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TEACHER:

STAGE 1 Identify learning goals

TRANSFER: Learner should eventually be able to use what they learn, to...
Definition &
Examples
Transfer is the
use of a
repertoire of
knowledge, skill,
and
understanding in
a new and
challenging
context.

Your Ideas

Apply the knowledge of how the company makes money to

each new project.
Apply the understanding of the difference between planned
budget and actual budget.
Include all relevant costs in budget.
Determine what factors could cause a project to not be
completed on time and on budget.
Plan contingencies for those factors.

Examples:
Solve nonroutine
problems
Research and
present real-life
findings (e.g. on
the job issues)
Compare and
contrast two
pieces of
information or
data on the
same theme

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Design Tips
Think of transfer
goals in terms of
long-term & hardwon abilities in
which one must
respond to novel
and varied
challenges, in
realistic situations.
A skill is not a
transfer goal; a
transfer goal involves
many skills as well
as strategic thinking
about which skill to
use when (as in the
game vs. the drill).
The top-level
Standard in most
Standards documents
identifies transfer
goals; the sub-

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TEACHER:
standards under
them identify related
skill and knowledge
goals.

STAGE 1: MEANING

Enduring understandings
Definition &
Examples

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Learner will come away understanding that

Your Ideas

Design Tips

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An
Understanding is
a hard-won
conclusion
generalizations
or insights
inferred by the
learner, with
instructor/trainer
help, from the
learning.
Examples: The
learner will
understand that

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What needs to be included in a budget?

How do we account for IIF and safety in the budget and
time frame of a project?
What is the difference between a planned budget and an
actual budget?
How booking rates effect budgets?
How does time impact the project budget?
What are some consequences to the company of not
completing the project on time and on budget?
What are the consequences to project managers and
technicians of not complete the project on time and on
budget?

History is the
story told by the
successful
Writing is
revision
Many of the
most important
scientific
theories go
against common
sense and are
easily
misunderstood

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

TEACHER:
Understandings
represent the moral
of the story:
generalizations, cast
as a full-sentence
thesis statement,
that ties all the facts
and skills together.
In most cases, these
understandings will
remain the same for
all learners even if
the level of expertise
or sophistication of
the understanding
varies due to ability
or background.
Sometimes it is
easier to identify the
understanding sought
by first recalling the
common
misunderstandings
you encounter in
teaching this topic.

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STAGE 1 - MEANING

Essential questions

Why? To what extent? Under what conditions? When

should you? etc.

Definition &
Examples
An Essential
Question is a
thoughtprovoking and
recurring query
by which we
make sense of
our work, our
world, ourselves.

Your Ideas

Why is it important for us to understand our project

financials?
What difference can having that knowledge make?
What effect does that knowledge have on the companys
bottom line?
When should I be reviewing this information?
When do I use the information?
How do I know that I can trust these results?
Who can make what changes to the data?

Design Tips
Essential Questions are
not important factual
questions; they are not
leading questions. The
point of such questions
is to keep asking them,
not quickly answer
them. (Put important
factual questions in the
Knowledge & Skill box).

Examples:

Who is a true
friend?
What should I do
when I am
stuck?
How credible is
this source?
When should I
calculate and
when should I
estimate?
How precise
should I be

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

EQs can be either

thematic or procedural
(note the first 2
examples, to the left)
Your Essential Questions
are naturally related to
the UNDERSTANDINGS,
but not necessarily in a
1-1 relationship.
EQs can be
overarching very
broad, related to many
units; or topical

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here?
What rights do I
have?
What causes
disagreements?

TEACHER:
related just to this unit).
[Look at the last pair, to
the left]. Your course
should contain
overarching Qs to
provide coherence and
prioritization.

STAGE 1 - ACQUISITION

Knowledge & skill

What facts, skills and conceptual knowledge must the learner possess in order
to
develop
and
demonstrate
understanding (meaning-making and transfer)?

Definition &

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Your Ideas

Design Tips

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TEACHER:

Examples
Knowledge and
skill are discrete
content goals.
The long-term
goal, however, is
fluent and
flexible use of
content in
performance.

What do I do if I dont understand something?

Who do I contact for technical problems?
How long do I have to be proficient with this tool?
What are the consequences if I dont use this tool?

Examples:

State your Knowledge

and Skill goals as
questions: this will
shorten the list and
make clear the
difference between
Essential Questions
and questions with
definite answers.
(See some examples,
left)

What is the
workflow cycle?
Where is the
Table of
Contents?
What is the
equation for a
line?
How do I find
the meaning of
a company
specific term?

STAGE 2 Determine acceptable evidence

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

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STAGE 2 Alignment What the STAGE 1 Goals Imply for Evidence:

If the Transfer Goals (p. 1)
are
Apply the knowledge of how
the company makes money
to each new project.
Apply the understanding of
the difference between
planned budget and actual
budget.
Include all relevant costs in
budget.
Determine what factors
could cause a project to not
be completed on time and
on budget.
Plan contingencies for those
factors.
If the Meaning Goals (pp. 2-3)
are...
What needs to be included
in a budget?
How do we account for IIF
and safety in the budget
and time frame of a project?
What is the difference
between a planned budget
and an actual budget?
How booking rates effect
budgets?
How does time impact the
Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Then we need evidence that the learner can

Describe how the company makes money.
Describe the planned budget.
Describe the actual budget.
Identify relevant costs that go into budget.
Research and describe issues with past budgets.
Describe various contingenies.

Then we need evidence that the learner can

Describe scope of work.
Describe booking rates.
Describe time frame of projects.
Describe costs of doing project safely.
Review previous projects for information on consequences of not meeting
time and budget plan.

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project budget?
What are some
consequences to the
company of not completing
the project on time and on
budget?
What are the consequences
to project managers and
technicians of not complete
the project on time and on
budget
If the Acquisition Goals (Page
4) are
What do I do if I dont
understand something?
Who do I contact for
technical problems?
How long do I have to be
proficient with this tool?
What are the consequences
if I dont use this tool?

TEACHER:

Then we need evidence that the learner can

Use the software to achieve its desired results
Recognize if the desired results are not being achieved.
Understanding the importance of using the tool consistently.

STAGE 2: GRASPS contextualizing the assessment task(s) & product(s)

requirements
Use the GRASPS format to provide more detailed information about the performance task(s) through which
you will assess learners growing understanding.

GRASPS

Ideas for each aspect of the

performance task

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Differentiation options: how can I

build in the most options without
sacrificing the goals or
performance expectations?

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Goal

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Your goal in this situation/simulation is to...

Establish
the goal,
problem,
challenge, or
obstacle in
the task
scenario.

Use the financial software to increase time,

efficiency, production.

TEACHER:

Are there learners in the training

who need a more sophisticated
challenge: a problem that is less
well-defined (fuzzy), a more
complex challenge, more than
one obstacle or an obstacle that
is more difficult to overcome?

Role

Your role is...

Define the
role of the
learners in
the task.
State the
job of the
learners for
the task.

Office Managers role is to review the report to

ensure it meets the clients needs.

Could learners choose or be

assigned roles that are a close
match to their interests and
learning profile? Do some roles
require a more or less
sophisticated understanding of
content?

The Office Managers role requires the most

sophisticated understanding.

(Be sure all roles remain

authentic.)

Your audience is...

Might the audiences vary, for

learners at different readiness

Technicians role is to gather the data.

Project Managers role is to use the data to prepare
a report.

Audience

Identify the

The Office Managers

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

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target
audience
within the
context of the
scenario.

Situation

Set the
context of the
scenario:
conditions,
impediments,
setting, etc.

Explain the
situation.

Product

Clarify what
the learners
will create
and why they
will create it
(in terms of

TEACHER:
levels? For example, advanced
learners could be asked to
present to a more sophisticated
or hostile audience; or have to
use more complex tools and/or
techniques with the same
audience.

The context is...the setting is...

The software has been launched and is available for
use Office Mangers have until the end of the first
quarter to begin their weekly log ins.

For more advanced learners,

consider making the context
more complex and/or less
familiar to learners. Consider
providing them with less
prompting/scaffolding and cues.
Conversely, provide weaker
learners with more scaffold (but
have that level of support
reflected in the final rubric or
scoring method).

Your work should culminate in...

Provide product options that

appeal to varied learner
interests and learning profiles
without sacrificing the desired
results, however. Thus, if your
aim is to assess writing ability
here, then do not vary the
product. But if your aim is more

The Office Manger presenting the client with a

report that meets their needs while also completing
the project on time and on budget.

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

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the goal of
the situation).

Standards and
Criteria

general effective
communication then, permit
the kind of medium used
writing, speaking, multimedia
to vary by interest.
Your work will be judged against...
The monthly profit and loss statement for your
office.

Provide
learners with
Excepting projects that could not be finished on
a clear picture time and on budget at the outset, 90% of projects
of success.
from your office will be completed on time and on
budget. This will be accomplished by using the new

Identify
financial software.
specific
standards for
success.

TEACHER:

Issue
standard or
rubrics to the
learners.

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Consider differentiating the

rubric/standard that you will use
to evaluate learner
performance. For example, as
noted above, have each level
differ by the amount of scaffold
or prompting provided by the
teacher in addition to the quality
of the work. If you include
varied product options, be sure
the rubric reflects any
differences in process or
expectation, particularly in
terms of mechanics of
production.

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STAGE 2: Criteria for performance tasks and prompts (from

which rubrics will be built)
Criteria: For each assessment, identify the criteria to be scored. Examples of Criteria: Clear,
Persuasive, Accurate, Engaging, Thorough, etc.

Assessment Task
Reviewing next
months office
profit and loss
statement

Criterion #1
loss

% of projects
completed on
time and on
budget

59 and
below

Criterion #2
no profit
earned

Criterion #3
some profit
earned

Criterion #4
significant
profit
earned 9

60-89%

90%

100%

What should each trait be worth - given the assessment goals? Place the % weight or point value of each
trait against the others, in the circle inside each Criterion box

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

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Checklists: For assessments that involve 2 choices e.g. yes/no, present/absent,

right/wrong, etc., list the Checklist Titles, below:

STAGE 3 Determine the learning plan

Honor the Goals: Recall the 3 kinds of goals in a unit: transfer, meaning-making and acquisition of
skill and knowledge.

Refer back to your STAGE 1 TMA Goals (pages 5 8) and your assessments in order to propose appropriate
instructional activities:
Thinking about the
unit design

What events will help

learners practice and
get feedback in
transfer - using the
learning in realistic
ways?

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

Instructional Ideas, derived from

analyzing the demands of Stages
1&2
Learner will complete case study
including
Plan and actual budget
Information on the companys
profitability
Common project issues

Thinking about
implentation and
differentiation
Model, try, get feedback,
adjust some learners will need
only a few attempts, others will
need many. How will you vary
time and opportunity while
keeping everyone engaged?

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What activities will

permit learners to make
meaning - help them
draw inferences, make
generalizations,
consider implications,
etc as much as possible
on their own?)
What learning
experiences will enable
learner acquisition of
knowledge and skill?

Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe

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Create a sample project budget

Add safety costs and time to sample
budget
Review planned and actual budgets
Review office booking rate table
Review past project completion times
Review project issue log

Complete a conversation with the

Applications Help Desk
Review Application introductory video

TEACHER:
Many learners naturally make
connections and inferences;
others not only have difficulty
doing so but may not understand
what it means to do so. How will
you help the latter move beyond
literal thinking - and prompt their
meaning-making as needed?
Remember that some learners
prefer a big picture approach and
others prefer a step-by-step
approach. Some prefer significant
direction and prompting, others
do not.