Associate professor of Education Laura Allen leads a curriculum writing session for recent alumni of the Master of Arts in
Teaching program as part of the Understanding by Design workshop in Coates Library.
Dr. Laura Allen, associate professor of education “The difficulty of helping students make this
and founder of the Institute, says participants were leap sometimes frustrates teachers to the point of
so enthusiastic about writing new curriculum that leaving teaching. Those who leave say they felt they
they wanted experienced teachers in their schools to lacked competence and emotional support.”
have the opportunity to enroll, thus building more Units written during the writing institute are
meaningful curriculum school-wide. As a result, offered on the Trinity Library Web site*. Currently,
participants at the 2009 institute were invited to 96 units spanning grades K-12 are available.
bring one colleague to join them. “It’s the hottest site on the Library’s page,”
The framework for the new curricular units is Dr. Allen says. “What we have found is that our
Wiggins and McTighe’s “Understanding by Design” graduates share their units with colleagues who also
(UbD), an approach that matches Dr. Allen’s desire use them; thus, we are ‘building capacity’ within
for students to come away with an overarching schools via solid, curriculum development.”
“understanding” to which they can apply new pieces The work of the Institute, taking care of new
of knowledge. The alternative, she says, is a surface teachers with meaningful support, is more important
level understanding of information. than ever, and its staff looks forward to continuing
“One of a teacher’s most basic jobs is finding serving them in the years ahead.
a way to help students link the bits of information For more information about the Institute,
they’re learning into something bigger than its parts,” contact Laura Allen at 210-999-7598 or
she says, “to apply them to other domains lallen@trinity.edu.
of knowledge.”
*https://dspace.lasrworks.org/handle/10349/276
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