Understanding by Design

UbD is an international framework for imparting learning designed by world recognized educators Mr Grant Wiggins and Mr Jay Mc Tighe. Developed under the guidance of the American Society for Curriculum Development (ASCD), UbD integrates some of the best methodologies in education like Bloom’s Taxonomy, Multiple Intelligence and other such similar trend-setting approaches. Teaching for understanding is the basis for UbD. UbD is all about backward planning. That is, in most teaching methodologies the learning experience comes first and then, the outcome. However, according to UbD, the outcome is to be decided first followed by evaluation and finally the classroom learning experiences. The learning process is more activity oriented and the whole learning process is lead by the child and not the teacher. This method helps in integrating the learning of different subjects as it is highly flexible in terms of content restructuring. This flexibility also makes it easily adaptable to local situations and in creating real-life experiences, thereby supporting the learning of life skills.

Flipped Learning

A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content online. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. Flipped Learning provides students with a contemporary learning environment which offers flexibility and opportunities for collaboration, independence and connectivity to global resources. Teachers flip the classroom and create environment for discussion and deliberations on various topics. Teachers also easily manage student works through the classroom. In order to enable flipped learning each student carries a laptop equipped with all the necessary tools.

Experiential Learning

We believe the concept of learning goes beyond classrooms. It is a continuous and life long process. To help students have a deeper understanding of concepts, we focus on experiential learning as opposed to the traditional emphasis on outcomes. Experiential learning or learning by doing is an ancient concept but the modern theory as developed by David A Kolb defines learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience.” This model consists of four iterative steps to ensure continuous learning and relearning. Students first gain experience based on activity or environmental observations. These experiences are the bases of reflections that further help develop an understanding of concepts. The concepts are then applied to different contexts thereby creating a new experience for ongoing learning. In congruence with experiential learning, students are exposed to both field-based and classroom-based experiential learning. Some of the prominent forms are field trips, laboratory practicals, role plays, simulations, different types of group activities and many more. Implementation of experiential learning has been helping our students to learn differently and faster while being more engaged and focused in classrooms. It has also helped constantly hone their intellectual, emotional and social skills.

Mind Map

Mind map is a management tool often used for planning, brainstorming and consolidating information. This is used as a teaching learning tool. Mind maps are used in the classroom to reiterate topics to students and jot down the key takeaway from lessons. This makes it easy for children to get a complete view of the lesson at one glance and review the key points quickly. Teachers on the other hand, use mind map as a lesson planning tool.