Sublime

As in all the design professions, standards inform and shape our work.

this: How do we make itmore likely—by our design—that more students really understand what they areasked to learn?

Knowledge is not knowhow until you understand the underlying principles at work and can fit them together into a structure larger than the sum of its parts. Knowhow is learning that enables you to go do.

Educators act as guides

JACK OF ROUGH DRAFTS, MASTER OF CRAFTS When I asked a handful of education pioneers to name the best teacher of rethinking they’ve ever encountered, I kept hearing the same name: Ron Berger.

consider the following questions after framing the goals: Whatwould count as evidence of such achievement? What does it look like to meetthese goals? What, then, are the implied performances that should make up theassessment, toward which all teaching and learning should point?

The designer is also asked here to infer the enabling skills required by theunit performance goals, understandings, and questions (and, therefore, the complex performance tasks identified in Stage 2). It is common for teachers to overlook this analysis.

The argument for backwarddesign is predicated on the viewthat we are not likely to achieveour target of understanding—however we define the term—unlesswe are clear about what counts as evidence of that understanding.And

What I'm suggesting is that we give adults relevant problems that call on their pre-existing knowledge, which is often substantial, while providing generous but optional help (which we'll look at later in the book).