The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units: 122 pages
Author : Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe
Language : English
1) Book Description
The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units offers instructional modules on the basic concepts and elements of Understanding by Design (UbD), the "backward design" approach used by thousands of educators to create curriculum units and assessments that focus on developing students' understanding of important ideas. The eight modules are organized around the UbD Template Version 2.0 and feature components similar to what is typically provided in a UbD design workshop, including—
* Discussion and explanation of key ideas in the module;
* Guiding exercises, worksheets, and design tips;
* Examples of unit designs;
* Review criteria with prompts for self-assessment; and
* A list of resources for further information.
2) About Author
Jay McTighe brings a wealth of experience developed during a rich and varied career in education. He served as Director of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, a state collaboration of school districts working together to develop and share formative performance assessments. Prior to this position, Jay was involved with school improvement projects at The Maryland State Department of Education where he directed the development of the Instructional Framework, a multi-media database on teaching. Jay is well known for his work with "thinking skills," having coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. In addition to his work at the state level, Jay has experience at the district level in Prince George's County, Maryland as a classroom teacher, resource specialist, and program coordinator. He also directed a state residential enrichment program for Gifted and Talented students.