Bloom’s Taxonomy

Consider the process that a teacher would use to write learning objectives for a lesson. How would they ensure that the objectives are specific and measurable? How would they encourage students to move beyond simply memorizing and reciting information and engage in higher-order thinking?

For the past several decades, teachers have used Bloom’s Taxonomy to help establish learning goals and encourage deeper levels of thinking in their students.

In this video, we will describe Bloom’s Taxonomy and the way it is structured for the cognitive learning domain as well as ways it can be used when designing instruction.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: An Overview

Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed in 1956 by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom. The original taxonomy covered the cognitive domain of learning, which focuses on mental skills and knowledge. Later, two additional domains were added: the affective domain, which focuses on feelings, beliefs, and attitudes, and the psychomotor domain, which focuses on physical skills.

Within each domain, levels of thinking are arranged in a hierarchy, with each level increasing in complexity and building upon the ones before. In other words, to succeed in the highest level of thinking, students would first need to have achieved the lower levels.

In this video, we will focus on the cognitive domain, as it is the most commonly addressed within a typical classroom setting.

Bloom’s Taxonomy in the Cognitive Domain

Bloom’s original taxonomy organized cognitive processes into a hierarchy of six categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Knowledge, the first level of the hierarchy, was considered the prerequisite level necessary for all the other levels to occur.

Consider the following example. A teacher wants her students to analyze examples of similes in texts. However, in order to achieve this goal, students must first know what a simile is. Knowledge is prerequisite to analysis.

Progression through the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy does not always occur within a single lesson. Instead, it may take place over a series of lessons or even years. When planning instruction, teachers must first consider students’ existing knowledge and skills and build upon that foundation.

Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised in 2001. Let’s compare the original and revised versions now.

There are still six levels of cognitive processes in the hierarchy, but they have been renamed using verbs rather than nouns. Additionally, create is now the highest level on the taxonomy, replacing evaluation.

Within each level of cognition, there are specific action verbs listed. These verbs can guide teachers when creating learning objectives.

Let’s examine each level of the revised taxonomy in more detail now.

The lowest level on Bloom’s taxonomy, remember, focuses on recalling facts and concepts. Verbs in this level include recall, define, and list.

The understand level focuses on explaining ideas and concepts. Verbs include classify, describe, and explain.

The apply level focuses on applying knowledge to new situations. Verbs include demonstrate, organize, and solve.

The analyze level focuses on relationships among ideas. Verbs include compare, contrast, and distinguish.

The evaluate level focuses on justifying decisions. Verbs include argue, defend, and critique.

Create, now the highest level of the taxonomy, involves producing original work. Verbs include design, develop, and formulate.

The Knowledge Dimension

The revised Bloom’s Taxonomy also divides each of these six levels of cognition into four types of knowledge ranging from concrete to abstract. This is known as the knowledge dimension and includes:

• the factual dimension, which includes basic knowledge a student must know on a topic
• the conceptual dimension, or how the basic elements of the topic are related
• the procedural dimension, which includes steps and methods for solving problems, and
• the metacognitive dimension, which includes a student’s awareness of their own thinking and learning

Keeping all of this information in mind can help teachers identify both what they want students to learn and the depth of learning that should occur.

Let’s look at an example that includes the knowledge dimension.

Students are working at the create level of Bloom’s Taxonomy to design a learning game that will help others learn an addition process. When the students write instructions for how to solve the problems in the game, they are working in the procedural dimension.

If they create a portfolio of learning games created throughout the school year and reflect on what they have learned over time, they are then working in the metacognitive dimension, reflecting on their own thinking and learning.

Uses for Designing Instruction

Bloom’s Taxonomy can guide the instructional design process and teaching in several ways.

First, teachers can use the taxonomy when writing learning objectives. They can vary the levels of thinking required, increase complexity throughout the lessons, and encourage students to solve real-world problems rather than staying only at the knowledge recall level.

Teachers can also use Bloom’s Taxonomy to identify specific and measurable action verbs to include in the objectives. Once the objectives are determined, these same verbs can be incorporated into assessments and learning activities, ensuring alignment in the lesson design.

For example, a teacher may consult Bloom’s Taxonomy when writing a learning objective that states the following:

Given a ruler, students will calculate the perimeter of a triangle.

Calculate, a specific and measurable verb, falls under the application level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Review

Okay, let’s review what we’ve learned in this video.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchy of processes that addresses three domains of learning: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.
• The cognitive domain focuses on mental skills and knowledge. The revised Bloom’s Taxonomy organizes cognitive processes into a hierarchy of six categories: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.
• The revised taxonomy also divides each level into categories of knowledge ranging from concrete to abstract. These include the factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive dimensions.
• Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to create learning objectives, assessments, and activities that are aligned and require various levels of thinking.

Questions

Now for a couple of review questions before we go.

1. A teacher creates the following assessment questions for a science lesson on living and nonliving things.

• List three characteristics of living things.
• Classify the following examples as living or nonliving.

Which levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are addressed in these questions?

2. A high school class is about to start a unit on narrative texts. How might the teacher incorporate the top three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy in this unit?

That’s all for now; thanks for watching, and happy studying!