Make clear, concise, and convincing arguments in writing using evidence from primary sources	Essay exam or paper written in response to prompt Essay in response to student-generated analytical question	Assign scholarship or essays for students to read as models Model argument-building in giving lectures In-class thesis workshops

Alignment Matrix

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Pick one or more of your (current or potential) courses and reflect on the following questions. Spend some time writing your responses in a reflection journal or respond in the appropriate forum on Discord.

What do you want your students to be able to do by the end of the term? List 2-3 (or more!) course-level learning goals/objectives.
How can you articulate these objectives in a way that clearly indicates to students what they will achieve in the course?
What kinds of tasks would best reveal whether students have achieved the learning objectives? What instructional activities (including course content) would best help students work towards these objectives? (You can use the alignment matrix here to begin considering how to align your learning objectives with your assessments and instructional activities. But stay tuned! We’ll be addressing strategies for instruction and assessment in following modules.)