DI/UbD Chapter 3

Abstract/Summary:

This chapter was primarily about the backward learning model and how the stages work. The authors discuss the problem with "content overload." Content overload is when instructors are given too much information to cover, forcing them to shorten, dilute, and even cut key pieces of information from their lessons in order to get through it all. The authors yet again stress the importance of students and the fact that they need to learn. They can't be given twenty pages of notes and be expected to perform at the top of a hat. The authors go into detail about the three stages of the backwards learning model and at the end of the chapter they show where differentiation may be applied and where it may not in respect to the model.

Reflection:

Our team agreed that the backward leaning model is the way to go for teachers of our time. We all have had experiences of teachers making us take obscene amounts of notes and not learning anything in those classes. We all see the big picture with this model and how it works. Differentiation is such an important concept some of us can't understand why some teachers haven't always used it. It was a general consensus that teachers need to be flexible enough to conform the way they teach to what works for students and one of us even said the teachers, after using this model should be able to sit back and watch the students learn rather than attempting to force feed them information.