Lindsay’s Forum Response

Understanding by Design

I read Understanding by Design within the given week and made a lot of significant notes. Some of the best teaching and planning concepts are presented in the book.

Understanding versus Knowing

The reading specifically discusses the idea of understanding versus knowing in Chapter 2. I’m delighted that other teacher candidates thought the concept of comprehending as opposed to knowing was important to our process. Whatever materials they have to deliver, teachers need to know how to do it in the most effective way.

Proving Understanding

The chapter provides an answer to the query of whether or not students comprehend what is being taught. It goes on to describe what it looks like when a notion is understood. When students do well in tests that need basic factual recollection that they undertake, then it might be assumed that they did understand much more than they do. According to Wiggins and McGithe (2005), in case students understand what they are taught, then they ought to be able to prove their understanding through completing certain actions. The concept of knowledge transfer is crucial to us as teachers and to say that students understood the concept, then they ought to be able to transfer the same knowledge to a new context or situation.

The Importance of Making Students Understand

As teachers, we may understand what they are teaching, but they need to make the students understand the same thing, and not just to know. Since students need to understand what teachers teach, it is crucial that teachers should not only cover the facts but rather make the students understand. In summary, the chapter primes my thinking on assessments. It seeks to change our mindsets on the difference between just covering and just looking for rich transferable understanding.

References

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (2nd ed.). Virginia: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.