Understanding as Levels of Comprehension Poweroint

Taxonomies of Educational Objectives

Understanding as Levels of Comprehension

Prepared by Schontal Moore

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionCXC uses the term understanding within its profile to mean students interpretation of a question; their ability to respond to and use language appropriately; their ability to extract meaning from print.

Here are some ways of extracting meaning from print that you can use with your students:Patterns of Language (Stylistics)Reader Response (point of view based on schema and context)Applying the appropriate levels of comprehension to the questions.

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionTraditionally, comprehension was taught in these ways, requiring students to:Recognize the main idea of a paragraphNote important details from a textUse context to deduce the meaning of a wordIdentify sequence of events and categorize themPredict outcomesUnderstand cause, effects and relationshipsUnderstand comparisonsDraw conclusionsDistinguish fact from fictionRead to discern context Explain the meanings of figurative language

Traditional ways of teaching comprehension tested mostly the literal level of comprehension (look back at numbers 1 4 above).

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionBelow are newer ways of teaching comprehension (testing critical level skills), which were proposed by Cochran, 1993):Determine relevance of informationDistinguish between fact and opinionMake a reasoned judgmentIdentify unstated assumptionsDetect biasDetect emotional language or appealIdentify propaganda Label value orientation and ideologiesJudge authenticity of the authorRecognize adequacy of dataIdentify the reasonableness of alternatives and solutionsPredict possible consequencesTest conclusions or make hypotheses

Cochran asserts that most teachers neglect the above 13 skills in teaching comprehension; they prefer to teach the traditional skills that test mostly the literal level of comprehension.

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionDifferent individuals have come up with ataxonomy of educational objectives or levels ofunderstanding that explains the various levels ofcomprehension.

Four individuals will be introduced to you in thispresentation, namely, Cochran, Barrett,Sanders, and Bloom.

Blooms taxonomy is the one that is mostreferenced and highly utilized in educationalstudies, and as such, much attention will bedirected towards Blooms taxonomy in thiscourse.


Cochran:Literal level read lines to see what writer says, does, etc.Interpretive level reading between the lines to infer from the literal.Application/Critical level reading beyond the lines to connect reading to your own schema.

Barrett: (He applied his level of comprehension to reading.)LiteralLiteralInferentialInferentialEvaluationAppreciation

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionSanders: (He adopted and adapted some of Blooms Taxonomy, but mostly related his to literature.)

Memory students recall or ability to recognize information.Translation students change information to a different symbolic form.Interpretation students discover relationships among facts, generalizations, definitions, values and skills; also relationships among characters, reasons & actions & causes.Application student solves a lifelike problem that requires identification of the issue and use of appropriate generalizations.Analysis student solves a problem in light of conscious knowledge of the parts and forms of thinking. Emphasize the elements of organization within a poem, story, etc.Synthesis students solve a problem that requires original creative thinking.Evaluation students make a judgment according to standard they designate according to criteria.

Understanding as Levels of ComprehensionBlooms Taxonomy: (is hierarchical in nature with #1 being the lowest and #6 the highest.)

Knowledge ask who? what? and why? questions.Comprehension state main ideas, comparing, giving descriptions.Application applying techniques and rules to solve problems.Analysis identifying motives & causes, making inferences; finding evidence to support generalization.Synthesis solving problems and re-presenting the answers.Evaluation give opinions about issues; judging quality of merit & validity of ideas.


The table below shows the different taxonomies of understanding. They are so aligned for ease of comparison.

CochranBarrett(Reading Comprehension) Sanders(Applied to Literature) Bloom(Cognitive Levels) 1. Literal1. Literal 1. Memory 1. Knowledge2. Interpretive2. Literal2. Translation2. Comprehension3. Application/ Critical3. Inferential3. Interpretation3. Application4. Inferential4. Application4. Analysis5. Evaluation5. Analysis5. Synthesis6.AppreciationSynthesisEvaluation6. Evaluation

Focus on Blooms TaxonomyIn 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning.

Bloom and his co-workers established a hierarchy of educational objectives, which is generally referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy, and which attempts to divide cognitive objectives into subdivisions.

Blooms Taxonomy Higher-Order Skills

Lower-Order Skills

Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts, as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest order which is classified as evaluation.

Blooms Taxonomy

In a study of test and examination papers, Bloom found that over 95% of test and examination questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information.Keeping students at the lower level of cognition does not encourage critical thinking and does not nurture critical thinking skills.

Blooms Taxonomy1. KNOWLEDGE:

Knowledge is defined as the remembering of previously learned material. This may involve the recall of a wide range of material, from specific facts to complete theories, but all that is required is the bringing to mind of the appropriate information. Knowledge represents the lowest level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: know common terms, know specific facts, know methods and procedures, know basic concepts, know principles.

Blooms Taxonomy2. COMPREHENSION:

Comprehension is defined as the ability to grasp the meaning of material. This may be shown by translating material from one form to another (words to numbers), by interpreting material (explaining or summarizing), and by estimating future trends (predicting consequences or effects). These learning outcomes go one step beyond the simple remembering of material, and represent the lower level of understanding.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: understand facts and principles, interpret verbal material, interpret charts and graphs, translate verbal material to mathematical formulae, estimate the future consequences implied in data, justify methods and procedures.

Blooms Taxonomy3. APPLICATION:

Application refers to the ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations. This may include the application of such things as rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, and theories. Learning outcomes in this area require a higher level of understanding than those under comprehension.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: apply concepts and principles to new situations, apply laws and theories to practical situations, solve mathematical problems, construct graphs and charts, demonstrate the correct usage of a method or procedure.

Blooms Taxonomy4. ANALYSIS:

Analysis refers to the ability to break down material into its component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. This may include the identification of parts, analysis of the relationship between parts, and recognition of the organizational principles involved. Learning outcomes here represent a higher intellectual level than comprehension and application because they require an understanding of both the content and the structural form of the material.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: recognize unstated assumptions, recognize logical fallacies in reasoning, distinguish between facts and inferences, evaluate the relevancy of data, analyse the organizational structure of a work.

Blooms Taxonomy5. SYNTHESIS:

Synthesis refers to the ability to put parts together to form a new whole. This may involve the production of a unique communication (theme or speech), a plan of operations (research proposal), or a set of abstract relations (scheme for classifying information). Learning outcomes in this area stress creative behaviours, with major emphasis on the formulation of new patterns or structure.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: write a well organized theme, give a well organized speech, write a creative short story (or poem), propose a plan for an experiment, integrate learning from different areas into a plan for solving a problem, formulate a new scheme for classifying objects (or events, or ideas).

Blooms Taxonomy6. EVALUATION:Evaluation is concerned with the ability to judge the value of material (statement, novel, poem, research report) for a given purpose. The judgments are to be based on definite criteria. These may be internal criteria (organization) or external criteria (relevance to the purpose) and the student may determine the criteria or be given them. Learning outcomes in this area are highest in the cognitive hierarchy because they contain elements of all the other categories, plus conscious value judgments based on clearly defined criteria.

Examples of learning objectives at this level are: judge the logical consistency of written material, judge the adequacy with which conclusions are supported by data, judge the value of a work (art, music, writing) by the use of internal criteria, judge the value of a work (art, music, writing) by use of external standards of excellence.

Blooms TaxonomyEvaluation (This thinking skill tells you that student can make a judgment based on criteria): appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate.Synthesis (This thinking skill tells you that student can take parts of information to create an original whole): arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write. Analysis (This thinking skill tells you that student can see parts and relationships): analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test. Application (This thinking skill tells you that student can use learning in a new situation): apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.Comprehension (This thinking skill tells you that student can comprehend and understand): classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate,Knowledge (This thinking skill tells you that student can recall information.) : arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce state.

Blooms TaxonomyDeveloping Higher-Order Questions:

Since most teachers tend to "teach the way they were taught," literal-level questions are typically overused. Therefore, even when assessing student learning, teachers should avoid literal-level questions in favor of those requiring higher-order thinking.Students responses to higher order critical thinking questions reveal the extent of their literal understanding of the facts.In addition, a student's ability to apply and transfer that knowledge in different contexts can be assessed.

Blooms TaxonomyDeveloping Higher-Order Questions:By using questions requiring higher-order thinking, teacher questioning moves beyond an assessment tool and becomes a valuable instructional tool as well.Students interest and motivation are enhanced by questions that help students relate what they are learning to their own background knowledge, experience, creativity and values.Higher-order questions are also important for modelling different ways students can interpret, apply, evaluate, and reflect on what they are learning.


Teachers should emphasize higher-order questions on their test/exam papers, by starting out with a few lower-order questions and then move on to more higher-order ones.Since the first two levels in the taxonomy reflect literal-level thinking, questions classified as Knowledge or Comprehension should be minimized.Instead, teachers should make sure their questions are at the APPLICATION, ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, and/or EVALUATION levels.


One of the keys to formulating questions designed to develop critical thinking is to use verbs associated with higher-order thinking tasks so that students can demonstrate what they have learned.

Also important for consideration are the learning products associated with higher-order thinking tasks. Always consider formulating tasks using the verbs associated with the higher-order levels of thinking in Bloom's Taxonomy.

(The table on the next slide should be helpful when constructing higher-order versus lower-order lesson tasks/questions for your students.)

SOURCES(Materials for this presentation were sourced and adapted from these websites)

http://www.stedwards.edu/cte/content/category/13/27/51

http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learning/exams/blooms-taxonomy.html

http://web.uct.ac.za/projects/cbe/mcqman/mcqappc.html

http://www.officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm

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Understanding as Levels of Comprehension Poweroint