Understanding by Design

We cannot cover concepts and expect them thereby tobe understood; we have to uncover their value—the fact that concepts are theresults of inquiry and argument.

What instructional strategies will be most effective in helping usreach our targets?

we as educators fail to understand understanding when wethink that coverage works.

By desired results we mean what has often been termed intended outcomes,achievement targets, or performance standards.

a big idea can be thought of as• Providing a focusing conceptual “lens” for any study• Providing breadth of meaning by connecting and organizing many facts,skills, and experiences; serving as the linchpin of understanding• Pointing to ideas at the heart of expert understanding of the subject • Requiring “uncoverage” because its meaning or value is

Grasping the structure of a subject is understanding it in a way that permitsmany other things to be related to it meaningfully. To learn structure, in short,is to learn how things are related.

All four terms are meant to shiftour focus away from the inputs to the output: what the student should be ableto know, do, and understand upon leaving, expressed in performance andproduct terms.

Consider these questions that arise in theminds of all readers, the answers to whichwill frame the priorities of coached learning: How should I read the book? What amI looking for? What will we discuss? Howshould I prepare for those discussions?How do I know if my reading and discussions are effective? Toward what performance goals do this reading

understand is to make connections and bind together our knowledge intosomething that makes sense of things (whereas without understanding wemight see only unclear, isolated, or unhelpful facts).