Understanding By Design

Fink's 3 Column Table:

Active Learning Strategies: Fink's approach encourages the use of active learning strategies, which aligns well with the hands-on and inquiry-based nature of STEM projects. This can foster student engagement and deeper understanding.
Significance: Fink emphasizes the significance of learning goals. For STEM projects, this is crucial as it ensures that projects are not only academically challenging but also personally meaningful, connecting to real-world applications.
Flexibility and Creativity: STEM projects often involve creativity and flexibility. Fink's approach allows for this flexibility, enabling educators to design projects that cater to the specific needs and interests of their students.

UbD Principles:

Clear Learning Objectives: UbD emphasizes the importance of clearly defined learning objectives. This is critical for STEM projects as it ensures that the goals of the project align with educational standards and desired outcomes.
Alignment: UbD ensures alignment between learning goals, assessments, and activities. For STEM projects, this alignment is essential to ensure that the projects not only engage students but also assess the targeted STEM skills and knowledge effectively.
Structured Planning: STEM projects often involve complex tasks. UbD's structured planning helps in breaking down these tasks into manageable components, ensuring that each part contributes to the overall learning objectives.

Why the Combination is Effective:

Holistic Approach: The combination of Fink's emphasis on engagement, creativity, and significance with UbD's structured planning and alignment creates a holistic approach. This approach ensures that STEM projects are both engaging and purposeful, contributing to meaningful learning experiences.
Flexibility within Structure: STEM projects can benefit from a structured framework provided by UbD, while still allowing for the flexibility and creativity advocated by Fink. This combination allows educators to plan and implement STEM projects that are both rigorous and responsive to students' interests and needs.
Clear Assessment: UbD's focus on assessment aligns with the need to evaluate student performance in STEM projects. By aligning assessments with learning goals, educators can ensure that they are effectively measuring the intended outcomes of the projects.
Continuous Improvement: Both Fink's and UbD's approaches promote a reflective and iterative process. This is valuable for continuous improvement in STEM project design. Educators can reflect on each project iteration, make adjustments based on feedback and outcomes, and enhance subsequent projects.

Contributions to Designing Learning Environments and Innovation Plans:

These design processes have enhanced my ability to create learning environments that are not only academically rigorous but also engaging and meaningful for students. Fink's emphasis on active learning strategies has inspired a more dynamic and participatory approach to instructional design. The UbD template, with its focus on clear articulation and alignment, has helped in creating more structured and purposeful learning experiences.

Innovation Plans:

The ability to seamlessly integrate Fink's emphasis on significance and active learning with the structured planning provided by the UbD template has been invaluable for developing innovative and effective teaching plans. The flexibility of Fink's approach allows for creative experimentation, while the UbD template ensures a solid foundation of clear objectives and alignment.

In summary, the combination of Fink's 3 Column Table and UbD principles provides a robust framework for designing and implementing STEM projects in the classroom. This approach balances creativity and flexibility with clear objectives, alignment, and structured planning, creating a learning environment that is engaging, purposeful, and effective in fostering STEM skills and knowledge.

References:
Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Wiggins, G., & Mctighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. Danvers, MA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development