Understanding by Design (UBD)

Chapter 5
 When creating essential questions, we need to ask ourselves these three
questions: how the questions allows students to solve the problem,
what kind of result do we expect from doing these learning activities and
assessment and why do we ask these questions.
 We can always refer to the four categories of big ideas in order to create
effect skill learning. Those categories are: Key concepts, purpose and
value, strategy and tactics and context of use.
 There are two type of essential questions which topical and overarching
questions. Overarching questions refer to general questions that cover a
broad range of information that revolve around the main topic. It is best
used for giving a general idea about the curriculum or course of study.
While Topical questions are rather specific questions that are created for
a particular topic. It is often used to create deeper inquiry about the
topic.
 There has been some misconception about leading questions and
essential questions. Leading questions is meant to get a definite answer
from students. Students can answer the leading questions by
memorization or regurgitate the information that they have read in the
book. For essential questions seek to lead them to understanding the
topic and have in-dept knowledge about the topic, so they are able to do
generate analysis or form a view of their own.
 There are no right essential questions to ask, it always depend upon the
intent. It is always ideal to combine both overarching and topical
questions when designing a unit plan or curriculum. As these helps
students to have a well-rounded learning experience.
Chapter 6
 Once students understand the topic, they will be able to apply the skill
to new situations beyond the topic being taught.
 Students demonstrate understanding through discovering. Learning
takes place through self-discovery.
 According to Dewey (1933), understanding require students to work
through a few process including validation the information and forming
appropriate conclusion instead of just acknowledging the information.
On the other hand, gaining a fact require students to know the meaning
or see the data.
 The traditional rote learning or drill-and-practice methods is not as
efficient as understanding-based teaching. It is because understanding-
based teaching creates a better and effective autonomous proficiency.
 Teachers needs to pay attention to the possible misunderstanding about
the topic or skill when teaching as we tend to assume that students will
understand as how we understand. Sometime we understood topic by
remembering the fact, when further questions about the topic we could
not explain further and transfer the concept to new situation.
 Teacher should provide a learning experience for student to practice,
verify and coitize their own understanding in order to promote deeper
understanding in them.