This post is provided to you by guest blogger, Adam Gurke, graduate student at University of St. Francis, Learning and Development Manager certificate student.

The article discusses 8 different resources for instructional design. One instructional design that I chose to highlight is Backwards by Design. “Instead of starting with activities or content, you first define the desired learning outcomes. Then you determine acceptable evidence of learning ” (Webber, 2025). By beginning with the end in mind, teachers can keep learning outcomes at the forefront of their instruction. Therefore, activities that they design to assess their application of learning skills are aligned with the outcome of the lesson/unit. By utilizing Backwards Design in planning, it ensures that all lessons and activities are aligned to the outcome of the unit. Therefore, the activities are all focused and aligned with learning standards. 

One critique of this article is that there are not specific examples for readers to see how to do Backwards Design. The article discusses the theory behind Backwards Design and its benefits for student learning. However, the website does not include a realistic how-to discussion for implementation with a teacher team. By incorporating a how-to discussion, readers will have a more realistic approach to bring to their team. I think it would be beneficial to have an example of how a grade level team did this during one of their planning meetings. 

Reference

Webber, J. (2025, May ?). 8 essential instructional design best practices for 2025. LearnStream. https://learnstream.io/blog/instructional-design-best-practices/?utm_sourc