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EDU 330
What is Backward Design?
Intentional Instruction
TEACHING WITH INTENTION: KNOWING WHY YOU'RE DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING IN THE CLASSROOM
"[N]o instructional strategy works equally well in all situations." (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2010, p. 8)
Highly effective teachers teach with intention. Not only do they know what to do to promote student learning, they also know when, why, and how to do it. Intentional teaching and backward design go hand in hand. Backward design asks teachers to consider why they teach what they teach before considering how they teach it. In this way, highly effective teachers choose instructional strategies based on their students and the lesson's objectives.
Marzano's Nine Effective Instructional Strategies
1
Identifying similarities and differences
Why It Works:
Identifying similarities and differences connects new learning to prior knowledge and asks students to analyze and to think critically about content.
2
Summarizing and note taking
Why It Works:
Summarizing and note taking helps students to focus on the most important content, strengthens learning through analysis, review, and revision and identifies student misconceptions.
3
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition
Why It Works:
Reinforcing effort and providing recognition fosters a growth mindset in students and motivates students to learn through positive reinforcement.
4
Homework and practice
Why It Works:
Homework and practice encourages strong work habits and provides opportunities for students to apply new learning to familiar contexts.
5
Non-linguistic representations
Why It Works:
Non-linguistic representations benefit visual learners and emerging bilinguals. They also support the retrieval of new information from working memory.
6
Cooperative learning
Why It Works:
Cooperative learning provides opportunities for students to talk through problems with peers and establishes a positive learning community within the classroom.
7
Setting objectives and providing feedback
Why It Works:
Setting objectives focuses learning on the most important content while providing feedback helps to correct students' misconceptions as they arise.
8
Generating and testing hypotheses
Why It Works:
Generating and testing hypotheses encourages higher-order thinking as students evaluate problems and create their own solutions.
9
Questions, cues, and advance organizers
Why It Works:
Questions, cues, and advance organizers increase students' curiosity and interest in learning while also linking new learning to prior knowledge.
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