UbD in a Nutshell

Stage 1: Desired Results 1. UbD is a way of thinking purposefully about curricular plan-
ning and school reform, a set of helpful design tools, and
What transfer goals and content goals will be met?
design standards -- not a rigid program or recipe.

What should students come away understanding? 2. The end goal of UbD is student understanding and the ability
to transfer learnings – to enable learners to connect, make
What essential questions will students explore and meaning of, and effectively use discrete knowledge and skills.
address? 3. Evidence of understanding is revealed through performance
– when learners transfer knowledge and skills effectively,
What knowledge & skill will students leave with? in varied realistic situations, using one or more “facets”
(explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize, and
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
self-assess), with minimal scaffolding and prompting.
What performances and products will reveal 4. Educators are coaches of understanding (i.e., they design
evidence of understanding? for and support “meaning making” by the learner), not mere
purveyors of content or activity.
What other evidence will be collected to reflect
5. Planning is best done ”backward” from the desired results and
other Desired Results?
the transfer tasks that embody the goals. The 3 Stages (Goals,
Assessment, Learning Activities) must all align for the plan to
be valid and potentially effective.

6. UbD transforms Content Standards into focused learning

targets based on “big ideas” and transfer tasks.
Stage 3: Learning Plan
7. Design Standards guide self-assessment and peer reviews of
What activities, experiences, and lessons will lead
curriculum, instruction, and assessment for quality control.
to achievement of the desired results and success
at the assessments? 8. UbD reflects a “continuous improvement” approach to design
and learning. The results of curriculum design and use (e.g.,
assessment results, quality of student work, degree of learner
engagement) inform needed adjustments; improvement of the
design as well as of achievement is always possible, and tools
are provided for such self-assessment and adjustment.

© 2006 Grant Wiggins 1

 UbD in a Nutshell
Stage 1: Desired Results STAGE 1

1. The focus in STAGE 1 is “big ideas” - making sure

A question is essential if it – An “understanding” –
that our learning goals are framed in terms of the
• has no simple “right answer” that • is the “moral of the story” of the important concepts, issues, themes, strategies etc.
can be looked up. unit - an important inference the that are at the heart of learning for understanding.
learner is helped to draw.
• is mean to be investigated, 2. Research on learning has conclusively shown that
argued, looked at from different • is transferable to other lessons,
points of view (not answered with subjects, contexts students need to see the Big Picture if they are to be
finality) able to make sense of their lessons and, especially,
• is usually not obvious, may be transfer their learning to new lessons, new issues and
• raises other important questions, counter-intuitive - and therefore
and if the question itself can be prone to misunderstanding problems, and real-world situations.
fruitfully questioned
• is an insight, not a truism 3. A focus on understanding means that we must also be
• naturally arises in everyday life, mindful of potential student misunderstandings and
and/or in “doing” the subject • makes sense of otherwise discrete typical transfer deficits. Establishing clear and explicit
facts - it “connects the dots”
• constantly and appropriately goals also means predicting the trouble spots that are
recurs; it can fruitfully be asked • is a specific generalization, a full likely to arise in teaching and assessing.
and re-asked over time, and as a sentence proposition: “the stu-
result of further learning dent will understand THAT...” 4. Resist making a long indiscriminate list of possible
WKBK = pp.88 - 106 WKBK = pp.107 - 118 goals that are in any way related to the unit topic.
UbD2 = Ch 6, pp. 126 - 145
UbD2 = Ch 5, pp. 105 - 125 Identify only those Standards, knowledge, skills,
understandings, and questions that you plan to assess
A transfer goal – Knowledge & Skill – in STAGE 2 and teach to in STAGE 3.
• states what students should be • states what students should know 5. It is important to make explicit the transfer goal at
able to do with knowledge and and be able to do as a result of
the heart of the unit, even if such a goal is not explicit
skill, on their own, in general the unit.
terms, in the long run. in the state standards you write down in the GOALS
• reflects both the targeted knowl- box of the Template. “Transfer” refers to the ultimate
• frames content standards as per- edge and skill and the enabling
desired accomplishment: what, in the end, should
formance standards knowledge and skill implied in the
understanding-related goals students be able to do with all this ‘content’, on their
• answers the “Why?” and “What own, if this and other related units are successful?
can you do with this?” questions
UbD2 = pp. 39 - 43; 78 - 81 WKBK = pp.119 - 125 WKBK = UbD Professional Development Workbook
UbD2 = 2nd ed. of Understanding by Design

© 2006 Grant Wiggins 2

 UbD in a Nutshell
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence STAGE 2

1. The focus in STAGE 2 is “valid evidence” - making sure that what we assess
Performance Task(s): and how we assess follows logically from the STAGE 1 goals.

• are needed as evidence of understanding because we 2. Assessing for understanding requires evidence of the student’s ability to
have to see if the learners can apply their learning to
insightfully explain or interpret their learning - to “show their work” and to
various problems, situations, and contexts.
“justify” or “support” their performance/product with commentary.
• should be as faithful as possible to real-world contexts,
demands, messiness, audiences, and purposes 3. Assessing for understanding also requires evidence of the student’s ability
to apply their learning in new, varied, and realistic situations - “doing” the
• should be written in the GRASPS format to make assess-
subject as opposed to merely answering pat questions (transfer).
ment tasks more authentic and engaging
4. The 6 Facets of Understanding provide a helpful framework for building
• must be assessed using valid criteria and indicators,
reflective of not only quality performance but related appropriate assessment tasks:
to the Desired Results of Stage 1.
• Explain: the student generalizes, makes connections, has a sound theory
• reflect the 6 Facets of understanding: explanation, • Interpret: the student offers a plausible and supported account of text, data,
interpretation, application, perspective, empathy, and experience
self-understanding
• Apply: the student can transfer, adapt, adjust, address novel problems
WKBK = pp.159 - 179; GRASPS pp. 170 - 172
UbD2 = pp. 146 - 171 • Perspective: the student can see from different points of view
• Empathy: the student can walk in the shoes of people/characters
• Self-understanding: the student can self-assess, see the limits of their
Other Evidence – understanding

5. GRASPS is an acronym to help designers construct authentic scenarios for

• is non-performance-based evidence collected to assess
various Desired Results of Stage 1. performance tasks:
• Goal: the goal or challenge statement in the scenario
• is the place to identify conventional tests, quizzes, and
assignments that round out the assessment picture of • Role: the role the student plays in the scenario
Stage 1. • Audience: the audience/client that the student must be concerned with in doing
the task
• can overlap the performance-based evidence, thereby
increasing the reliability of the overall assessment (es- • Situation: the particular setting/context and its constraints and opportunities
pecially if the performance task was done as a group) • Performance: the specific performance or product expected
WKBK = pp.142 - 154
• Standards: the standards/criteria by which the work will be judged

© 2006 Grant Wiggins 3

 UbD in a Nutshell
Stage 3: Learning Plan STAGE 3

1. The focus in STAGE 3 is “aligned learning activities” - making

The learning activities – sure that what we teach and how we teach follows logically from
the STAGE 1 goals.
• should be derived from the goals of Stage 1 and
the assessments of Stage 2 to ensure the align- 2. Teaching for understanding requires that students be given
ment of the plan and the effectiveness of the numerous opportunities to draw inferences and make
activities. generalizations themselves (via a well-planned design and
teacher support). Understandings cannot be handed over; they
• should be thought through in terms of WHERETO: have to be “constructed” and realized by the learner.
‡ Where is the unit headed?
‡ Hook the learner with engaging work 3. WHERETO is an acronym for considering and self-assessing the
‡ Equip for understanding, experience and key elements and logic of a learning plan:
explore the big ideas
• Where: ensuring that the student sees the big picture, has answers
‡ Rethink opinions, revise ideas and work to the Why? questions, and knows the final performance demands as
‡ Evaluate your work and adjust as needed soon as possible
‡ Tailor the work to reflect individual needs,
• Hook: getting the student interested immediately in the idea and
interests, styles issues of the unit, engaging the student in thought-provoking
‡ Organize the work flow to maximize in- experiences/challenges/questions at the heart of the unit
depth understanding and success at the • Equip & Experience: providing the student with the tools, resources,
summative tasks skill, and information needed to achieve the desired understanding;
experiencing the big ideas as real, important
• should reflect the teaching approach that is logi- • Rethink: taking the unit deeper by shifting perspective, considering
cally required by the goals, not the teaching ap- different theories, challenging prior assumptions, introducing
proach that is most comfortable for or familiar to new evidence and ideas, etc. Also: providing the impetus for and
the teacher. opportunity to revise prior work, to polish it
• Evaluate: ensuring that students get diagnostic and formative
feedback, and opportunities to self-assess and self-adjust
• Tailor: Personalize the learning through differentiated assignments
and assessments, as appropriate, without sacrificing rigor/validity
WKBK = pp.212 - 237; WHERETO pp. 214 - 226
• Organize: Sequence the work to suit the understanding goals (thus,
UbD2 = Chapters 9 & 10; WHERETO pp. 197 - 222
often questioning the flow provided by the textbook, which is
typically organized around discrete topics)

© 2006 Grant Wiggins 4