Beyond Backward Design in Instructional Design
You’re probably familiar with backward design. Maybe you’ve even used it to build courses, starting with the end goal and working backwards to create assessments and learning experiences that fit. [Wiggins and McTighe's framework has influenced thousands of courses since 1998. It’s effective, and like any good framework, it keeps evolving.
We saw a way to make that framework even clearer. New technology can now map thousands of learning connections in seconds, showing how close concepts are and linking them together. We call this approach Outside-In. You still use backward design, but now you add detail where it matters most: the moments that truly change how students think.
The GPS Problem
Think back to your last big road trip. You picked your destination first and then planned backwards. That makes sense. But if you only draw a straight line on the map, you miss the pit stops, refueling spots, and landmarks that help you know you’re still on track.
Most course design works at this basic level of detail. You know where students start, where they should end up, and there’s a vague middle filled with weekly topics. It’s like using a GPS that only shows your current location and your destination, with everything in between blurred out.
Students need more than that. They should see the key moments along the way that truly change how they think.
Breakthrough Moments: The Missing Waypoints
The idea of "waypoints" is already well known. [Research on threshold concepts shows that learning doesn’t just build gradually until students become proficient. Instead, students have breakthrough moments, sudden shifts in understanding that change how they see the subject. Meyer and Land described these as portals that open up "a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something."
Quick aside: anyone who took Physics and had Physics Day at Six Flags knows exactly what a breakthrough application feels like. That was the moment physics stopped being abstract formulas and became real, fun, and enchanting. Every learning domain has this opportunity.
These breakthroughs are surprisingly predictable by domain:
Technical and scientific domains: Breakthroughs in system understanding. This is the moment a student realizes statistics is a decision-making framework vs a “different type of math”. Suddenly, p-values become tools for navigating uncertainty.
Creative and artistic domains: Perspective shift breakthroughs. This is when a student understands that composition rules exist to be purposefully broken. The grid becomes a launching pad.
Physical and somatic domains: Mind-body connection breakthroughs. This is the moment when breathing shifts from automatic to intentional. Performance changes when students realize their breath controls their nervous system.
Social and interpersonal domains: Relational awareness breakthroughs. This is the moment when conflict stops being seen as failure and becomes data. Disagreement changes from something to avoid into information to explore.
If you leave out these breakthrough moments when designing a course, it’s like planning a cross-country trip and forgetting about the Rocky Mountains. You need to consider how the challenges and peaks of crossing the Rockies add to your road trip. Breakthrough moments are important. They connect where students begin to where they need to go.
Outside-In: Adding Resolution to Backward Design
Outside-In builds on backward design by starting with breakthrough moments and working outward. Instead of only working backwards from the end, you also find the points in the course where theory starts to make sense in practice. Then you connect lessons to and from those moments. Doing this manually takes a lot of time and effort for instructional designers, but it’s worth it. Thankfully, our platform can quickly connect tens of thousands of data points to show you where the breakthrough moments will be for your students and the outcomes you want.
Here's the gist of it:
Parts 1 and 2 set the foundation. What do students need to master before they can have a breakthrough? These are the basic vocabulary and concepts that make change possible. If there are two foundational skills, Part 2 brings them together. With three, you mix and match the pairs. Students need to see these connections before big breakthroughs happen.
Part 3 is about those ah-ha moments. Here, students move from theory to understanding and then to application. The connections become clear. These lessons use real-world examples and field observations to show why the theory matters and where it may not work.
Part 4 puts the breakthrough to work. Students take what they learned in Part 3 and apply it to new situations. This is when they see that their new understanding truly changes how they view things.
Part 5 brings everything together. All the domains, breakthroughs, and applications combine into one complete skill set.
What Changes When You Design This Way
- Outside-In asks: "What changes need to happen, and what connections will make them possible?
- Traditional instructional design asks: "What order should I teach these concepts?"
- Outside-In builds learning journeys that include key turning points.
- Traditional design creates logical sequences.
- Outside-In focuses on the breakthrough moments that change how students understand things.
- Traditional design focuses on coverage.
Developing a typical course takes 300 to 400 hours. Much of that time goes into sequencing: figuring out the right order for topics, which concepts depend on others, and how to build complexity gradually. But no matter how much work goes into getting sequencing right, you still need equal effort to make sure lessons build toward breakthrough moments.
You don’t need to throw out your current curriculum to try this approach. Start with one course, find one breakthrough, and build one thoughtful connection.
Think about your hardest course. Where do students usually get stuck? It’s probably just before a breakthrough you haven’t identified yet. What change in thinking would help them move forward? What could you add to help them reach it?
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About Curriculus
Curriculus helps course developers and instructional designers work faster and smarter. By handling the complex parts of curriculum design, Curriculus lets you focus on the creative teaching decisions that need your expertise. Want to see how it works? Visit us at curriculus.com