Wiggin's Theory of Backwards Design

Essentially, Wiggin's theory of backwards design is a theory that uses the idea that educators need to start with an end goal when they are creating a lesson plan. The strength of this theory is that you have something measurable to work with. Rather than saying something like "We are going to learn the difference between writing online and writing offline", which is a vague goal, this theory allows you to put the focus on one particular aspect of a lesson at a time. Otherwise, the goal is overwhelming and not achievable. Because you can list a general goal with which to work while creating the several lesson plans that will provide individual goals to meet the larger one, you can also modify and add to the individual lessons.

For instance, you do not write a goal as "learn proper grammar" for one lesson, but you might keep that as the general idea while you create goals such as "learn proper use of pronouns" and so forth. In other words, Wiggin's theory of backwards design works best when combined with other theories that allows for multiple goal scaffolding and the experience of the learners as well as as modification of the elements of the lesson to fit the needs of the learners.

In short, the strength of this theory of design is that it allows for measurable goals to guide the lesson, while the weakness is that it does not entirely account for all of the elements of a lesson. Basically, the weakness is the same weakness that every other educational tool has in that it must be used in combination with other elements in order to be most effective.

Other Learning theories reviewed include Gagne's nine events of instruction and teaching for understanding.
Comparing Learning Theories

Foust's Design by Motivation

When I create my lesson plan, it was with specific types of learners in mind. I also used a variety of theories in instructional design that I felt must be combined in order to create a well-developed and effective lesson plan. What I found was that in order to have an effective lesson plan, I had to tie it in with the motivation of the student. That means they had to have a way to see how the result of their work would benefit them. To learn this, they had to be placed in the position of the people who would be . on the receiving end of their work. Because my students are potential online writers, I had to put them in the place of the reader. I combined Wiggin's Theory of Backwards Design with Gagne's nine events of instruction and the elements of teaching for understanding to come up with the method as described below.

• Create learning goal
• Ask why students need this knowledge. Is it possible to put them on the receiving end of this knowledge being used effectively? If so, incorporate this into the lesson plan.
• Decide prior knowledge needed to understand new material.
• Create pre-assessment to determine prior knowledge to see if reteaching or refreshing of needed prior knowledge is in order.
• Create introduction in order to inform students of the learning goal as well as their motivation for learning the information. Motivation is the key factor here.
• Review prior information needed as indicated by pre-assessment.
• Present new information, relating it to old information and discussing changes and how they could impact the motivational goal.
• Guided practice with new information. Discuss possible outcomes for lack of using new information as well as using new information correctly.
• Individual practice using new information and personal experience (when possible as it happened to be in this lesson).
• Share with peers and/or discuss different mistakes or correct use of new information. This allows for the greatest sharing of experience and a real glimpse of how the use of information is perceived by those who might benefit from it.
• Complete post assessment using new information (and own experience when possible).
• Measure level of understanding based on post assessment.
• Put plan into action, adjusting for personal experience and motivational factors as needed.

This process suited my learned best since they have the clear motivation of success in the online writing industry and were diverse enough to have enough experience to understand the process while each bringing their own set of difficulties to the table. Not only did this help provide a setting for a well-developed discussion, but also helped the learners find a comfort level with their own experiences as they observed that each of them had some level of experience to overcome with the lesson. Since the content of the lesson was writing online and each of the learners using the online experience for their own means using their own methods, each student was able to see how the strategies could impact the end result.