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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
TheA T P
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).