Assignments: The Core of Your Instructional Design

The heart and soul of your instructional design are student activities. One of the most important questions in the instructional design process is, "What will I ask my students to DO that will prompt them to produce something I can evaluate?"

Why should I focus on the assignments now, at this early stage?

The course design model you are going through is often referred to as the "Backward Design" process, made prominent by authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in their book Understanding by Design. Last week you worked hard on the first phase, identifying results and now we move to phase two, determining the acceptable evidence.

To delve into Wiggins and McTighe's work, check out these resources:

• Vanderbilt University Understanding by Design site Links to an external site.
• Jay McTighe's UbD-in-a-Nurshell site Links to an external site.