What is Bloom's Taxonomy? A Definition for Teachers

In one sentence, Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can, among countless other uses, help teachers teach and students learn. Skiptocontent352.2kViewsFacebookTwitterSubscribeBloom’sTaxonomyIsAHierarchicalFrameworkForCognitionAndLearningObjectivesbyTeachThoughtStaffInonesentence,Bloom’sTaxonomyisahierarchicalorderingofcognitive skillsthatcan,amongcountlessotheruses,helpteachersteachandstudentslearn.Forexample,Bloom’sTaxonomycanbeusedto:createassessmentsplanlessons(see 249Bloom’sTaxonomyVerbsForCriticalThinking)evaluatethecomplexityofassignmentsdesigncurriculummapsdeveloponlinecoursesplanproject-basedlearningself-assessmentmoreSeeHowToTeachWithBloom’sTaxonomyformorereading.ABriefHistoryOfBloom’sTaxonomyRevisionsBloom’sTaxonomywascreatedbyBenjamin Bloomin1956,publishedasakindofclassificationoflearningoutcomesandobjectivesthathave,inthemorethanhalf-centurysince,beenusedforeverythingfromframingdigitaltasksandevaluatingappstowritingquestionsandassessments.Theoriginalsequence ofcognitiveskillswasKnowledge,Comprehension,Application,Analysis,Synthesis,andEvaluation.Theframeworkwasrevisedin2001byLorinAndersonandDavidKrathwohl,yieldingthe revisedBloom’sTaxonomy. ThemostsignificantchangetotheCognitiveDomainwastheremovalof‘Synthesis’andtheadditionof‘Creation’asthehighest-levelofBloom’sTaxonomy.Andbeingatthehighestlevel,theimplicationisthatit’sthemostcomplexordemandingcognitiveskill–oratleastrepresentsakindofpinnacleforcognitivetasks.HowBloom’sTaxonomyIsUsefulForTeachers Inaseparate post,we’regoingtocoverexactlyhowBloom’scanbeusedbyteachers.TherearemanyreasonsforthepopularityofBloom’sTaxonomy(thatlikelydeserveanarticleoftheirowntoexplore).Fornow,it’sclearthatmanyeducatorsloveBloom’sbecause,amongothervirtues,itgivesthemawaytothinkabouttheirteaching—andthesubsequentlearningoftheirstudents.Asmentionedabove,theframeworkcanbeusedto usedtocreateassessments,evaluatethecomplexityofassignments,increasetherigorofalesson,simplifyanactivitytohelppersonalizelearning, designasummativeassessment,planproject-basedlearning,frameagroupdiscussion,andmore.Becauseitsimplyprovidesanorderforcognitivebehaviors,itcanbeappliedtoalmostanything.(Youcanseeoneexamplehere–oneofourteachingmaterialsthatcombinedBloom’sTaxonomywithcommondigitaltasks.)TheimageabovevisuallydemonstratesthehierarchyofBloom’hierarchymy,whichiscrucialbecauseitisthatstructurethatcharacterizesitsuse.TherearesixlevelsinBloom’sTaxonomy(theinitialismRUA2ECmaybeusefultorecallthelevels).The6LevelsofBloom’sTaxonomy1.ThefirstlevelistoRemember.ExampleactivitiesattheRememberinglevel:memorizeapoem,recallstatecapitals,remembermathformulas2.ThesecondlevelistoUnderstand.ExampleactivitiesattheUnderstandinglevel:organizetheanimalkingdombasedonagivenframework,illustratethedifferencebetweenarectangleandsquare,summarizetheplotofasimplestory3.ThethirdlevelistoApply.ExampleactivitiesattheApplicationlevel:useaformulatosolveaproblem,selectadesigntomeetapurpose,reconstructthepassageofanewlawthroughagivengovernment/system4.ThefourthlevelistoAnalyze.ExampleactivitiesattheAnalysislevel:identifythe‘partsof’democracy,explainhowthestepsofthescientificprocessworktogether,identifywhyamachineisn’tworking5.ThefifthlevelistoEvaluate.ExampleactivitiesattheEvaluationlevel:makeajudgmentregardinganethicaldilemma,interpretthesignificanceofagivenlawofphysics,illustratetherelativevalueofatechnologicalinnovationinaspecificsetting—atoolthathelpsrecovertopsoilfarming,forexample.6.ThesixthandhighestlevelistoCreate.ExampleactivitiesattheCreationlevel:designanewsolutiontoan‘old’problemthathonors/acknowledgesthepreviousfailures,deletetheleastusefulargumentsinapersuasiveessay,writeapoembasedonagiventhemeandtonePostnavigation←PreviousPostNextPost→RelatedPostsAboutTheAuthorTerryHeickFounder&DirectorofTeachThoughtSearchfor: