Backward Design

What it means

Backward design is all about starting out with a clear vision for success. What skills, knowledge and attitudes will your learners have at the end of the lesson or course? With this vision in mind you will identify what learning activities can help achieve this.

Why it is important

When you as a designer or facilitator know where you want to go and you know where your learners currently stand, you can identify and address learning needs.

Video #1 & 2: General Approach

What is backward design.mp4

Backward Design ID model

How to use it in design

Make impact-oriented objectives

Define actions for after the training learn more here.

Focus on skills and the end-outcome of solving problems.

Clearly identify WHO the objective is for, if there are multiple types of people (such as Youth Leaders and Mentors) separate out different objectives to match each group.

Avoid unclear and general terms which can be interpreted in many different ways (such as "support")

Know the starting point

Research your starting-point; what are current skill levels and what is the context students are working in?

Alignment

Ensure you know the whole strategy behind what you are designing. If you are designing a part, understand how it fits into the whole. This avoids repetition and allows for focus.

Check to see in the end if your design achieves the impact you originally envisioned.

Video #3: Educate! Approach

For the E! Backward Design video, open it and let it play for 1-2 seconds, then pause it to let it load completely. The video will stop if you don't let it load first.

Frameworks for Doing Backward Design

Best Practice

SMART objectives
Clear measures of quality
Discussing the vision with others to refine it
Creative activities that align to the end goal
Ensure the impact is meaningful
Focus on application of skills not frameworks

Good Variation

One short focused objective or one long goal that is very specific
Using only your own mind to come up with a refined vision
Align activities exactly to practicing the assessment
SWBAT...verb
Communicate when & how it will be applicable

Don't

Include more than 3 objectives per session
Make 1 objective for many people in different positions. Tailor it.
"Passing the buck" by avoiding making a clear vision because you want to "empower" participants to decide and create everything

Key Skills:

Writing impact-oriented objectives.
Communicating the vision in terms of the WHY.
Creating a clear measure/bar of goal achievement.
Refining a vision/strategy.
Prioritizing the best strategy to achieve the end-goal.

Note on Assessment:

This design principle has several assessment activities: an online quiz, a reflective essay on The Why, designing an evaluation rubric, etc. The quiz assessment on Starting with Impact is difficult!!

The quiz requires you to do quick multiple choice but also to write out longer answers to more complex questions. Do not skip watching the videos above. Read everything on Starting with Impact page.

We recommend you read through all the quiz questions first and save a draft of your responses before inserting your answers on the google form. Save your written responses on your computer! Sometimes internet can fail and you do not want to lose your work and be forced to rewrite everything. Also read everything on backward design first to do well on this assessment!

The minimum score for the quiz is 20 points. If you get less than 20 pts, you will be instructed to retake the assessment.

Self-Assessment Questions:

What could students do after this intervention that they could not do before?

How could I tell the difference between a school which has had this intervention and a school which has not?

What in my strategy ensures the impact I am aiming for will actually happen?

Can I describe the impact in one sentence?

Who cares about this intervention's goal? Why do they care?

Do Research on Backward Design Concepts!

Gap Analysis: http://www.buzzanalysis.com/2016/07/31/gap-analysis-what-and-how-all-you-need-to-know/
Backward Design: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/
Starting with "Why": https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action
Writing Lesson Objectives: http://byrdseed.com/differentiator/ and http://farr-integratingit.net/Theory/CriticalThinking/revisedcog.htm
Defining Impact: https://www.mindtickle.com/blog/measure-impact-training-program/

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