Module 7 Backwards Design

In my experiences in elementary school, I do not remember having much science at all in our classrooms. When we did have science, it was very short. I do not think they used Backward Design. Our typical less is as follows: First my teachers explained the objective. Next, they asked us questions about what we already knew. Then we worked to complete an activity. Lastly, we took a test to see what we knew. This was a content specific lesson plan… it was boring, and repetitive.

Thinking back to high school and even my college courses, I do not remember my teachers using backwards design. We came to class each day ready to take notes from the projector. Each day was the same routine, just new content. My teachers never described the goals for the day, or introduced new topics. Later always came the test. The test was a major part of our grade, it was all or nothing. You either knew the content, or you didn't. In these situations it would have been nice to have formative assessments to encourage me that I knew the material, but to also guide future instruction. 

As a student, I remember thinking that the objective was not really that helpful. I just thought of it as a bunch of “fancy” words. It would have been more beneficial to think of them as learning goals, and then the following instruction may have been more relevant. It also would have helped it the teachers had set expectations for us to follow throughout the lessons. I believe my teachers just stated the objective because they were told to do so, but they were not measured or very relevant to our learning. 

Backwards design is a great way to change how teachers teach, but also to change how students learn. I am a goal oriented person. I need specific goals to function. In backwards design, both the teacher and the student are presented with tangible goals the drive instruction. Students are able to become involved in the learning process. The teacher is able to implement activities and assessments that align to the learning goals. Backwards Design is a great tool to use in order to modify instruction for your own classroom. I think that it would be very beneficial in a science classroom.