Book Description What is understanding and how does it differ from knowing? What do we want students to understand and be able to do? What enduring knowledge is worth understanding? How will we know that students truly understand and can apply knowledge in a meaningful way? How can we design our courses and units to emphasize understanding and "uncoverage" rather than "coverage"? Understanding by Design explores these questions and provides practical solutions for the teacher-designer. The book opens by analyzing the logic of backward design as an alternative to coverage and activity-oriented plans. Though backward from habit， this approach brings more focus and coherence to instruction. Authors Wiggins and McTighe propose a multifaceted approach， with the six "facets" of understanding. The facets combine with backward design to provide a powerful， practical framework for designing curriculum， assessment， and instruction. Beyond its theories， Understanding by Design offers practical design tools， including criteria for selecting "big ideas" worthy of deep understanding， strategies for framing units of study around essential questions， a continuum of assessment methods for determining the degree to which students understand， and the WHERE framework， which enhances student engagement and "rethinking." The book concludes with a unit design template and standards to support quality control at the local level. Understanding by Design will help educators enhance their understanding of understanding， so that the curriculum and assessments they design truly focus on enhancing the understanding of their students. Download Description What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal， and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes， standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998， the authors have revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum， assessment， and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core， the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short， and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies， tools， and examples from all subject areas， the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas， thoughtful analysis， and tested approaches， Understanding by Design， Expanded 2nd Edition， offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.