Understanding By Design
A Contemporary Approach to
Curriculum Design
Understanding by Design (UbD) may be thought of as
purposeful task analysis:
Given a task to be accomplished, how
do we get there?
What lessons and practices are needed
to master key concepts?
- Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, Understanding by Design
Think with the end in mind;
start with assessment
Stage One: Identify Desired
Results
Elements of the Design: Goals,
Knowledge and Skills, Essential
Questions, Enduring Understandings
Key Elements
Goals
Knowledge
and
Skills
Enduring
Understandings
Essential Questions
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Goals

The Goals for each unit are typically the
national, state, and/or local standards.
They often represent content that must be
met for a particular grade level or subject.
 Goals are over-arching in nature.

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Knowledge and Skills
These are objectives that students
should be able to know and to do.
 Specific content knowledge and skills
must be included.

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Essential Questions

These are open-ended questions that are
thought-provoking and interpretive.
 Essential Questions are at the core of your
content. They often lead to or require further
investigation.
 Essential Questions:



Have no obvious right answer
Raise more questions
Address concepts that are important to the subject
matter.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Enduring Understandings

Enduring Understandings:

They are Big Ideas (knowledge) that will be
transferred; they are made into statements.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
UbD’s FACETS
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe state
that there are Six Facets of
Understanding.
 When the facets are a part of the
curriculum design, students are offered
opportunities to obtain key
understandings.

Six Facets of Understanding
• Explanations: Definitions, clarifications, reasons that
provide foundation knowledge
• Interpretation: Narratives, translations, metaphors, etc.
that provide meaning
• Application: Ability to effectively apply knowledge in a
variety of contexts.
• Perspective: Critical and insightful points of view.
Recognize the significance of ideas.
• Empathy: Ability to see things from other points of view.
• Self-Knowledge: Awareness of one’s limitations and
strengths, as well as the ability to recognize the roles
others play.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Examples of Performance Tasks:
• Explanation: Write letters home describing what the
pioneer life was like.
• Interpretation: Compare English and Spanish versions of
Cinderella to determine if language influences meaning.
• Application: Adapt events from history that contributed to
societal reaction to the Civil Rights Movement by
recreating a scene and presenting it to a group.
• Perspective: Participate in a roundtable discussion on
the impact of the First Amendment on a specific group.
• Empathy: Create a diary that reflects the day in the life of
a soldier.
• Self-Knowledge: Write a self-assessment reflecting on
your progress in mastering a skill.
Stage Two: Determine
Acceptable Evidence
Stage 2: Determine Acceptable
Evidence
This stage identifies specific
assessments that will be used.
 Identify the summative assessment.
 What is the culminating activity that will
represent the understandings students
have gained from the unit?

Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Examples of
Assessment Types
Tests/Quizzes
Academic
Prompts
Observations
/Dialogues
Acceptable
Evidence
Performance
Tasks
Informal
Checks
for
Understanding
Stage Three: Plan Learning
Activities
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
Stage Three: Plan Learning
Activities

This is the stage where specific learning
activities (lessons) are planned to accompany
each unit.
 The lessons designed in this stage should be
based on the desired results from stages 1 and
2.
 W.H.E.R.E.T.O. is an acronym for planning
steps to help meet the requirements of the unit.

The acronym does not represent the order to be
followed
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
W.H.E.R.E.T.O.
• W - Where are you going with this unit?
• How does the unit fit in the curriculum and with state
standards?
• What is expected?
• H - How will you hook the students?
• E - How will you equip students for expected performances?
• R - How will you rethink or revise?
• E - How will students self-evaluate and reflect their learning?
• T - How will you tailor learning to varied needs, interests, and
learning styles of the students?
• O - How will you organize the sequence of learning?
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (1998). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development
IN SUMMARY
Begin with what you want your students
to understand at the end of the unit.
 Identify each of the elements required in
each stage.

Identify Desired Results
 Determine Acceptable Evidence
 Plan Learning Activities

Contact Information
For access to the UbD Exchange to
search or build units in the UbD format,
contact:
DeNelle Knowles
at
knowlesd@edcuationcentral.org