Standards provide teachers with a "focus" for which they teach.
Big Ideas from Lynn Erickson (2001)
- Broad and abstract
- Represented by one or two words
- Universal in application
- Timeless--carry through the ages
- Represented by different examples that share common attributes (Erickson 2001 p. 35)
Wiggins and McTigue go on talking about how Ercikson's list of big ideas can be generalized (p. 69)
- Providing a focusing conceptual lens for any study
- Providing breadth of meaning by connecting and organizing many facts, skills, and experiences; serving as the linchpin of understanding
- Pointing to ideas at the heart of expert understanding of a subject
- Requiring "uncoverage" because its meaning or value is rarely obvious to the learner, is counterintuitive or prone to misunderstanding
- Having great transfer value; applying to many other inquiries and issues over time--"horizontally" (across subjects) and "vertically" (through the years in later courses) in the curriculum and out of school