Index and Worksheets: The Big Picture
Big Ideas are the concepts, themes, or processes at the heart of a subject. For example, a big idea in economics is, “Thinking like a free-market economist." They can sometimes take the form of a question: “How does an economist think about the free-market?”
Big Ideas Worksheet [PDF] Download Big Ideas Worksheet [PDF]
Student understandings are the knowledge, skills, or attitudes that are associated with learning the "big idea" and may not always be visible or measurable.
These questions can help you identify the student understandings related to each big idea:
- What knowledge and concepts are essential for understanding the big idea?
- What skills and ways of thinking will students need to develop?
- Which attitudes and values will help students appreciate how the big idea fits within the subject?
Understandings usually follow the format:
"At the end of the course, students should understand that ___________."
For example, "Students should understand that in a free-market economy, price is a function of demand versus supply."
Student Understanding Worksheet [PDF] Download Student Understanding Worksheet [PDF]
Learning outcomes are statements that provide measurable evidence of the understanding you want students to have. Learning outcomes give you evidence to see the quality of students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes they have learned in your course, and can reflect different levels of thinking or mastery. Some may be geared at getting students to show they comprehend a concept, and others at getting them to create something new from that knowledge.
Outcomes usually follow the format: “At the end of the course, students will be able to insert verb here + insert knowledge, skills, or attitudes the student is expected to develop here.”
For example, “At the end of the course, students will be able to summarize the key forces affecting the rise of China as an economic power in the global market.”
Learning Outcomes Worksheet [PDF] Download Learning Outcomes Worksheet [PDF]
Bloom's Simplified Handout [PDF] Download Bloom's Simplified Handout [PDF]