Backward design

Backward design is a method of designing curriculum by setting goals before choosing activities or content to teach. The idea is to teach towards those goals, which ensures that the content taught remains focused and organized, promoting a better understanding for students. "Backward Design" is a term coined by Grant Wiggins in his book, Understanding by Design (1999, 1st ed.). The concept of "Backward Design" was based upon a concept first utilized by contractors to the Department of the Navy in the late 1970's. It was enhanced and refined by Landmark Education in 1991. Retitled "Structure for Fulfillment," it became the cornerstone of their leadership training program, the Team Management and Leadership Program.

Backward design challenges the traditional methods of curriculum planning. In traditional curriculum planning, one sits down and write down the list of content that will be taught.^{[citation needed]} In backward design, one starts with goals, then assessments and finally lesson plans. A metaphor used by proponents of backward design is a roadmap: with backward design, one chooses the destination first and then follows the map to go directly there. With traditional curriculum planning, one just hits the road hoping to reach the final destination (if it is even defined).

Steps of backward design

Established goals

First the educator chooses the goals of the curriculum or the unit to be taught. This is divided in five sections:

1. The established goals (usually national or local standards to meet)
2. The essential questions to consider
3. The enduring understandings that students should have (Students will understand...)
4. Content knowledge acquired (Students will know...)
5. Skills acquired (Students will be able to...)

Assessment

The second part of curriculum planning with backward design is finding an assessment. This is usually the most difficult part for traditional educators switching to backward design because it is hard to conceptualize an assessment before deciding on lessons. The idea is that the assessment (formative and summative) should meet the goals set in the first section. This is to avoid assessing something that was not a goal and ensure that the goals are assessed. A metaphor to illustrate the reason for putting the assessment second could be to avoid soccer practice to prepare a team for a basketball tournament. Coaches would not deny the value of soccer practice, but it is clear that it does not fit the goals set out by the team. In backward design, educators approach the situation in very much the same way

Learning plan

Finally, educators list the essential questions to be considered in individual lessons or unit (in the case of a curriculum planning). This ensure that lessons and units flow towards the goals set in the first section and learning and understanding is assessed properly.