Final answer:
The Understanding by Design (UbD) framework prioritizes deep understanding and application of core concepts over rote memorization. It includes a variety of assessments to confirm understanding and promotes a student-centered focus, integrating students' experiences into the learning process to make content more relevant.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Understanding by Design (UbD) framework is a pedagogical strategy that prioritizes understanding over the rote memorization of content. It is not accurate to say that UbD de-emphasizes the teaching of content knowledge and skills; rather, it reorganizes these within a broader context of gaining a more meaningful and applicable understanding of the material. The framework encourages teaching that helps students grasp core concepts and foundational research, with a variety of assessments designed to confirm core conceptual understanding and encourage students to apply their knowledge.
Additionally, UbD supports a student-centered focus, where learning is structured to connect with students' experiences, making the material more relevant and memorable. Moreover, this approach is complemented by interactive group activities and assessments that elicit student explanations, which further reinforce understanding and application of the subject matter.
The UbD framework aligns with contemporary educational methods, such as those in geography education, where the emphasis is on learning to think and problem-solve like a geographer, which is considered more beneficial in the long term for students' academic and personal development.