Understanding by Design Some Key Ideas NIESHL, 6 May 2009 By Linda Paulus

Big Ideas What do we understand so far? What evidence can we count on to know when students understand?

Big Ideas Students know they understand when they successfully address novel challenges by drawing on knowledge and skills they’ve learned in your class.

Big Challenge: Why establish concrete, measurable performance objectives? Imagine you are a high school student; look at this textbook TOC.

They are cast in terms of concrete, measurable performances.

Big Challenge:Why establish concrete, measurable performance objectives? Contrast the tired cliches in our field (Culture/Read/Vocabulary/Write/ Speak/Listen/Grammar)with how we state concrete, measurable performance outcomes in the real world ….

Sample Desirable Outcomes and Evidence that leads to Such Outcomes I want to get my driver’s license.I use knowledge of the law and road signs to resolve simple dilemmas in a written test./I demonstrate I know how to drive in a variety of circumstances in a road test.

Sample Desirable Outcomes and Evidence that leads to Such Outcomes I want to compete in dressage.I ride a pattern in an arena as perfectly as possible.

Sample Desirable Outcomes and Evidence that leads to Such Outcomes I want to lose weight and get in shape. I adjust my diet to lose 2.5 pounds per week, and increase my physical activity to burn an extra 500 calories per week.

Sample Desirable Outcomes and Evidence that leads to Such Outcomes I want to lose weight and get in shape. I adjust my diet to lose 2.5 pounds per week, and increase my physical activity to burn an extra 500 calories per week.

Sample Desirable Outcomes and Evidence that leads to Such Outcomes I want a perfect garden. I weed and water ¼ of the garden a day, every day. What do all these outcomes have in common?

They are cast in terms of concrete, measurable performances.

So, how do we/they get started?

We ask students … Can you: Teach it? Use it? Prove it? Connect it? Explain it? Defend it? Read between the lines?

Six Facets of Understanding To go deeper, let’s deconstruct Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Understanding is revealed only through different kinds of evidence you gather.

Six Facets of Understanding Understanding is revealed only through different kinds of evidence you gather.

Six Facets of Understanding What does language reveal about Understanding?

Six Facets of Understanding French, Spanish, German provide some insights: “To know” Savoir/Connaître Saber/Conocer Wi§en/Kennen

Six Facets of Understanding English, too, provides insights. Consider just a few of the metaphors we use. We … Reach an understanding Grasp it Come to understandGrow into it Develop the wisdomGet it Gain perspective Change our mind Have the know-how Become familiar with

Six Facets of Understanding We benefit from a systematic approach to understanding Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Explanation is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Explanation is central to understanding A student explains when he… Justifies facts or data. Makes connections. Provides meaningful examples or illustrations.

Six Facets of Understanding Explanation’s implication? Require students to explain what they know and support their explanations with evidence or personal experience.

Training for Explanation: Key questions you AND students consistently ask in class: Why is that so? How do you explain it? What accounts for such action? How can we prove it? To what is this connected? What examples can illustrate your position? How does this work? What does this imply?

Six Facets of Understanding Interpretation is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Students interpret when they … Reveal the data’s importance. Show an event’s significance. Identify varying interpretations. Make sense of the meaning of the task or event and show how it speaks to current concerns. Work through issues involved in a subject.

Six Facets of Understanding Interpretation’s implication? Telling students the significance of a topic isn’t enough. They will only understand the protean nature of interpretation by working through the issues themselves.

Training for Interpretation: Key questions you AND students consistently ask in class: What does it mean? Why is it important? What does it reveal about the human experience? What makes sense about it?

Six Facets of Understanding Application is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding We know students can apply knowledge in Spanish when they … express, interpret and negotiate meaning in Spanish with respect to listening, reading, speaking and writing.

Six Facets of Understanding Evidence students can express, interpret and negotiate meaning: Students take responsibility for making meaning in Spanish. Students indicate their interpretation of a communicative task. Students work through linguistic obstacles/misunderstandings that can occur in conversations. Students use Spanish to solve a novel problem. Students explain an event’s significance.

Six Facets of Understanding Application Mini-Challenge Can your students speak to the following questions when asked? Why is struggling to understand and speak a new language worth the effort in class when speaking English is so much easier? What does such a struggle help students illustrate about the human experience?

Six Facets of Understanding Application’s implication? Students need to have clear performance goals in constant view as they work.

Training for Application: Key questions you AND your students consistently ask in class: How can you use this knowledge, skill or process? Where can you use this knowledge, skill or process? What do the demands of this particular challenge require you to do in order to tackle it successfully?

Six Facets of Understanding Perspective is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding We know our students develop perspective when they … Recognize that there are multiple perspectives of a topic. Question underlying assumptions. Can make tacit assumptions explicit. Know how to confront alternative theories and diverse points of view dispassionately for analysis. Identify points of distortion in common interpretations.

Six Facets of Understanding Perspective Mini-Challenge Gaining perspective is an important outcome in any course that explores cross-cultural communication and understanding. What do your students learn about their own culture(s) as they explore the cultures of The Other? Do they know how their own culture(s) shape them as members of given cultures?

Six Facets of Understanding Perspective’s implication? Every discussion of “content” requires consideration of the meaning and value of content from different points of view.

Training for Perspective: Key questions you AND your students consistently ask in class: From whose point of view is this stance? How plausible is the point of view? Under what conditions might one’s point of view change on this topic? What are the underlying assumptions about the topic that need to be uncovered? Where are the holes in the argument? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Six Facets of Understanding Empathy is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Empathy occurs when … students are able to get inside another person’s feelings and worldview for the purpose of grasping their responses and reactions.

Six Facets of Understanding Empathy Mini-Challenge How do your students “get inside the heads” of family or peers with whom they disagree, and for what purposes? Do they access a variety of sources to do so, especially authentic sources (not filtered through textbooks or non-native speakers)?

Six Facets of Understanding Empathy’s implication? Students need direct experience whenever possible, and simulated experience whenever direct experience is not possible, to understand effect and affect related to topics.

Training for Empathy: Key questions you AND students consistently ask: How does X seem to you? How might it seem to someone else? What do others see that I don’t? What kinds of experiences could I undertake to understand better? What was the writer, artist, or performer trying to get me to see, think, or feel?

Six Facets of Understanding Self-knowledge is central to Understanding

Six Facets of Understanding Students demonstrate knowledge of self when … they know what they don’t know. They are sensitive to their own patterns of thought and actions, and how their perceptions are filtered through those thoughts and actions.

Six Facets of Understanding Self-Knowledge Mini-Challenge Do you ask students to articulate their own roles and responsibilities in the L2 acquisition process? Do you ask them to identify and reflect on their own cultural biases? Do you ask them to reflect on their progress? How do you hold them accountable for doing all of the above?

Six Facets of Understanding Implications of Self-Knowledge for learning: Students must recognize and reflect on their own “blind spots” and express willingness to change their minds when confronted with data that conflicts with their prevailing viewpoints.

Training for Self knowledge: Key questions you AND students consistently ask: How does your background shape your understanding of this topic? What “blind spots” need to be addressed before you answer? What might you misunderstand because of prejudice, habit, or style? What aspects of your argument are verifiable facts, and what aspects are beliefs and opinions?

Chapter Four’s Biggest Idea: To engineer understanding … we must be constantly looking for opportunities to polish all six facets …

Chapter Four’s Biggest Idea: To engineer understanding … we must be constantly looking for opportunities to polish all six facets … so our students really shine!