EDUC872-REPLIES-Discussion Thread: Reflecting on Curriculum Design and Development
Write two responses from 2 different people provided. The response needs its own response of at least 250 words and its own citations and references.
Ashley F
Manage Discussion Entry
Eversince I learned about neuroplasticity in my previous doctoral studies years ago, I have been fascinated by brain training. Last year I actually tried to use brain retraining to heal my limbic system, and I was amazed by the results that I saw during the process, though I’m still working on it. Therefore, reading Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience really resonated with me. One part that stood out to me was when McTighe and Willis (2019) were talking about the brain’s selection process and the limitations of the brain (McTighe & Willis, 2019). That stood out to me because as I have been doing brain retraining I have really seen how the brain’s selection process affects people’s health. Secondly, I did not realize how connected neuroplasticity and Understanding by Design (UbD) were connected. Education should be meaningful and students should gain useful knowledge and skills from a curriculum (McTighe & Willis, 2019). I agree with the premise of this book for many reasons. First, since the brain is limited in its fuel for processing information and it is selective in what information it chooses to process, teachers should focus on less content but in a deeper way. Second, stress and anxiety play a key role in how much information a student will remember. The higher the stress and anxiety, the harder it is for students to retain information. This is one reason why I have my students do a lot of basic research, because it allows them to select the information they learn with a low level of stress and anxiety. I have not used Understanding by Design in my classroom, but I do see aspects of it in my style of teaching. I find UbD beneficial, not only because it helps to create a lower stress learning environment, but also it helps teachers and students focus on the core of a topic instead of a lot of extra information. Therefore, it allows students to learn information in a deeper way. My school has started using UbD to design curriculum; however, not all of the curriculum is designed using this framework. I think that UbD does reflect biblical principles because it focuses on learning in a deeper way. In Proverbs 7:2-3 the Bible states, “keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (English Standard Version 2001/2016, Proverbs 7:2-3). The Bible also states in James 1:22, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (English Standard Version 2001/2016, James 1:22). UbD allows students to have a deeper understanding so that they can better apply the knowledge they are learning, which aligns with Christian teachings.
References:
English Standard Version. (2016). English Standard Version Online. https://www.esv.org (Original work published 2001)
McTighe, J., & Willis, J. (2019). Upgrade your teaching: Understanding by design meets neuroscience. Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.
Sue P
Manage Discussion Entry
from mj
There are two takeaways for me from the McTighe & Willis (2019) text Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience. The first takeaway is for me to choose to educate the learner to the desired worthwhile achievable learning goals by way of knowledge, skill, process, content, understanding, meaning, and transfer by planning my learning experiences and lessons backward from these goals. The second takeaway for me is that the well-beingness of the brain converting information into learning—which looks for patterns to make predictions and find pleasure and inner satisfaction as dopamine releases the strongest from correct predictions, pleasure, and satisfaction—is essential for creating new neural pathways as I, as an educator, choose to monitor my own mood—respectful, confident, and sense of humor—and create an atmosphere of fun and profitable engagement for my learners. I agree with the basic premise of the McTighe & Willis (2019) text Upgrade Your Teaching: Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience. The understanding of the neuroplasticity of the brain in the continuous capacity to generate new neural networks in response to stimuli provides a firm grounding for the reason and importance of an educator knowing the goals of the content being presented to the learner from the very beginning as goals drive everything (McTighe & Willis, 2019). This clarity has the potential of reducing fear and generating respect and acceptance, calming the brain. The understanding of the social-emotional aspect of learning guides the concept that thinking is cognitive and inherently attached to a feeling all at the same time; addressing social-emotional well-beingness at the heart-center of the learner—for every learner is a heart-centered, emotion-based being—is essential to productive brain function (McTighe & Willis, 2019). We are reminded in the triune God’s Word that “for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (King James Bible, 1611/1994, Proverbs 23:7). Raising the awareness of a learner to her or his social-emotional well-beingness has the potential to improve brain function. Music education naturally uses the Understanding by Design (UbD) model with great success in the classroom as well as in private mentoring of learners for the goal being known from the beginning by both the educator and the learner(s) is the beautiful production of the music (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Music comes from the emotional state of well-beingness (ESOW) of the heart-centered created being. The natural way music education uses the UbD model reflects biblical principles found in truth-centered trinitarian worldview education of having truth be the goal. I plan to continue my use of the way music education naturally uses UbD in the classroom in the future as well as with the learners I mentor on a one-on-one basis conveying the rationale and motive for learning by way of the goal, essential questions, and the authentic performance of the task at hand, which is the music, influencing the perception of a learner on her or his ability to learn, acquire, find meaning, synthesize, and transfer what she or he learners providing assessments for evaluation and feedback that are specific, descriptive, understandable, actionable, and allow the learner to self-adjust (McTighe & Willis, 2019).
References
King James Bible (1994). Zondervan (Original work published in 1611)
McTighe, J. & Willis, J. (2019). Upgrade your teaching: Understanding by design meets neuroscience. ASCD. ISBN: 9781416627340
Wiggins, G.P. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. ASCD. ISBN: 9781416600350
