Intentionally Backward Design

It seems counterintuitive to suggest that something be done backward to achieve the greatest level of success. Indeed, "backward" is often used as a pejorative, denoting some kind of regressive policy or standard. But in the realm of education "Backward Design" is a highly respected method for designing curricula. At the University of Florida, our Master of Music program has an entire course dedicated to inculcating this method in the pedagogical practice of students. Our readings for this week also touched on this methodology, specifically highlighting it in terms of technological approaches to music education.  

To understand this further, we should first consider some of the characteristics of the learning process. As our text notes, “learning is active,” and people learn well in a hands-on way (Bauer, 2014, p. 147). Likewise, learning is a social process. There are social-cognitive learning theories that are characterized by the idea that “people learn by doing, by constructing their own knowledge,” particularly through activities like “modeling, observation, and imitation” (pp. 147-148).

Design strategies such as project-based learning seek to capitalize on these truths by engaging students in the learning process through active stimulation and group interaction. These sorts of projects seek to engage students in real-world problem solving, working in groups to answer complex scenarios based on real-life examples. Our WebQuest project, which we began this week, is a prime example of project-based learning in action. It is also in example of the way that technology can be utilized (and indeed be paramount) in facilitating this process. WebQuests are dependent on the internet by their very nature. They provide an “adventure” of sorts through various internet resources and multimedia outlets to complete the project.

The activity or storyline behind a WebQuest adventure is not an end in itself. It is carefully created on the basis of learning outcomes and assessment strategies. These form the basis of the instructional design process. Only after these are carefully considered and coordinated are the activities implemented into the design process. This basic format is at the heart at the Backward Design process.

Although project-based learning typically only forms a small part of instructional time, backward design can be implemented throughout the learning process. Whether it is a routine lecture or an ensemble rehearsal, all classroom time can be carefully planned using the methodology of backward design. 

There are two other areas from this week’s readings that I would like to mention at this point. The first is the benefits that technology can provide in the realm of differentiation. Students come to our music classes from diverse backgrounds and with varied educational needs and interests; technology can provide us with the tools necessary to differentiate instruction and provide unique learning paths for each student (p. 158). Utilizing technology well can equip our students for success (and better serve their needs) throughout this process. 

The final point I would like to briefly mention is copyright. It is important to note, as our text does, that copyright is inherent to any composition whether it is registered with the state or not. This means that it is important for us as educators, when designing classroom content, to utilize original or public domain materials in our lesson plans.  It is important also to instruct our students as to plagiarism rules and important copyright laws and ensure their work complies accordingly as well. 

References

Bauer, W. I. (2014). Music learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.