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Bloom’s TaxonomyBloom’s Taxonomy

A Focus on Higher Level Thinking Skills

Jack TruschelEast Stroudsburg UniversityFall 2006

A T PCHALLENGES

Nothing in life is to be

feared. It is only to be

understood.

Marie Curie

TheA T P BackgroundBackground

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, a professor at the University of Chicago, shared his famous "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives."

Bloom described 3 Domains of Learning Cognitive – how someone processes

information Affective – attitude towards the information Psychomotor – demonstrating the

information

TheA T P

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Higher-Level Thinking SkillsHigher-Level Thinking Skills

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In the 1990s, Lorin Anderson, who was a former student of Bloom, revisited the taxonomy to what would be termed as more contemporary terminology.

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Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom’s Taxonomy - Revised- Revised

Remember

Understand

Apply

Analyze

Evaluate

Create

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level I – Remember Memorizing of information in a basically word-

for-word fashion Reciting definitions of terms Remembering lists of items

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level II – Understand Understanding the meaning and intent of the

material Being able to put into one’s own words

Rewording a definition Paraphrasing a rule

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level III – Apply Applying knowledge to new situations

Applying math principles to the solution of a word problem

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level IV – Analyze Breakdown of knowledge into parts and show

relationship among parts Discovering the assumptions underlying a

philosophical essay Identifying key points in a seeming logical

argument

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level V - Evaluate Bring together parts of knowledge to form a

whole; build relationships for new situations Constructing something new by integrating

several pieces of information Developing a theory

TheA T P Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level VI – Creating Making judgments on basis of criteria

Examining the internal and external validity of an experiment

Critiquing a theory

TheA T P Blooming Questions

Questioning should be used purposefully to achieve well-defined goals.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of thinking organized by level of complexity. It gives learners an opportunity to learn and practice a range of thinking and provides a simple structure for many different kinds of questions and thinking.

The taxonomy involves all categories of questions.

TheA T P Level of Thinking

Lower-level questions – questions that require students to answer in the way they learned it.

Usually questions at the lower levels are appropriate for

Reciting a definition Describing a topic the way that their teacher

presented it class Evaluating students’ preparation and comprehension Diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses Reviewing and/or summarizing content

TheA T P Level of Thinking

Higher-level questions – questions that require students to do something new with the information they have learned

Usually questions at the higher levels are appropriate for

Consists of applying, synthesizing, or evaluating Encouraging students to think more deeply and

critically Problem solving Encouraging discussions Stimulating students to seek information on their own

TheA T P RememberRemember

Recall or recognition of information

list name identify show define recognize recallmatch

defineclassifydescribelocate outlinegive examples distinguish opinion from fact

TheA T P Understanding Understanding

The ability to understand, translate, paraphrase, interpret or extrapolate material (Predict outcome and effects)

paraphrase differentiate demonstrate visualize restate rewritegive examples

summarize explain interpret describe compare convertdistinguishestimate

TheA T P Apply Apply The capacity to use information and transfer knowledge from one setting to another (Use learned material in a new situation)

apply classify modify put into practicedemonstratecomputeoperate

solve illustrate calculate interpret manipulatepredictshow

TheA T P Analyze Analyze Identifying detail and having the ability to discover and differentiate the component parts of a situation or information

contrast

compare

distinguish 

categorize

outline

relate

analyze

organize

deduce

choose

diagram

discriminate

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Analyze | Evaluate | Create

Ex: There have been a number of studies that indicate tutoring services assist with retention. What are some of the research questions that can support this hypothesis? What factors can be attributed to retention other than tutoring and do these factors interact in a positive or negative manner?

Top of Bloom’s TaxonomyHigher Order Thinking

TheA T P Evaluate Evaluate The ability to combine parts to create the big picture

discuss plan compare createconstruct rearrangecomposeorganize

design hypothesize support write reportcombinecomplydevelop

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Analyze | Evaluate| Create

Ex: Evaluation entails recommending the best manner in assisting students to develop better study skills, based upon all available factors related to a student persisting in college, his or her GPA and motivation to do well in school.

Top of Bloom’s TaxonomyHigher Order Thinking

TheA T P CreateCreate

The ability to judge the value or use of information using appropriate criteria (Support judgment with reason)

criticize justify debatesupport your reasonconcludeassessrate

evaluate

choose

estimate

judge

defend

appraise

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Analyze | Evaluate | Create

Ex: Answering the aforementioned questions would lead to the review of the currently available research and the preparation of a report on the findings.

Top of Bloom’s TaxonomyHigher Order Thinking

TheA T P Summary

To summarize, Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification in which there are six learning tasks that vary in degrees of complexity.

Remember:

He who learns but does not think is lost!

(Chinese Proverb)

TheA T P References

Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives: Complete edition, New York : Longman.

Anderson , L.W., & Sosniak, L.A. (Eds.). (1994). Bloom's taxonomy: a forty-year retrospective. Ninety-third yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Pt.2 . , Chicago , IL . , University of Chicago Press.

TheA T P References

Bloom, Benjamin S. & David R. Krathwohl. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals, by a committee of college and university examiners. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York , Longmans.

Pohl, M (2000), Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, (pp. 7-8).