0.6+AIM+Curriculum+&+Program+Design

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Wiggins and McTighe (1998) 'Understanding By Design',
 * Curriculum Intervention **

The following components are essential when designing an engaging curriculum: - developing an ‘enduring understanding’ (universal idea) that is transferable across more than one discipline, - formulating ‘essential questions’ related to syllabus outcomes and the ‘enduring understanding,’ - identifying the concepts (important knowledge) needed in order for a student to answer the ‘essential questions’.

Below, is a brief overview of the steps needed to design curriculum to engage gifted achieving and underachieving students.

**1. E****nduring understanding** When designing a curriculum for achieving and underachieving students, the teacher reflects on: An enduring understanding is developed using concepts such as those listed in the table below. These relate to the knowledge and skills contained in the syllabus outcomes. CONCEPTS or THEMES || Power Ownership Freedom Family Invincibility Hate Morality Communication Life Religion Friendship ||=  Death Work Commitment Responsibility Sound Creation Evaluation Conservation Conflict Wisdom Tradition ||= Leisure Courage Peace Violence System Silence Energy Pollution Change Love Cycles Other || (Gross, McLeod, Drummond, Merrick. 2001, p.81)
 * What is the ‘big’ or the universal idea of this unit?
 * What will students remember from studying this unit of work?

**2. Essential Questions** In planning essential questions, the teacher considers:
 * What perspectives does this enduring understanding have?
 * What important issues problems or debates are relevant?

Essential questions are those that are open-ended with no single correct answer. They are designed to stimulate inquiry, debate and further questions, and allow scope for students to engage with the curriculum within their ‘flow zone’.

**3. Important Knowledge** Important knowledge is closely linked to syllabus outcomes and indicators- all the facts, concepts and principles related to the unit. The amount of knowledge a student has may be determined through pre-testing. The information gained from the pre-test is used to shape the teaching and learning experiences designed. When students already have knowledge of a topic, the teacher assists them in applying this knowledge in learning experiences that challenge their thinking.

Pre-tests that may be implemented include:
 * Content related multiple choice and/or short answer questions using Bloom’s Taxonomy or the Williams Model to differentiate questions.
 * Concept maps aligned with syllabus outcomes.
 * Off-level testing.
 * Discussion with small groups or one to one- this will depend on the age of students and the class size.

The link below is to a table outlining the steps needed to program adapted from UbD. Using the above planning template will lead to a streamlined curriculum snapshot. See sample below. Differentiated activities are then designed using this curriculum overview and student pre-assessment data. (Click here to see assessment wiki page)