Six Facets of
Understanding
Clarifying meaning and
defining expectations
Chuck McWilliams, MRH School District
Friday, June 5th 2009
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"There is nothing so terrible
as activity without insight."
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832
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Our Shared Thinking as UbD Designers
• The teacher’s job is to “uncover” the big
ideas contained in content standards and
to ensure they are understood, not to
provide merely fun activities or cover a
textbook or cover a textbook’s content.
• The job of the teacher requires
“thinking like an assessor” - doing
research into one’s practice, and
adjusting practice and designs in light
of sought-after results/feedback.
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
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A Few Great Thinkers!
Benjamin Bloom
Jay McTighe
Grant Wiggins
Norman Webb
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
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Depth of
Knowledge
Facets of
Understanding
Introducing…
Evaluation
High
Synthesis
Analysis
Benjamin Bloom
Application
Comprehension
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
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Knowledge
Low
A Newer Look?
Lorin Anderson
and
David Krathwohl
Revised
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
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Evaluation
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analyzing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
Remembering
Knowledge or Remembering
• Observing and
recalling information
• Knowledge of dates,
events, places
• Knowledge of major
ideas
• Mastery of subject
matter
• Content knowledge!
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Key Words:
List, Define, Tell, Describe, Identify,
Show, Label, Collect, Examine,
Tabulate, Quote, Name, Who, When,
Where
Comprehension or Understanding
• Understanding
information
• Grasping meaning
• Translating knowledge
into new context
• Interpreting facts,
comparing, contrasting
• Ordering, grouping,
inferring causes
• Predicting
consequences
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Key Words:
Summarize, Describe, Interpret,
Contrast, Predict, Associate,
Distinguish, Estimate, Differentiate,
Discuss, Extend
Application or Applying
• Using information
• Using methods,
concepts, theories in
new situations
• Solving problems using
required skills or
knowledge
• Carrying out a
procedure that
implements previously
learned knowledge
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Key Words:
Apply, Demonstrate, Calculate,
Complete, Illustrate, Show, Solve,
Examine, Modify, Relate, Change,
Classify, Experiment, Discover
Analysis or Analyzing
• Seeing patterns
• Organizing parts
• Recognizing hidden
meanings
• Identifying
components
• “Connecting the
dots”
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Key Words:
Analyze, Separate, Order, Explain,
Connect, Classify, Arrange, Divide,
Compare, Select, Explain, Infer
Synthesis or Creating
• Using old ideas to
create new ones
• Generalizing from
given facts
• Relating knowledge
from several areas
• Preparing a solution
• Drawing conclusions
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Key Words:
Combine, Integrate, Modify, Rearrange,
Substitute, Plan, Create, Design, Invent,
What if?, Compose, Formulate,
Prepare, Generalize
Evaluation or Evaluating
• Comparing and
discriminating between
ideas
• Assessing value of
theories and ideas
• Making choices based on
reasoned argument
• Verifying the value of
evidence
• Recognizing subjectivity
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Key Words:
Assess, Decide, Rank, Grade, Test,
Measure, Recommend, Convince,
Select, Judge, Discriminate, Support,
Conclude, Compare, Summarize
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy in Unit Planning
• How can Bloom’s ideas
be applied in unit
planning?
• What might be some
other ways to use
Bloom’s taxonomy?
• Share examples of ways
you’ve used Bloom’s.
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Introducing…
Level 4 - Extended Thinking
Level 3 - Strategic Thinking
Norman Webb
Level 2 - Skill/Concept
Depth of
Knowledge
Level 1 - Recall
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Level 1 - Recall
• Automatic recognition
• Remembering lists/numbers
• Recognition of concept/formula
• Simple processes/procedures
• Application in situations or tasks
• Basic facts
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Key Words:
Recite, Recognize, Name, Use,
Illustrate, Measure, Define, Draw,
List, Identify, Memorize Recall,
Repeat, State, Tell
DOK Level 1 Examples
• List animals that survive by
eating other animals.
• Identify elements of music
using musical terminology.
• Recall facts explicitly found in text.
• Describe physical features of places.
• Determine the perimeter or area of rectangles
given a drawing or labels.
• Identify basic rules for participating in simple
games and activities.
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Level 2 - Skills/Concepts
• Understanding of concepts
• Recognition of skills
• Application of skills in new problems
• Gather, organize, and remember data
• Interpret simple graphics
• Drawing proper conclusions
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Key Words:
Compare, Classify, Infer,
Categorize, Construct, Predict,
Interpret, Relate, Estimate,
Distinguish, Summarize, Show
DOK Level 2 Examples
• Compare desert and tropical
environments.
• Identify and summarize the
major events, problems, solutions,
conflicts in text.
• Explain the cause-effect of historical events.
• Predict a logical outcome based on
information in a reading selection.
• Explain how good work habits are important
at home, school, and on the job.
• Describe various styles of music.
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Level 3 - Strategic Thinking
• Examine all aspects of a problem
• Reflect on circumstances
• Synthesize concepts for use
in problem solving
• Generate new ideas/solutions
• Evaluate effectiveness
• Provide rationale
Key Words:
in decision-making
Revise, Assess, Construct, Investigate,
Differentiate, Formulate, Draw
• Justifies procedures
Conclusions, Develop a Logical
Argument, Cite Evidence, Hypothesize
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DOK Level 3 Examples
• Compare consumer actions and
analyze how these actions impact
the environment.
• Analyze or evaluate the effectiveness
of literary elements (e.g.
characterization, setting, point of
view, conflict and resolution, plot
structures).
• Solve a multiple-step problem and
provide support with a mathematical
explanation that justifies the answer.
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Level 4 - Extended Thinking
• Thinking “outside the box”
• Expanding on ideas
• Asking “What if…”
• Producing a complex
product
• Interpreting different
points of view without
demonstrating personal
bias
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Key Words:
Create, Prove, Analyze, Critique,
Apply Concepts, Synthesize, Connect,
Design, Simulate
DOK Level 4 Examples
• Develop a scientific model for a
complex idea.
• Propose and evaluate solutions
for an economic problem.
• Explain, generalize or connect
ideas, using supporting evidence
from a text or source.
• Create a video that represents
the characteristics of a culture.
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Using the DOK in Unit Planning
• How can DOK be applied
in unit planning?
• What might be some
other ways to use the
DOK model?
• Share examples of ways
you’ve used DOK.
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Hey! What’s the Big Idea?
Jay McTighe
Grant Wiggins
Facets of
Understanding
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What is knowledge?
Declarative Knowledge
Knowing WHAT
Procedural Knowledge
Knowing HOW
Structural Knowledge
Knowing WHY
-Jonassen, Computers as Mindtools for Schools, 2000
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Structure of Knowledge
Principles
and
Generalizations
Key Concepts and
Core Processes
Facts and Skills
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
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Establishing Curricular Priorities
worth being
familiar with
important to
know and do
“big ideas”
worth
understanding
“nice to know”
foundational
concepts &
skills
enduring
understandings
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
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How It All Fits Together
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The Six Facets of Understanding
Explanation
_______
Self-Knowledge
Superficial
Coverage
vs.
Uncovering
Big Ideas
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
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Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
It’s described as…
• Telling meaningful stories
• Offering apt translations
• Revealing historical or personal
dimension to ideas and events
• Making the object of
understanding personal
I
Why it’s Interpretation, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
E
It’s described as…
• Making generalizations
• Justifying facts and data
• Providing insightful connections,
illuminating examples, and
detailed illustrations
Why it’s Explanation, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
It’s described as…
• Effectively using knowledge
• Adapting knowledge and skills in
diverse and real contexts
• “Doing” the subject
Why it’s
, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
It’s described as…
• Seeing and hear points of view
through critical eyes and ears
P
• Seeing the “big picture”
Why it’s Perspective, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
It’s described as…
• Showing metacognitive awareness
• Being aware of what we don’t
understand
SK
• Perceiving what shapes our own
understanding
Why it’s Self-Knowledge, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Reviewing the SIX FACETS of Understanding
What’s the name of this facet?
It’s described as…
• Finding value in what others
might find odd, alien, or
implausible
E
• Perceiving sensitivity on the basis
of prior direct experience
Why it’s Empathy, of course!
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
The Six Facets of Understanding
Explanation
_______
Self-Knowledge
Superficial
Coverage
vs.
Uncovering
Big Ideas
Wiggins, Grant, & McTighe, Jay. (1998). Understanding by Design. ASCD.
McWilliams, 2009
Using the Six Facets in Unit Planning
• How can the Theory of
Understanding be applied
in unit planning?
• What might be some
ways to use the Six
Facets?
• Share examples of ways
you’ve used the Six
Facets
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Using UbD in a Sophomore Biology Class
Chuck McWilliams, Biology Teacher
Maplewood-Richmond Heights HS
Maplewood, MO
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Planning For a “New” Course
• Develop Course Enduring Understandings
Ex.) Life functions as a complex system that exists at many
different levels
• Develop Essential Questions
Ex.) How can scientists lead us to understanding how life
functions as a system?
• Develop course assessments - semester exams
• Develop individual units and assessments
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A “New” Biology Course
• How does a(n) ________ come to know the
world and humans’ place in it?
• Each of the eight instructional units focuses on the
Perspective of a scientist
• During the year, each student will become a:
–
–
–
–
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Biologist
Ecologist
Biochemist
Cell Biologist
–
–
–
–
Molecular Biologist
Geneticist
Naturalist
Taxonomist
Learning from Different Perspectives
Cell Biologist
Molecular Biologist
Biochemist
Geneticist
Ecologist
Biologist
Naturalist
Student
Taxonomist
Biology: Exploring Multiple Scientific Perspectives
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Sample Unit: Unit 6 - Geneticist
Enduring Understandings:
1. Patterns of inheritance can be predicted in
living things.
2. Genetic and environmental factors
determine the physical characteristics of
living things.
3. As genetic research continues, society will
face ethical challenges. Participating in
the ethical decision making process will
require carefully analyzing scientific
research and understanding different
points of view.
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EU
Essential Questions
What will Guide My Students?
• If offspring inherit their parents genes, then why don’t
they look exactly like their parents?
• What effect does the environment have on gene
expression?
• How will scientists use the information from generated
the Human Genome Project?
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Performance Assessment
How will I know my students understand?
• PersonaGen® Array 119™ Genetic Test
• Students receive a simulated genetic test (multiple tests all at
once)
• They must interpret their profile
• Research and learn about their assigned “mutations”
• Write a 6 paragraph essay detailing their profile and the effect it
would have on their personal and career life
• Also included in the essay is a discussion/analysis concerning
genetic testing in general
• In class discussion and rubrics included
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How It All Fits Together
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How It All Fits Together
W
W
HH
How will we hook and hold
student interest?
EE
How will we equip students
for expected performances?
R
How will we help students rethink
and revise?
R
E
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Where are we going? Why?
What is expected?
E
T
How will students self-evaluate
and reflect on their learning?
OT
How will we tailor the learning plan?
O
How will we organize and sequence
the learning?
How It All Fits Together
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Some Lessons Learned About Stage 3
• Protecting your favorite activities?
• Including FUN activities?
• Be aware of TIME and pacing
• Scaffold toward the Performance
Task and other assessments
• Unit Planning vs. Lesson Planning
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Reviewing the Ideas
In your groups:
• Compare/contrast
the three models:
Bloom’s - DOK Six Facets
• Group sharing
and discussion
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The Thinking Game!
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The Key to Success!
“We cannot teach
people anything; we can
only help them discover
it within themselves.”
Galileo Galilei
16th century Italian scientist
-
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Have a Great Journey Next Year!
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