Goals of Understanding vs.

Content Acquisition 1

Module 1 Application Assignment

Goals of Understanding vs. Content Acquisition

Samantha DiMatteo

Marygrove College
Goals of Understanding vs. Content Acquisition 2

As an educator, my ultimate goal is to provide my students with a

knowledge base that can not only aid in their success with my class, but in their

future endeavors. It is imperative that I consider the possible applications and

the deeper meaning of the concepts within my lessons. Wiggins and McTighe

(2011) state, People who understand can take prior learning and use it

effectively when confronted with new intellectual challenges and contexts where

their knowledge, skill, and understanding are needed (p. 59). My students need

to see the value in my lessons; beyond the memorization of facts, they need to

demonstrate depth of understanding and this will only be accomplished through

careful planning of unit goals and desired results.

When developing instructional goals and desired results I first consult with

my Professional Learning Community. Together we map out the curriculum and

the topics that need to be addressed. I then prioritize the information I feel that

my students should grasp by the conclusion of each the unit. From here I work

backwards, creating lessons with my goals and results in mind. Wiggins and

McTighe (2011) explain, The key to effective educational design is to think

backward from the desired results of successful instruction (p. 43). Once I have

determined unit goals and desired results I can construct lessons that support

these out comes. For example, an upcoming unit in my geometry course is on

surface area and volume. Although it is important for my students to learn

content such as vocabulary and to be able to use formulas to compute the

surface area and volume of various polyhedrons, my goal of this unit is that they

apply what theyve learned about surface area and volume to real life scenarios.

Tomlinson (2010) explains, With a clear scope and sequence or delineation of

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what students should learn, a teacher can monitor a particular students

progress towards established goals (p. 132). When designing a unit I consider

what students should learn, what assessments will help me determine if they did

indeed learn, and what I can do to teach and guide my students to reach the

goals of my unit.

Goals of understanding are very different from those of content

acquisition. As an educator I have to have a clear idea of exactly what

applicable skills and knowledge I want my students to gain from my instruction.

Wiggins and McTighe (2011) state, people who understand can analyze,

synthesize, and evaluate information and situations independently, not just

recall prior teaching and plug it in (p. 59). At the conclusion of the unit

discussed above, a simple exam in which students compute surface area and

volume would suffice for determining their level of content acquisition, however,

to test their understanding I would have to create an opportunity for them to

demonstrate and apply the material to new scenarios. An example of this would

be to have my students to design packaging for an item that maximizes the

volume but uses a minimal surface area. This is a minds-on way to validate

their comprehension of the relationship between surface area and volume. This

activity will enable me to evaluate my students understanding of the lesson, not

just their ability to memorize content. Wiggins and McTighe (2011) state, Rote

recall is not the long-term goal, merely teaching and testing for short term recall

is not an adequate instructional plan for achieving understanding (p. 47).

Companies all over the world strive to design packaging for their products that

use the least amount of material because it saves money. Consider two boxes,
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the first box has dimensions of 2in. x 4in. x 6in., the second box measures 3in. x

2in. x 8in. Both hold 48 cubic inches of product, however, the first box needs 88

square inches of material to construct it, while the second box requires 92

square inches of material. As a manufacturer such details can save hundreds,

thousands, or even millions of dollars in production costs. Beyond determining

an ideal design for a products packaging, students could discuss other factors

that contribute to a products profitability. Such topics can create some insightful

classroom discussions as well as an opportunity for extension activities. Wiggins

and McTighe (2011) state, Students must not only give answers but justify

them, and they should be able to apply their recent learning to new but related

situations (p. 49). Goals of understanding are an extension of content

acquisition; they require students to utilize the content to perform tasks with

depth of thought and application to new situations.

Lessons are cumulative in nature thus, failure to address understanding

and content acquisition goals can impact student learning. If students do not

have a true comprehension of the material they will struggle to build on those

lessons and apply these lessons in the real world. For this reason we need to

carefully design our assessments to ensure each student reached the intended

goals of the unit. Wiggins and McTighe (2011) ask, What will count as evidence

of really grasping and applying the material and what will count as evidence of

not understanding? (p. 50). This is a challenging aspect of unit design, when

choosing assessments I need to be careful that they do in fact encourage critical

thinking skills and not just a students ability to recall a series of facts. Wiggins

and McTighe (2011) explain, Just because students seem skilled when we look
Goals of Understanding vs. Content Acquisition 5

at their performance doesnt meant hey can transfer their learning (p. 61).

Assessments need to be constructed in such a way that students demonstrate

their understanding through open ended response and applying their knowledge

to new scenarios, not just regurgitation and computation. Beyond covering

material, as a teacher I must always consider my students comprehension of a

topic and create meaningful assessments that help me evaluate their

understanding.

Careful planning of each lesson and being adequately prepared for

instruction will not only contribute to a successful classroom environment, but

more importantly, the success of my students both in and out of my classroom

walls. Wiggins and McTighe (2011) note, Good teaching requires good

planning, and good planning requires clarity about purposes and means of

achieving them(p. 55). Having a clear plan that addresses student

understanding will help my students with the application of the content, opposed

to just the simple reiteration of facts.

References

Wiggins,G.,&McTighe,J.(2011).Theunderstandingbydesignguidetocreatinghighqualityunits.
Alexandria,Va.:ASCD.

Tomlinson, C. A., & Imbeau, M. B. (2010). Leading and managing a differentiated

classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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