Description

This course introduces educators to the power of Essential Questions (EQs) within the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. Essential Questions guide inquiry, deepen understanding, and help students make meaning that lasts. In this course, you will learn how to design, refine, and use EQs to anchor learning, spark curiosity, and strengthen conceptual understanding — one intentional improvement, 1% at a time.

🔑 Key Highlights

• Understand the role of Essential Questions in backward design and meaningful learning.

• Differentiate overarching EQs from topical EQs with clarity and precision.

• Learn how to craft open-ended, thought-provoking questions that promote transfer.

• Use EQs to guide discussions, frame lessons, and sustain inquiry across an entire unit.

• Build a classroom culture where students think deeply, question confidently, and engage purposefully.

📘 What You Will Learn

Designing Essential Questions That Matter

Understand what makes a question “essential” and how it drives exploration of big ideas rather than surface-level recall.

Overarching vs. Topical EQs

Learn how to create and balance long-term, discipline-wide EQs with unit-specific EQs that give direction and focus.

Frameworks & Characteristics of Strong EQs

Explore the features of effective Essential Questions — open-ended, arguable, real-world connected, and intellectually engaging.

Using EQs to Anchor Instruction

Discover how EQs shape discussions, guide learning sequences, and help students revisit and deepen their understanding over time.

Reflection, Transfer & Student Ownership

Learn how EQs encourage metacognition, evidence-based thinking, and student-led inquiry — making learning visible and meaningful.