Bloom’s
Taxonomy is a classification system developed in 1956 by education psychologist
Benjamin Bloom to categorize intellectual skills and behavior important to
learning. Bloom identified six cognitive levels: knowledge, comprehension,
application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, with sophistication growing
from basic knowledge-recall skills to the highest level, evaluation.
History of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s
Taxonomy was created in 1948 by psychologist Benjamin Bloom and several
colleagues. Originally developed as a method of classifying educational goals
for student performance evaluation, Bloom’s Taxonomy has been revised over the
years and is still utilized in education today. The original intent in creating
the taxonomy was to focus on three major domains of learning: cognitive,
affective, and psychomotor. The cognitive domain covered “the recall or
recognition of knowledge and the development of intellectual abilities and
skills”; the affective domain covered “changes in interest, attitudes, and
values, and the development of appreciations and adequate adjustment”; and the
psychomotor domain encompassed “the manipulative or motor-skill area.” Despite the creators’ intent to
address all three domains, Bloom’s Taxonomy applies only to acquiring knowledge
in the cognitive domain, which involves intellectual skill development.
The original Bloom’s Taxonomy contained six developmental
categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and
evaluation. The first step in the taxonomy focused on knowledge acquisition and
at this level, students recall, memorize, list, and repeat information. In the
second tier, students classify, describe, discuss, identify, and explain
information. Next, students demonstrate, interpret, and write about what
they’ve learned and solve problems. In the subsequent step, students compare,
contrast, distinguish, and examine what they’ve learned with other information,
and they have the opportunity to question and test this knowledge. Then
students argue, defend, support, and evaluate their opinion on this
information. Finally, in the original model of Bloom’s Taxonomy, students
create a new project, product, or point of view.
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
In the
1990s, one of Bloom’s students, Lorin Anderson, revised the original taxonomy.
In the amended version of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the names of the major cognitive
process categories were changed to indicate action because thinking implies
active engagements. Instead of listing knowledge as a part of the taxonomy, the
category is divided into different types of knowledge: factual, conceptual,
procedural, and metacognitive. This newer taxonomy also moves the
evaluation stage down a level and the highest element becomes “creating.”
Category | Examples, key words (verbs), and technologies for learning (activities) |
Remembering: Recall or retrieve previous learned information.
|
Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from memory to a customer. Recite the safety rules.
Key Words: defines, describes, identifies, knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines, recalls, recognizes, reproduces, selects, states
Technologies: book marking, flash cards, rote learning based on repetition, reading
|
Understanding: Comprehending the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words.
|
Examples: Rewrite the principles of test writing. Explain in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Translate an equation into a computer spreadsheet.
Key Words: comprehends, converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives an example, infers, interprets, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes, translates
Technologies: create an analogy, participating in cooperative learning, taking notes, storytelling, Internet search
|
Applying: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.
|
Examples: Use a manual to calculate an employee's vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written test.
Key Words: applies, changes, computes, constructs, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses
Technologies: collaborative learning, create a process, blog, practice
|
Analyzing: Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.
|
Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information from a department and selects the required tasks for training.
Key Words: analyzes, breaks down, compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates
Technologies: Fishbowls, debating, questioning what happened, run a test
|
Evaluating: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
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Examples: Select the most effective solution. Hire the most qualified candidate. Explain and justify a new budget.
Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends, describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes, supports
Technologies: survey, blogging
|
Creating: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure.
|
Examples: Write a company operations or process manual. Design a machine to perform a specific task. Integrates training from several sources to solve a problem. Revises and process to improve the outcome.
Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes
Technologies: Create a new model, write an essay, network with others
|
Bloom’s Taxonomy
in the Classroom
Bloom’s
Taxonomy can be used across grade levels and content areas. By using Bloom’s
Taxonomy in the classroom, teachers can assess students on multiple learning
outcomes that are aligned to local, state, and national standards and objectives.
Within each level of the taxonomy, there are various tasks that move students
through the thought process. This interactive activity demonstrates how all levels of Bloom’s
Taxonomy can be achieved with one image.
In order for teachers to develop lesson plans that integrate
Bloom’s Taxonomy, they write their lessons in the language that focuses on each
level. The United States Geological Survey provides a list of verbs for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy for teachers to use when developing
lesson plans. (Although the list is designed for environmental science teachers,
the examples will work for any discipline.)