1. What will participants ideally gain from this PD experience and why does this matter?
2. How do the goals and outcomes reflect the needs of the school district and the participants?
3. How will the parameters of the PD make the intended learning outcomes feasible?
4. Have outcomes been narrowed enough to allow participants to dive deep into the intended learning?
When planning a learning experience, practitioners often begin with activities, which may not always result in actual transfer of knowledge.
Instead, try starting with the end goal and plan the learning backwards. This helps support the goal of transfer.
Understanding by Design means the practitioner begins by identifying intended learning outcomes, or "desired results," and then maps the learning in reverse from there. For more information, check out Agenda & Focus.
“Taking the time to narrow the intended outcomes of the work ensures that the learning is focused and measurable, making it authentic and meaningful.”
- Professional Development Practitioner
If PD intends to support the transfer of knowledge to practice, then should the practitioner try to cover lots of new information for breadth, or focus on specific topics for depth?
PD does not always make the practitioner choose one or the other. Oftentimes, PD can encompass broad explorations of new information and delve deeper into previously-learned information for greater understanding. So where should your PD fall?
The perspective that Jal Mehta gives in Breadth and Depth: Can We Have It Both Ways? might help you find the ideal balance.
You might also try using a T-shaped learning design, which threads core themes through various topics. This approach lets learners reinforce and broaden their accumulated knowledge while also going deep in discovery on certain subjects.
When considering the intended learning outcomes, think about how much time you have with participants. It is better to overestimate the amount of time an activity will take than to rush through learning because of over-planning.
"Breadth and depth are much more intertwined then they initially appear; it is not possible to become a deep inquirer in a subject without some broader understanding that goes around the specific thing you are exploring."
– Dr. Jal Mehta, Harvard Graduate School of Education
