In order to move our lesson plan from ADDIE to UbD, we got together for a Google hangout.

Our discussion was based mostly around the difference between knowing and understanding. Before we even got to the Moon phases lesson, we wanted to make sure we were all on the same page about what the differences between these were. Our discussion lead us to the thinking that knowing was far more factually based, whereas understanding was based in abstract concepts. This allowed us to approach our moon lesson plans from the same idea of what UbD was looking for. AJ-The biggest question that entered my mind as I started working on my UbD lesson plan was, why? Why do second graders need to know about the phases of the moon? How is this information going to help them throughout their lives? Its interesting, and good to know, but there is not the essential connection to their lives I would like for a UbD lesson. I looked away from the moon, and more towards the underlying message of the science program: patterns of change. Noticing, identifying, and using patterns is a skill that is clearly necessary and transferable. It is a skill that will be used by all of my students for the rest of their lives. So this became the focus for my lesson, and the Moon unit as a whole. This overarching question moves into a few more factually based, but the focus of the lesson stays on the pattern far more than it did in the first lesson. This idea was not present in the first draft of the ADDIE plan because ADDIE doesnt ask for these questions to be asked. As I read through the UbD information, and continued to work on our first lesson, the idea for an enduring idea, something that was going transcede the factual information, became far more clear and needed for the UbD lesson plan. ADDIE seems far more intuitive and simplistic for making lesson plans. UbD seems to be more difficult at first, with the factual information being less of a driving force in the lessons, but the depth of understanding should make it a way to create more lasting meaning for the students. Casey - When reflecting on ADDIE vs the UBD versions of the Moon Phases lesson. I have to say that I feel I have a much better idea of where Id want it to go during instruction after the UbD version. With ADDIE, theres an idea of constant improvement over the course of the process, and the Gagne lesson plan provides a clear idea of what should happen during a single lessons instruction. These are important aspects of instruction and you would want to see them during the course of any instruction, but it does not speak to motivation or the larger picture like UBD. It provides insight into ensuring the transfer of knowledge through a teachers lesson framework. While it can work and promote an understanding, it does not start there as UBD does. I felt as an educator that the version of this lesson begun just in using Stage 1 of UBD was much more in tune with providing important goal oriented understandings than may have been achieved in the context of the ADDIE designed lesson. I think it is the perspective that you begin from that matters most in this case. When students begin with essential questions in mind, understanding will be explored more effectively. It isnt as though the procedures and Analysis in ADDIE arent useful, but the broad understandings and essential questions that we start with in UbD seem to provide better

information to me and more meaningful learning. One enduring understanding to this is the importance of beginning with the end in mind. With ADDIE, the goals driving the instruction do not start this way. They identify a performance gap and you start at the beginning. I believe it is more instructive for educators and learners to start by asking where we are going, following it up with how do we get there, and hopefully choosing the route that will lead to the greatest understanding. Tracy - The ADDIE lesson model is a fairly traditional model for lesson design. You start with a learning goal and end with an assessment. The UbD model turns this idea backwards. You need to start with the big picture, what are the essential ideas that you want students to know and be able to do? Then you create essential questions, and explain how a lesson about the phases of the moon connects to the curriculum at large and the idea of patterns of change. As AJ stated, while knowing the phases of the moon is a good thing in and of itself, it should not be the end focus. The UbD model forces us as lesson designers to focus on the big picture. While it was not difficult to convert the lesson from the ADDIE model to the UbD model, it did make me stop and think about the big picture. How would this unit fit into a larger curriculum? Could I write an essential question that could be used throughout the curriculum to get back to the big idea of patterns of change? The UbD model basically forces the lesson designer to justify the purpose of the lesson from the beginning. Under the ADDIE model, it is possible to create a good lesson that does not connect to any bigger goal or picture.