Findings of qualitative studies on Understanding by Design: A meta-synthesis

Abstract

Designed by the meta-synthesis method, the researchers examined the studies designed on the Understanding by Design (UbD) and implemented and their findings were qualitatively evaluated. It tried to obtain a comprehensive and holistic perspective on the effects and reflections of the model. 48 UbD studies were accessed from 6 databases, and 12 research findings were included after three criteria in this meta-synthesis. The findings were reached through a six-stage data analysis process; they were analyzed inductively with content analysis. The validity and credibility of this analysis process have been brought under control with the coding reliability processes and the audit technique. According to the conclusions, in the development of units based on UbD, teachers generally did not create goals/standards by collecting evaluation evidence of UbD; it was concluded that the inadequacy of this was mostly due to model inexperience, the school's facilities/conditions, teacher stagnation and emotional state, and inadequate pedagogy knowledge. Findings showed that teaching based on UbD improves students' cognitive development and participatory insights. This meta-synthesis study guides researchers who want to reference UbD as a design framework in a unit study in the overall assessment of UbD.