Performance Tasks
Performance Tasks
Performance tasks that
deepen student understanding
Defined Learning’s performance tasks are built from the UBD (Understanding By Design) framework by award-winning authors and educators Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. Each cross-curricular task presents students with a real-world situation in a STEM career and provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of key academic content and processes.
The Defined Learning Performance Task Framework
Defined Learning’s engaging performance tasks provide opportunities for students to use and grow their 4C skills — critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. Many of the tasks are set in a global context to prepare students for living in an increasingly interconnected world.
Goals of the
performance task
Defined Learning’s performance tasks put the students in the role of a specific STEM career and asks them to conduct a performance task that follows the GRASP (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation and Product) model.
Goal – The teacher starts out the project by presenting the Goal (or big idea) of the project.
Role – Next, the students are given a Role in a specific STEM occupation that reflects the goal in real life.
Audience – Then they are told who the Audience is for whom they’ll be working.
Situation – They are given a Situation they must solve.
Product – Finally, they choose which Product they are going to create (such as a brochure, a commercial, a 3D model or something similar) that solves the problem and gives evidence of their understanding.
Customizable so Teachers Can
Differentiate instruction
Each Defined Learning task includes one or more criterion-based rubrics that define the performance standards to guide the evaluation of student work. Teachers can customize the tasks, research resources, rubrics and more so they can best meet their student’s needs and classroom goals.
