Understanding By Design
Designing effective learning environments requires a strategic approach that aligns educational goals, assessments, and activities within a broader instructional context. This assignment focuses on utilizing the Understanding by Design (UbD) Template to create a comprehensive plan for a learning environment, building upon previously developed unit or course materials. By engaging with the UbD framework, educators gain a valuable tool to ensure alignment and coherence in their instructional design. Additionally, comparing and contrasting the UbD Template with Fink's 3 Column Table will provide insights into the strengths and applications of each design process. This reflective exercise not only enhances the design of learning environments but also plays a crucial role in advancing my innovation plan by promoting thoughtful, intentional planning that meets the diverse needs of learners.
Comparison
Fink’s 3
Column Table
UbD Template
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Fink’s 3 Column Table
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Alignment of Goals, Activities, and Assessments: The 3 Column Table ensures that learning goals related to Mightier integration, such as understanding biofeedback and applying emotional regulation strategies, directly align with both classroom activities and assessments.
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Learning-Centered Outcomes: This approach emphasizes deep, lasting change by focusing on the practical application of Mightier, ensuring that educators and students move beyond theory to real-world use of the app for self-regulation.
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Connecting Knowledge, Skills, and Application: Helps educators design activities where students not only learn about emotional regulation but also practice it using the Mightier app, enhancing both academic and social-emotional skills.
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Structured Approach to Professional Learning: Educators develop a clear path from learning objectives (using Mightier effectively) to assessments (analyzing biofeedback data) that measure real progress in emotional control.
UbD Template
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Big Picture Framework: The UbD Template allows for a broader vision of how Mightier fits into a significant learning environment (SLE) by considering the long-term impact on student behavior and learning.
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Backward Design Methodology: This approach begins with identifying desired results, such as improved emotional regulation through Mightier, and works backward to design assessments and learning experiences that support these goals.
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Encourages Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings: Using Mightier, students explore essential questions like "How can managing my emotions improve my learning?" and develop lasting understandings about self regulation and resilience.
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Supports Differentiated Learning: The UbD framework helps tailor Mightier activities to diverse student needs, allowing advanced learners to explore biofeedback in depth while providing additional support for those struggling with emotional control.
How Each Supports the Innovation Plan
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Fink’s 3 Column Table offers a practical structure for day-to-day implementation of Mightier, ensuring that professional learning sessions for teachers are directly tied to measurable outcomes in classroom practice.
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UbD’s broader approach complements this by ensuring that the integration of Mightier is not just a set of isolated activities but part of a holistic strategy to build significant learning environments that promote emotional and academic growth.
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​​​​Combined, these models provide a balanced approach.
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The 3 Column Table offers specific, actionable steps while the
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UbD Template maintains a clear vision of the ultimate educational
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goals, enhancing the sustainability and impact of the
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Mightier integration.
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Fink’s 3 Column Table
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Focuses on alignment between learning goals, activities,
and assessments. Emphasizes learning-centered outcomes
and deep, lasting change.
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Helps educators connect knowledge, skills, and application
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seamlessly.
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UbD Template
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Provides a bigger picture framework, focusing on the unit's purpose and long-term
impact.
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Uses backward design to ensure assessments and activities align with the intended outcomes.
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Encourages essential questions and enduring understandings, which deepen the learning process.
Reflection: How Both Designs Contribute to
My Innovation Plan
Combining Fink’s 3 Column Table and the UbD Template has significantly enhanced my innovation plan by offering both a practical structure and a broader vision for integrating the Mightier app into professional learning and classroom environments. Fink’s 3 Column Table helped create clear, measurable learning outcomes and align activities directly with goals, ensuring that professional learning sessions effectively equipped educators with the skills to use Mightier as a tool for enhancing students emotional regulation. This approach provided a strong foundation for classroom implementation by setting specific learning objectives, such as recognizing biofeedback signals and applying calming techniques. On the other hand, the UbD Template allowed me to take a step back and consider the broader impact of Mightier within a significant learning environment (SLE). By using the backward design methodology, I focused on fostering long-term self-regulation skills and cultivating a culture of emotional awareness and resilience. The essential questions and understandings encourages educators to think not only about how to implement Mightier but also why it is critical for students overall development. This dual framework approach ensured that my professional learning initiative is strategic, impactful, and sustainable. Leveraging insights from Gopnik (2016) on experiential learning and Beatty (2000) on teacher-led professional growth, my innovation plan now includes a well-defined strategy for promoting active use of the Mightier app. This combined approach offers a balanced perspective that addresses the immediate needs of educators while promoting long-term growth through reflective practices and professional collaboration, ultimately helping create sustainable improvements in student emotional regulation and learning outcomes.
References
Beatty, B. R. (2000). Teachers leading their own professional growth: Self-directed reflection and collaboration and
changes in perception of self and work in secondary school teachers. Journal of In-Service Education,
26(1), 73–97.
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Gopnik, A. (2016). What Babies Know About Physics and Foreign Languages. The New York Times.
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Pope, C., Beal, C., Long, S., & McCammon, L. (2011). They teach us how to teach them: Teacher preparation for the 21st century. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 11(4), 324-349.
Toikkanen, T. (2016). Learning Despite School. Medium.