Appendix A

This unit was designed using the Backwards Design Approach.

There are a variety of approaches, some more effective than others, that an instructor can use when designing a classroom syllabus, unit, or activity. The method most often used by instructors is to begin first with designing learning activities and making content choices, then to design related assessments and ultimately to extrapolate learning goals from the activities, content, and assessments (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). While this may be the most instinctive choice, theorists and researchers of teaching and learning in the past decade have pushed for this script to be flipped through the use of the Backward Design model. In their seminal book, Wiggins and McTighe (2005) outline the Backward Design approach which begins first with identification of the desired results (i.e. learning outcomes and goals), then moves to determine the acceptable evidence for reaching those goals (i.e. assessments), and ends with designing the learning experiences (i.e. classroom activities and content) that coordinate with the prior elements (McTighe & Thomas, 2003). The goal of Backward Design is to draw clear and explicit connections between the ideas and concepts students should understand and the classroom activities (Buehl, 2000). By beginning with the learning goals and objectives, instructors are able to take a more intentional approach to course designs and learning activities.

Such an approach is prefaced on the idea that learning and understanding are two very different experiences. Theorist of the Backward Design approach argue that it improves student learning. According to Buehl (2000), in a Backward Designed classroom students are able to focus on the larger purpose of the content being studied instead of the minutia and details. Instructors are able to focus on understanding and the larger goals of the course, instead of simply activities of each day. Further, since assessment is designed earlier in the process, the instructor is able to create learning activities that are targeted towards assessments. Consequently, the instructor is able to clarify exactly what students need to learn and know from a specific activity of a course as a whole. Given this potential of Backward Design to streamline the teaching and learning process, I have designed this unit on International Philanthropy and Nonprofit Organizations utilized a Backward Design model.

The elements of the model, outlining the learning goals, assessments, and related activities of this unit are detailed here and below.