Bloom's taxonomy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bloom's taxonomy (cognitive) according to Bloom's verbs and matching assessment types. The verbs are
intended to be feasible and measurable.

Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify educational learning
objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in
cognitive, affective and sensory domains. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of
most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives,
assessments and activities.
The models were named after Benjamin Bloom, who chaired the committee of educators that
devised the taxonomy. He also edited the first volume of the standard text, Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals.[1][2]

Contents
  [hide] 

 1History
 2The cognitive domain (knowledge-based)
o 2.1Remembering
o 2.2Comprehending
o 2.3Applying
o 2.4Analyzing
o 2.5Synthesizing
o 2.6Evaluating
 3The affective domain (emotive-based)
 4The psychomotor domain (action-based)
o 4.1Perception
 o 4.2Set
o 4.3Guided response
o 4.4Mechanism
o 4.5Complex overt response
o 4.6Adaptation
o 4.7Origination
 5Definition of knowledge
 6Criticism of the taxonomy
 7Implications
 8Connections across disciplines
 9See also
 10References
 11Further reading

History[edit]
Although named after Bloom, the publication of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives followed a
series of conferences from 1949 to 1953, which were designed to improve communication between
educators on the design of curricula and examinations. [3]
The first volume of the taxonomy, Handbook I: Cognitive[1] was published in 1956, and in
1964 Handbook II: Affective.[4][5][6][7][8] A revised version of the taxonomy for the cognitive domain was
created in 2001.[9]

The cognitive domain (knowledge-based)[edit]

In the original version of the taxonomy, the cognitive domain is broken into the following six levels of
objectives.[10] In the 2001 revised edition of Bloom's taxonomy, the levels are slightly different:
Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create (rather than Synthesize). [9][11]
Remembering[edit]
Remembering involves recognizing or remembering facts, terms, basic concepts, or answers without
necessarily understanding what they mean. Its characteristics may include:

 Knowledge of specifics—terminology, specific facts

 Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics—
conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories,
criteria, methodology
 Knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field—principles
and generalizations, theories and structures
Example: Name three common varieties of apple.
Comprehending[edit]
Comprehension involves demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing,
translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating the main ideas.
Example: Compare the identifying characteristics of a Golden Delicious apple with a Granny Smith
apple.
Applying[edit]
Applying involves using acquired knowledge—solving problems in new situations by applying
acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules. Learners should be able to use prior knowledge to
solve problems, identify connections and relationships and how they apply in new situations.
Example: Would apples prevent scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency in vitamin C?
Analyzing[edit]
Analyzing involves examining and breaking information into component parts, determining how the
parts relate to one another, identifying motives or causes, making inferences, and finding evidence
to support generalizations. Its characteristics include:

 Analysis of elements
 Analysis of relationships
 Analysis of organization
Example: List four ways of serving foods made with apples and explain which ones have the highest
health benefits. Provide references to support your statements.
Synthesizing[edit]
Synthesizing involves building a structure or pattern from diverse elements; it also refers to the act of
putting parts together to form a whole. Its characteristics include:

 Production of a unique communication

 Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations
 Derivation of a set of abstract relations
Example: Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for apple pie to a "healthy" recipe by replacing your choice
of ingredients. Explain the health benefits of using the ingredients you chose vs. the original ones.
Evaluating[edit]
Evaluating involves presenting and defending opinions by making judgments about information, the
validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria. Its characteristics include:

 Judgments in terms of internal evidence

 Judgments in terms of external criteria
Example: Which kinds of apples are best for baking a pie, and why?

The affective domain (emotive-based)[edit]

Skills in the affective domain describe the way people react emotionally and their ability to feel other
living things' pain or joy. Affective objectives typically target the awareness and growth in attitudes,
emotion, and feelings.
There are five levels in the affective domain moving through the lowest-order processes to the
highest:
Receiving
The lowest level; the student passively pays attention. Without
this level, no learning can occur. Receiving is about the
student's memory and recognition as well.
Responding
The student actively participates in the learning process, not
only attends to a stimulus; the student also reacts in some way.
 Valuing
The student attaches a value to an object, phenomenon, or
piece of information. The student associates a value or some
values to the knowledge they acquired.
Organizing
The student can put together different values, information, and
ideas, and can accommodate them within his/her own schema;
the student is comparing, relating and elaborating on what has
been learned.
Characterizing
The student at this level tries to build abstract knowledge.

The psychomotor domain

(action-based)[edit]
Skills in the psychomotor domain describe the
ability to physically manipulate a tool or instrument
like a hand or a hammer. Psychomotor objectives
usually focus on change and/or development in
behavior and/or skills.
Bloom and his colleagues never created
subcategories for skills in the psychomotor domain,
but since then other educators have created their
own psychomotor taxonomies.[7]Simpson (1972)
proposed the following levels:[full citation needed]
Perception[edit]
The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor
activity: This ranges from sensory stimulation,
through cue selection, to translation.
Examples: Detects non-verbal communication
cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is
thrown and then moving to the correct location to
catch the ball. Adjusts heat of the stove to correct
temperature by smell and taste of food. Adjusts the
height of the forks on a forklift by comparing where
the forks are in relation to the pallet.
Key words: chooses, describes, detects,
differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates,
relates, selects.
Set[edit]
Readiness to act: It includes mental, physical, and
emotional sets. These three sets are dispositions
that predetermine a person's response to different
situations (sometimes called mindsets). This
subdivision of psychomotor is closely related with
the "responding to phenomena" subdivision of the
affective domain.
Examples: Knows and acts upon a sequence of
steps in a manufacturing process. Recognizes his
or her abilities and limitations. Shows desire to
learn a new process (motivation).
Key words: begins, displays, explains, moves,
proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.
Guided response[edit]
The early stages of learning a complex skill that
includes imitation and trial and error: Adequacy of
performance is achieved by practicing.
Examples: Performs a mathematical equation as
demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a
model. Responds to hand-signals of the instructor
while learning to operate a forklift.
Key words: copies, traces, follows, react,
reproduce, responds.
Mechanism[edit]
The intermediate stage in learning a complex skill:
Learned responses have become habitual and the
movements can be performed with some
confidence and proficiency.
Examples: Use a personal computer. Repair a
leaking tap. Drive a car.
Key words: assembles, calibrates, constructs,
dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats,
manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes,
sketches.
Complex overt response[edit]
The skillful performance of motor acts that involve
complex movement patterns: Proficiency is
indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly
coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of
energy. This category includes performing without
hesitation and automatic performance. For
example, players will often utter sounds of
satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a
tennis ball or throw a football because they can tell
by the feel of the act what the result will produce.
Examples: Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel
parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and
accurately. Displays competence while playing the
piano.
Key words: assembles, builds, calibrates,
constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes,
grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends,
mixes, organizes, sketches. (Note: The key words
are the same as in mechanism, but will have
adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the
performance is quicker, better, more accurate, etc.)
Adaptation[edit]
Skills are well developed and the individual can
modify movement patterns to fit special
requirements.
Examples: Responds effectively to unexpected
experiences. Modifies instruction to meet the needs
of the learners. Performs a task with a machine that
was not originally intended for that purpose (the
machine is not damaged and there is no danger in
performing the new task).
Key words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges,
reorganizes, revises, varies.
Origination[edit]
Creating new movement patterns to fit a particular
situation or specific problem: Learning outcomes
emphasize creativity based upon highly developed
skills.
Examples: Constructs a new set or pattern of
movements organized around a novel concept or
theory. Develops a new and comprehensive
training program. Creates a new gymnastic routine.
Key words: arranges, builds, combines, composes,
constructs, creates, designs, initiate, makes,
originates.

Definition of knowledge[edit]
In the appendix to Handbook I, there is a definition
of knowledge which serves as the apex for an
alternative, summary classification of the
educational goals. This is significant as the
taxonomy has been called upon significantly in
other fields such as knowledge management,
potentially out of context. "Knowledge, as defined
here, involves the recall of specifics and universals,
the recall of methods and processes, or the recall
of a pattern, structure, or setting."[12]
The taxonomy is set out as follows:

 1.00 Knowledge
 1.10 Knowledge of specifics
 1.11 Knowledge of terminology
 1.12 Knowledge of specific facts
 1.20 Knowledge of ways and means of
dealing with specifics
  1.21 Knowledge of conventions
 1.22 Knowledge of trends and sequences
 1.23 Knowledge of classifications and
categories
 1.24 Knowledge of criteria
 1.25 Knowledge of methodology
 1.30 Knowledge of the universals and
abstractions in a field
 1.31 Knowledge of principles and
generalizations
 1.32 Knowledge of theories and structures

Criticism of the taxonomy[edit]

As Morshead (1965) pointed out on the publication
of the second volume, the classification was not a
properly constructed taxonomy, as it lacked a
systemic rationale of construction.
This was subsequently acknowledged in the
discussion of the original taxonomy in its 2001
revision,[9] and the taxonomy was reestablished on
more systematic lines. It is generally
considered[citation needed] that the role the taxonomy
played in systematising a field was more important
than any perceived lack of rigour in its construction.
Some critiques of the taxonomy's cognitive domain
admit the existence of these six categories but
question the existence of a sequential, hierarchical
link.[13] Often, educators view the taxonomy as a
hierarchy and may mistakenly dismiss the lowest
levels as unworthy of teaching.[14][15] The learning of
the lower levels enables the building of skills in the
higher levels of the taxonomy, and in some fields,
the most important skills are in the lower levels
(such as identification of species of plants and
animals in the field of natural history).[14]
[15]
 Instructional scaffolding of higher-level skills from
lower-level skills is an application
of Vygotskian constructivism.[16][17]
Some consider the three lowest levels as
hierarchically ordered, but the three higher levels
as parallel.[9] Others say that it is sometimes better
to move to Application before introducing concepts,
[citation needed]
 the idea is to create a learning
environment where the real world context comes
first and the theory second to promote the student's
grasp of the phenomenon, concept or event. This
thinking would seem to relate to the method
of problem-based learning.
Furthermore, the distinction between the categories
can be seen as artificial since any given cognitive
task may entail a number of processes. It could
even be argued that any attempt to nicely
categorize cognitive processes into clean, cut-and-
dried classifications undermines the holistic, highly
connective and interrelated nature of cognition.
[18]
 This is a criticism that can be directed at
taxonomies of mental processes in general.

Implications[edit]
Bloom's taxonomy serves as the backbone of many
teaching philosophies, in particular, those that lean
more towards skills rather than content.[8][9] These
educators view content as a vessel for teaching
skills. The emphasis on higher-order thinking
inherent in such philosophies is based on the top
levels of the taxonomy including analysis,
evaluation, synthesis and creation. Bloom's
taxonomy can be used as a teaching tool to help
balance assessment and evaluative questions in
class, assignments and texts to ensure all orders of
thinking are exercised in students' learning,
including aspects of information searching.[19]

Connections across
disciplines[edit]
The skill development that takes place at these
higher orders of thinking interacts well with a
developing global focus on multiple literacies and
modalities in learning and the emerging field of
integrated disciplines.[20] The ability to interface with
and create media would draw upon skills from
multiple levels of the taxonomy including analysis,
application and creation.[21][22] Bloom's taxonomy
(and the revised taxonomy) continues to be a
source of inspiration for educational philosophy and
for developing new teaching strategies.

See also[edit]
 DIKW pyramid
 Educational psychology
 Educational technology
 Fluid and crystallized intelligence
 Higher order thinking skills
 In Over Our Heads
 Integrative complexity
 Know-how
 Learning cycle
 Learning styles
 Mastery learning
 Metacognition
 Model of hierarchical complexity
 Pedagogy
 Physical education
 Reflective practice
 Rubric (academic)
 Structure of observed learning outcome
 Wisdom

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.;
Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.;  Krathwohl, D.
R.  (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives:
The classification of educational goals.
Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York:
David McKay Company.
2. Jump up^ Shane, Harold G. (1981).
"Significant writings that have influenced the
curriculum: 1906-1981". Phi Delta
Kappan.  62  (5): 311–314.
3. Jump up^ Bloom et al. 1956, p. 4: "The idea
for this classification system was formed at an
informal meeting of college examiners
attending the 1948 American Psychological
Association Convention in Boston. At this
meeting, interest was expressed in a theoretical
framework which could be used to facilitate
communication among examiners.
4. Jump up^ Simpson, Elizabeth J. (1966). "The
classification of educational objectives:
Psychomotor domain". Illinois Journal of Home
Economics.  10  (4): 110–144.
5. Jump up^ *Harrow, Anita J. (1972). A
taxonomy of the psychomotor domain: A guide
for developing behavioral objectives. New York:
David McKay Company.
6. Jump up^ *Dave, R. H. (1975). Armstrong, R.
J., ed.  Developing and writing behavioral
objectives. Tucson: Educational Innovators
Press.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b Clark, Donald R.
(1999).  "Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning
Domains". Retrieved  28 Jan  2014.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b Krathwohl, David R. (2002). "A
revision of Bloom's taxonomy: An
overview".  Theory Into Practice.
Routledge. 41 (4): 212–
218.  doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4104_2.  ISSN  0
040-5841.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e Anderson, Lorin
W.; Krathwohl, David R., eds. (2001). A
taxonomy for learning, teaching, and
assessing: A revision of Bloom's taxonomy of
educational objectives. Allyn and
Bacon.  ISBN  978-0-8013-1903-7.
10. Jump up^ Hoy, Anita Woolfolk
(2007).  Educational psychology (10th ed.).
Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. pp. 530–
531,
545.  ISBN  0205459463. OCLC  68694368.
11. Jump up^ Armstrong, Patricia. "Bloom's
Taxonomy".  Vanderbilt University Center for
Teaching.  Vanderbilt University. Retrieved  29
June  2016.
12. Jump up^ Bloom et al. 1956, p. 201.
13. Jump up^ Paul, R. (1993). Critical thinking:
what every person needs to survive in a rapidly
changing world  (3rd ed.). Rohnert Park,
California: Sonoma State University Press.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b Flannery, Maura C. (November
2007). "Observations on biology"  (PDF). The
American Biology Teacher. 69 (9): 561–
564.  doi:10.1662/0002-
7685(2007)69[561:OOB]2.0.CO;2. Biology is
often referred to as an observational science
almost as a slur, with the implication that
biologists simply look at the living world without
the strong theoretical and mathematic
underpinnings of a science like physics. There
is the suggestion that observation is easy. Thus
biology is viewed as a lightweight science—
anyone can do it: just go out and start looking,
at birds, at grass, at cells under the
microscope. Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy of
learning tasks puts observation at the lowest
level, with recall of information. This denigration
of observation has long bothered me because I
see it as often difficult and complex, a skill that
needs to be learned and a talent that is much
more developed in some.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b Lawler, Susan (26 February
2016). "Identification of animals and plants is
an essential skill set".  The Conversation.
Archived from  the original on 17 November
2016. Retrieved  5 March  2017. Ironically, the
dogma that has been so detrimental to field
taxonomy is known as Bloom's taxonomy.
University lecturers are told to apply an
educational theory developed by Benjamin
Bloom, which categorises assessment tasks
and learning activities into cognitive domains.
In Bloom's taxonomy, identifying and naming
are at the lowest level of cognitive skills and
have been systematically excluded from
University degrees because they are
considered simplistic.
 16. Jump up^ Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). "Chapter 6:
Interaction between learning and
development".  Mind in society: the
development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press. pp.  79–91.
17. Jump up^ Keene, Judith; Colvin, John;
Sissons, Justine (June 2010) [2010].  "Mapping
student information literacy activity against
Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive skills". Journal
of Information Literacy. 4  (1): 6–
21.  doi:10.11645/4.1.189.  When supporting
students outside the classroom situation, a
subject aware advisor should be capable of
spotting mistakes in a student's solution and of
analysing these mistakes to identify the
difficulty that the student is encountering. Such
support can be seen as offering scaffolding in a
student's 'zone of proximal development'
(Vygotsky, 1978) and exemplified by teaching
students to analyse a problem through the
identification of the key elements and the
relationships between these elements.
18. Jump up^ Fadul, J. A. (2009). "Collective
Learning: Applying distributed cognition for
collective intelligence". The International
Journal of Learning.  16  (4): 211–
220.  ISSN  1447-9494.
19. Jump up^ BJ Jansen, D Booth, B Smith
(2009) Using the taxonomy of cognitive learning
to model online searching, Information
Processing & Management 45 (6), 643-663
20. Jump up^ *Kress, G.; Selander, S. (2012).
"Multimodal design, learning and cultures of
recognition".  Internet and Higher
Education.  15  (1): 265–
268.  doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.12.003.
21. Jump up^ *Paul, R.; Elder, L. (2004).  Critical
and creative thinking. Dillon Beach, CA: The
Foundation for Critical Thinking.
22. Jump up^ *The New London Group (1996). A
pedagogy of multiliteracies: designing social
futures. Harvard Educational Review.

Further reading[edit]
 Bloom, B. S. (1994). "Reflections on the
development and use of the taxonomy". In Rehage,
Kenneth J.; Anderson, Lorin W.; Sosniak, Lauren
A.  Bloom's taxonomy: A forty-year retrospective.
Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of
Education.  93. Chicago: National Society for the
Study of Education.  ISSN  1744-7984.
 Clark, Donald R. (1999). "Bloom's Taxonomy of
Learning Domains". Retrieved 28 Jan 2014.
 Krathwohl, D. R.;  Bloom, B. S.; Masia, B. B.
(1964).  Taxonomy of educational objectives: The
 classification of educational goals. Handbook II: the
affective domain. New York: David McKay
Company.
 Morshead, Richard W. (1965). "On Taxonomy of
educational objectives Handbook II: Affective
domain".  Studies in Philosophy and
Education.  4 (1): 164–
170.  doi:10.1007/bf00373956.
 Orlich, Donald; Harder, Robert; Callahan, Richard;
Trevisan, Michael; Brown, Abbie (2004).  Teaching
strategies: a guide to effective instruction  (7th ed.).
Houghton Mifflin.  ISBN  978-0-6182-9999-7.
Categories: 
 Educational technology
 Educational psychology
 Classification systems
 Stage theories
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