ABSTRACT
The Backward Design process as defined by Wiggins and McTighe (2005) has three stages:
Stage 1: Identify the desired results you would like your students to achieve. This includes defining the goals and learning objectives your students should be able to meet by the end of the course.
Stage 2: Determine what constitutes acceptable evidence that students have met the desired results. Essentially, this involves identifying the assessment evidence you need to collect for students to demonstrate their mastery of the learning objectives (see align assessments to learning objectives ∗).
Stage 3: Design the instructional activities students will need to support the desired results and evidence.
Wiggins and McTighe (2005) point out that “it doesn’t matter exactly where you start or how you proceed, as long as you end up with a coherent design reflecting the logic of the three stages” (p. 29). While course design is an iterative process that does not follow a linear path, we argue that you should consider writing your assessments first, at least the major summative assessments (see formative and summative assessments ∗). These could be mid-term or final exams, final projects or performances, or other cumulative assessment activities.