Six Facets of Understanding
from Understanding by Design

	To ensure students understand why an answer or approach is the correct one. Students explain or justify their responses or justify their course of action. Example: Students develop an illustrated brochure to explain the principles and practices of a particular type of technology (i.e. transportation, construction, medical information).
	To ensure students' key performances are conscious and explicit reflection, self-assessment, and self-adjustment, with reasoning made evident. Authentic assessment requires a real or simulated audience, purpose, setting, and options for personalizing the work. Example: Students analyze the design of a product, taking it apart in order to determine how it works. Students design, develop, test, and revise a solution to a local issue, such as a new roadway system, a water treatment system or long-term storage of various materials.
	To ensure students avoid the pitfall of looking for the "correct memorized answer" demanding answers instead that are based on important principles whereby students include as many facts and points of view as possible. Example: Students develop a 'biography' of the development of a particular type of technology.
	To ensure students develop the ability to see the world from different viewpoints in order to understand the diversity of thought and feeling in the world. Example: Students imagine they are politicians debating the value of nuclear power. they write their thoughts and feelings explaining why they agree or disagree with the use of nuclear power.
	To ensure students know the importance or significance of an idea and to grasp its importance or unimportance. Encourage students to step back and ask, "What of it? What value does this knowledge have? What does this idea enable us to do that is important?" Example: Students investigate about a technological artifact from the perspective of different regions and countries.
	To ensure that students are deeply aware of the boundaries of their own and others' understanding; able to recognize their own prejudices and projections; has integrity- able and willing to act on what one understands. Example: Students reflect on their own progress of understanding about one of the standards. They evaluate the extent to which they have improved, what task assignment was the most challenging and why, and which project or product of work they are the most proud and why.

Source: Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (1998) Understanding by Design. pp. 85-97. Alexandria, VA: ASCD