critical thinking pyramid

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How to think effectively: Six stages of critical thinking

Credit: Elder / Paul

• Researchers propose six levels of critical thinkers: Unreflective thinkers, Challenged thinkers, Beginning thinkers, Practicing thinkers, Advanced thinkers, and Master thinkers.
• The framework comes from educational psychologists Linda Elder and Richard Paul.
• Teaching critical thinking skills is a crucial challenge in our times.

The coronavirus has not only decimated our populations, its spread has also attacked the very nature of truth and stoked inherent tensions between many different groups of people, both at local and international levels. Spawning widespread conspiracy theories and obfuscation by governments, the virus has also been a vivid demonstration of the need for teaching critical thinking skills necessary to survive in the 21st century. The stage theory of critical thinking development, devised by psychologists Linda Elder and Richard Paul , can help us gauge the sophistication of our current mental approaches and provides a roadmap to the thinking of others.

The researchers identified six predictable levels of critical thinkers, from ones lower in depth and effort to the advanced mind-masters, who are always steps ahead.

As the scientists write , moving up on this pyramid of thinking “is dependent upon a necessary level of commitment on the part of an individual to develop as a critical thinker.” Using your mind more effectively is not automatic and “is unlikely to take place “subconsciously.” In other words – you have to put in the work and keep doing it, or you’ll lose the faculty.

Here’s how the stages of intellectual development break down:

Unreflective thinker

These are people who don’t reflect about thinking and the effect it has on their lives. As such, they form opinions and make decisions based on prejudices and misconceptions while their thinking doesn’t improve.

Unreflective thinkers lack crucial skills that would allow them to parse their thought processes. They also do not apply standards like accuracy, relevance, precision, and logic in a consistent fashion.

How many such people are out there? You probably can guess based on social media comments. As Elder and Paul write , “it is perfectly possible for students to graduate from high school, or even college, and still be largely unreflective thinkers.”

Challenged thinker

This next level up thinker has awareness of the importance of thinking on their existence and knows that deficiencies in thinking can bring about major issues. As the psychologists explain, to solve a problem, you must first admit you have one.

People at this intellectual stage begin to understand that “high quality thinking requires deliberate reflective thinking about thinking”, and can acknowledge that their own mental processes might have many flaws. They might not be able to identify all the flaws, however.

A challenged thinker may have a sense that solid thinking involves navigating assumptions, inferences, and points of view, but only on an initial level. They may also be able to spot some instances of their own self-deception. The true difficulty for thinkers of this category is in not “believing that their thinking is better than it actually is, making it more difficult to recognize the problems inherent in poor thinking,” explain the researchers.

Thinkers at this level can go beyond the nascent intellectual humility and actively look to take control of their thinking across areas of their lives. They know that their own thinking can have blind spots and other problems and take steps to address those, but in a limited capacity.

Beginning thinker

Beginning thinkers place more value in reason, becoming self-aware in their thoughts. They may also be able to start looking at the concepts and biases underlying their ideas. Additionally, such thinkers develop higher internal standards of clarity, accuracy and logic, realizing that their ego plays a key role in their decisions.

Another big aspect that differentiates this stronger thinker – some ability to take criticism of their mental approach, even though they still have work to do and might lack clear enough solutions to the issues they spot.

Practicing thinker

This more experienced kind of thinker not only appreciates their own deficiencies, but has skills to deal with them. A thinker of this level will practice better thinking habits and will analyze their mental processes with regularity.

While they might be able to express their mind’s strengths and weaknesses, as a negative, practicing thinkers might still not have a systematic way of gaining insight into their thoughts and can fall prey to egocentric and self-deceptive reasoning.

How do you get to this stage? An important trait to gain, say the psychologists, is “intellectual perseverance.” This quality can provide “the impetus for developing a realistic plan for systematic practice (with a view to taking greater command of one’s thinking).”

“We must teach in such a way that students come to understand the power in knowing that whenever humans reason, they have no choice but to use certain predictable structures of thought: that thinking is inevitably driven by the questions, that we seek answers to questions for some purpose, that to answer questions, we need information, that to use information we must interpret it (i.e., by making inferences), and that our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions, and have implications, all of which involves ideas or concepts within some point of view,” explain Elder and Paul.

One doesn’t typically get to this stage until college and beyond, estimate the scientists. This higher-level thinker would have strong habits that would allow them to analyze their thinking with insight about different areas of life. They would be fair-minded and able to spot the prejudicial aspects in the points of view of others and their own understanding.

While they’d have a good handle on the role of their ego in the idea flow, such thinkers might still not be able to grasp all the influences that affect their mentality.

Advanced thinker

The advanced thinker is at ease with self-critique and does so systematically, looking to improve. Among key traits required for this level are “intellectual insight” to develop new thought habits, “ intellectual integrity” to “recognize areas of inconsistency and contradiction in one’s life,” intellectual empathy ” to put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, and the “ intellectual courage” to confront ideas and beliefs they don’t necessarily believe in and have negative emotions towards.

Master thinker

This is the super-thinker, the one who is totally in control of how they process information and make decisions. Such people constantly seek to improve their thought skills, and through experience “regularly raise their thinking to the level of conscious realization.”

A master thinker achieves great insights into deep mental levels, strongly committed to being fair and gaining control over their own egocentrism.

Such a high-level thinker also exhibits superior practical knowledge and insight, always re-examining their assumptions for weaknesses, logic, and biases.

And, of course, a master thinker wouldn’t get upset with being intellectually confronted and spends a considerable amount of time analyzing their own responses.

“Why is this so important? Precisely because the human mind, left to its own, pursues that which is immediately easy, that which is comfortable, and that which serves its selfish interests. At the same time, it naturally resists that which is difficult to understand, that which involves complexity, that which requires entering the thinking and predicaments of others,” write the researchers.

So how do you become a master thinker? The psychologists think most students will never get there. But a lifetime of practicing the best intellectual traits can get you to that point when “people of good sense seek out master thinkers, for they recognize and value the ability of master thinkers to think through complex issues with judgment and insight.”

The significance of critical thinking in our daily lives, especially in these confusing times, so rife with quick and often-misleading information, cannot be overstated. The decisions we make today can truly be life and death.

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How Bloom's Taxonomy Can Help You Learn More Effectively

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• The Six Levels
• How It Works
• Applications
• How to Use It

Bloom’s Taxonomy in Online Learning

• Limitations

Bloom's taxonomy is an educational framework that classifies learning in different levels of cognition. This model aims to help educators better understand and evaluate the different types of complex mental skills needed for effective learning .

The taxonomy is often characterized as a ladder or pyramid. Each step on the taxonomy represents a progressively more complex level of learning. The lower levels of learning serve as a base for the subsequent levels that follow.

Bloom’s taxonomy was developed by a committee of educators through a series of conferences held between 1949 to 1953. It was published in “Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals” and is named after Benjamin Bloom, the educational psychologist who chaired the committee and edited the book.

The Six Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

There are six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. The original six levels were: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

In 2001, the original Bloom's taxonomy was revised by a group of instructional theorists, curriculum researchers, and cognitive psychologists. The goal was to move away from the more static objectives that Bloom described to utilize action works that better capture the dynamic, active learning process. The six levels of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy:

At the lowest level of the taxonomy, learners recognize and recall the information they have learned. This level focuses on memorizing information and recalling the concepts and facts learned.

This level of the taxonomy involves demonstrating a comprehension of what has been learned. People are able to explain the ideas in their own words and explain what the concepts mean.

At this level of Bloom's taxonomy, learners are able to use the information and knowledge they have acquired in new situations. For example, they can apply a skill they have learned in order to solve a different problem or complete a new task.

At this level, learners are able to break down information in order to analyze the components and examine their relationships. Here, learners are able to compare and contrast to spot similarities and differences. They can also make connections and spot patterns.

This level involves being able to make an assessment of the quality of information that has been presented. Learners are able to evaluate arguments that have been presented in order to make judgments and form their own opinions.

This represents the highest level of Bloom's taxonomy. Learners who reach this point are able to form ideas by utilizing the skills and knowledge they have obtained. This level involves the generation of creative, original ideas.

How Bloom's Taxonomy Works

Understanding and utilizing Bloom's taxonomy allows educators and instructional designers to create activities and assessments that encourage students to progress through the levels of learning. These activities allow students to go from the acquisition of basic knowledge and work their way through the levels of learning to the point where they can think critically and creatively.

The progression of knowledge matters because each level builds on the previous ones. In other words, it is important to remember that students must have a solid foundation before continuing to build higher-order thinking skills.

The basic knowledge they learn at the beginning of the process allows them to think about this knowledge in progressively more complex ways.

"To successfully use Bloom’s taxonomy, it’s essential to follow the steps in the correct order because the taxonomy's steps naturally progress and reinforce learning at every level," explains Marnix Broer, co-founder and CEO of Studocu .

While the foundational stages of learning provide a solid base, it is essential to keep building on those skills. Challenge yourself to learn in new ways and hone those high-level skills that are so critical to cognitive flexibility and critical thinking

Marnix Broer, Co-Founder and CEO, Studocu

While you can review a set of study notes repeatedly, you’re really only hitting the 'remember' and 'understand' stages and limiting your skills and retention. Seeking out opportunities to analyze, evaluate, and create based on the subject matter will help you solidify your knowledge beyond being able to regurgitate it on a test.

The purpose of Bloom's taxonomy is to guide educators as they create instruction that fosters cognitive skills. Instead of focusing on memorization and repetition, the goal is to help students develop higher-order thinking skills that allow them to engage in critical, creative thinking that they can apply in different areas of their lives.

3 Domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom's taxonomy targets three key learning domains. These domains are focused on a number of desired educational outcomes.  

Cognitive Domain

This domain is focused on the development of intellectual skills. It involves the acquisition of knowledge and the development of problem-solving , decision-making , and critical-thinking abilities. 

Affective Domain

This domain is centered on developing emotional abilities, values, and attitudes. It's focus is on helping learners develop perspectives on different subjects as well as cultivating motivation, empathy , and social abilities.

Psychomotor Domain

This domain focuses on the physical skills that are needed to carry out different activities. This includes physical coordination and the ability to control and manipulate the body. Using the proper technique to hold a pencil while writing is an example of a psychomotor skills that is important in the learning process.

Applications for Bloom’s Taxonomy

Teachers utilize Bloom's taxonomy to design instruction that maximizes learning and helps students learn more effectively. For example:

• An educator would create a lesson that teaches students basic knowledge about a subject.
• Next, students would summarize and explain these ideas in their own words.
• Then, learners would take this knowledge and use it to solve problems.
• The educator would then provide activities where students must break down, compare, and connect different ideas.
• Next, educational activities would focus on giving students critical assessments of the quality, value, or effectiveness of what they have learned.
• Finally, at the end of this process, students would use what they have learned to create something independently.

One of the benefits of using this approach is that it can lead to deeper learning that allows skills to be transferred to various domains and situations. One study found that teaching Bloom's taxonomy helped improve learners' ability to learn independently. This approach also helped better stimulate critical thinking skills and boosted student motivation and interest in learning.

Uses for Bloom’s Taxonomy

The taxonomy is widely used today for a variety of purposes, including to:

• Develop classroom instruction and lesson plans
• Create instructional strategies
• Design and develop curricula
• Assess courses
• Identify assessment objectives
• Create effective written assessments
• Measure learning outcomes

How Can You Use Bloom's Taxonomy?

Bloom’s taxonomy is also something you can use to make learning new information and acquiring new skills easier. Understanding and applying the taxonomy can enhance learning efficacy to develop a richer understanding of the subject matter.

Utilizing different learning strategies at each level of the taxonomy can help you get the most out of your learning experiences:

Improving Remembering

Strategies that can be helpful during the first level of learning include:

• Making flashcards and repeating the information regularly to help reinforce your memory
• Quizzing yourself on what you have learned
• Using mnemonic devices to help improve your recall
• Reviewing your notes and readings often to help improve your retention of the information

Improving Understanding

At the second level of the taxonomy, you can enhance your understanding of the material by:

• Having discussions with others to help reinforce the ideas and clarify points you are confused about
• Writing down questions you might have about the material
• Teaching what you have learned to someone else
• Summarizing key points in your own words to ensure understanding

Improving Application

To apply knowledge more effectively, it can be helpful to:

• Work on projects that require you to solve real-world problems
• Solve practice problems that rely on the information you have learned
• Role-play different scenarios in groups
• Do lab experiments that require applying what you've learned

Improving Analysis

Activities that can help improve your analytical skills at this level of Bloom's taxonomy include:

• Creating mind maps to make connections between different ideas
• Comparing and contrasting different ideas or theories using tables, Venn diagrams, and charts
• Debating the topic with peers
• Writing your critical analysis of the topic

Improving Evaluation

You can help enhance your evaluation skills by:

• Utilizing peer review to give feedback on what other learners have written
• Listing the pros and cons of a concept
• Writing in a journal to track your thoughts
• Writing a review paper or giving a presentation on the subject
• Writing a persuasive or argumentative essay

Improving Creation

At the final level of Bloom's taxonomy, the goal is to take what you have learned as use that knowledge to produce original work. This might involve:

• Brainstorming new ideas
• Making decisions based on your knowledge
• Developing recommendations and presenting them to your peers
• Asking open-ended questions to encourage creative thought
• Integrating multiple ideas and perspectives into a new product or idea
• Designing a creative work based on your ideas

Use of the taxonomy may of course differ amongst individuals at different age levels.

How can online, self-directed learners utilize Bloom’s taxonomy to enhance their educational experience? Broer recommends looking for ways to mentally, physically, and emotionally connect to educational material.

“If online learning resources don’t offer opportunities to apply the knowledge, you may need to find those opportunities yourself,” he suggests. “Completing mock assignments or creating flow charts can help you shift from the learning to the application stage quickly, especially with quick access to online forums, apps, and social media.” 

What Are the Limitations of Bloom's Taxonomy?

While Bloom's taxonomy is still an influential theory and continues to influence classroom education and instructional design, it has limitations. Some of the primary criticisms of the framework:

Simplistic Hierarchy

One of the main complaints about the taxonomy is that the hierarchical structure oversimplifies the learning process. By breaking down thinking skills into discrete levels, it fails to capture the complexity of the learning process and how these different skills overlap and interact.

The taxonomy is typically framed as a hierarchy in which higher-level learning depends on foundational knowledge. However, learning often doesn't occur in distinct, separate steps. Learning experiences are often dynamic, involving many levels at the same time.

Rigid Structure

The taxonomy's lack of flexibility is another common critique. By suggesting that learning follows a fixed progression that starts with lower-order skills before progressing to higher-level thinking skills, it ignores the fact that learning is complex, dynamic, and frequently involves engaging multiple cognitive skills simultaneously.

Some critics suggest that the taxonomy may stifle creativity when designing instruction, limiting an educator's ability to develop effective learning strategies.

Cultural Bias

Because Bloom's taxonomy was developed from a Western perspective and educational context, it may not reflect learning methods from other cultural backgrounds. Educators should consider this factor when developing culturally-inclusive instruction.

Bloom's taxonomy was originally introduced during the 1950s as a framework for categorizing cognitive skills and understanding the learning process. While Bloom’s taxonomy has limitations, it is still a helpful framework for developing educational materials. Teachers, instructional designers, and curriculum developers can utilize the framework and incorporate other educational perspectives to create well-rounded instruction that benefits all students.

Bloom BS. Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals . New York, NY: Longmans, Green; 1956.

Anderson LW, Krathwohl DR, eds.  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . Complete ed. Longman; 2001.

Adams NE. Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives . J Med Libr Assoc . 2015;103(3):152-153. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.103.3.010

Zheng J, Tayag J, Cui Y, Chen J. Bloom's classification of educational objectives based on deep learning theory teaching design of nursing specialty . Comput Intell Neurosci . 2022;2022:3324477. doi:10.1155/2022/3324477

Larsen TM, Endo BH, Yee AT, Do T, Lo SM. Probing internal assumptions of the revised Bloom's Taxonomy . CBE Life Sci Educ . 2022;21(4):ar66. doi:10.1187/cbe.20-08-0170

Newton PM, Da Silva A, Peters LG. A pragmatic master list of action verbs for Bloom’s taxonomy . Front Educ . 2020;5:107. doi:10.3389/feduc.2020.00107

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Using Bloom's Taxonomy for Effective Learning

 Rawia Inaim / Kwantlen Polytechnic University

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The hierarchy of Bloom's Taxonomy is the widely accepted framework through which all teachers should guide their students through the cognitive learning process. In other words, teachers use this framework to focus on higher-order thinking skills.

You can think of Bloom's Taxonomy as a pyramid, with simple knowledge-based recall questions at the base. Building up through this foundation, you can ask your students increasingly challenging questions to test their comprehension of a given material.

By asking these critical thinking questions or higher-order questions, you are developing all levels of thinking. Students will have improved attention to detail, as well as an increase in their comprehension and problem-solving skills.

There are six levels in the framework, here is a brief look at each of them and a few examples of the questions that you would ask for each component.

• Knowledge : In this level students are asked questions to see if they have gained insight from the lesson. (What is... Where is... How would you describe?)
• Comprehension : During this level, students will be asked to interpret facts that they learned. (What is the main idea... How would you summarize?)
• Application : Questions asked during this level are meant to have students apply or use the knowledge learned during the lesson. (How would you use... How would you solve it?)
• Analysis :  In the analysis level , students will be required to go beyond knowledge and see if they can analyze a problem. (What is the theme... How would you classify?)
• Synthesis : During the synthesis level of questioning students are expected to come up with a theory about what they learned or use predictions. (What would happen if... What facts can you compile?)
• Evaluation : The top level of Bloom's Taxonomy is called evaluation . This is where students are expected to assess the information learned and come to a conclusion about it. (What is your opinion of...how would you evaluate... How would you select... What data was used?)

Corresponding Verb Examples

• Remembering : arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce, state
• Understanding : classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate
• Applying : apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write
• Analyzing : analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test
• Evaluating : appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate
• Creating : arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write
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A Teacher’s Guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy

The purpose of this article is to develop a clear understanding of what Bloom’s Taxonomy is, and how you can apply it in your own teaching and learning. Towards the end of the article, you will find some free Bloom’s resources and teaching resources, which will help get you started.

If you have been teaching for any length of time, you are extremely likely to have come across Bloom’s taxonomy at one point or another. Maybe you are very familiar with it already and use it daily to inform your teaching and assessment.

For many of us, however, our familiarity with Bloom’s taxonomy may be limited to catching a passing reference to it at a teaching conference or a staff training.

If this describes your situation, then this article is designed to take you from a limited knowledge to a functional understanding. It will help enable you to implement Bloom’s core concepts for the benefit of your students.

What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Taxonomy Definition

As it isn’t a word we use every day, let’s start by getting to grips with what we mean by the term ‘taxonomy.’ Put simply, taxonomy is the science of organizing things and classifying them according to various criteria.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

In brief, Bloom’s taxonomy is a series of cognitive skills and learning objectives arranged in a hierarchical model.

Originally, Bloom’s taxonomy was designed as a way of gauging competence by placing a student’s knowledge on one of 6 levels which are often represented visually in the form of a pyramid.

Each step of the pyramid from bottom to top represents a move from a lower-order thinking skill to a higher-order one; from straightforward concrete cognition to a more abstract, conceptual understanding.

This taxonomy of educational objectives gets its name from its creator, Benjamin Bloom. Bloom was an American educational psychologist who is best remembered for his significant contributions to the theory of mastery learning, as well as this renowned and widely used taxonomy.

Back in the 1940’s, Bloom and his colleagues devised his taxonomy by categorizing a range of educational goals and arranging them into a hierarchy. Bloom believed that by classifying goals in this manner, it would make it easier for educators to more accurately assess student performance.

This work went through countless revisions and reviews before a finalized version was published in 1956 as The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives . The document described a path towards educational attainment that passed through 6 orders of learning.

While Bloom’s taxonomy can be divided into 3 domains of educational objectives cognitive, psycho motor, and effective, it is the cognitive domain where our 6 levels are focused.

The Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Though the original intention of the taxonomy was to serve as an assessment tool, it’s use quickly spread into other areas of teaching. It became a very effective tool to help educators identify clear learning objectives, build curricula, as well as to create purposeful learning activities in the classroom.

Despite its dry, academic-sounding title, Bloom’s taxonomy has had concrete and measurable positive impact in classrooms worldwide, from kindergarten to college and beyond.

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

As educators became more experienced in using the taxonomy, they utilized it with ever-increasing flexibility. It became apparent that some revision of the original tool would be beneficial. So, in 2001 a group of stakeholders collaborated to revise the original tool to make it better suited for modern demands.

The group was made up of educators, psychologists, assessment specialists, and researchers, and they achieved a number of important improvements.

They worked to make the tool more dynamic conceptually, moving away from the one dimensional levels of educational objectives. They did this primarily through a change in language.

  Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels

As any good copywriter will tell you, verbs are more powerful than nouns. Those charged with revising Bloom’s Taxonomy were well aware of this fact and it is apparent in the many nouns in the old version were subsequently substituted by verbs. Nouns were replaced by much more action-oriented verbs to reflect the idea that learning is not just passive acquisition, but an engaged, active participation.

For example, where the original version talked of Knowledge , the revised Bloom’s taxonomy referred to the much more active Remember . It is helpful here to take a look at the full list of 6 levels in the above table for ease of comparison.

Why Should Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom’s taxonomy is a great tool for helping teachers to develop higher order critical thinking abilities in students. Referring to the taxonomy’s concepts during the planning process helps teachers to focus in on appropriate objectives for groups and individuals and to plan for their progression in the short, medium, and longer term.

The taxonomy provides a clear framework or system of organization for classifying lesson objectives, as well as a coherent starting point to build lessons from.

How Can Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy?

The starting point of any planning process should be the consideration of the level of the students. Luckily, Bloom’s provides a very convenient framework to begin this process.

When creating objectives, you can move from the simple to complex, the concrete to abstract, according to your students’ ability through reference to the taxonomy.

For example, knowing that Remember refers to the lowest level of cognitive rigor means you can design your objectives with this in mind.

Likewise, Create references the highest level of cognitive rigor and this will inform the objectives you create for the most sophisticated of your students.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs

The knowledge above provides a good starting point, but it doesn’t mean that every objective you write for Level 1 students must begin with the word ‘remember’.

Conveniently, Bloom’s Taxonomy provides lots of related verbs that provide a helpful way for educators to plan lessons. Verb tables have been created to align with each of these levels.

Now, let’s take a look at these levels and some corresponding verbs.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Levels and Corresponding Verb Lists

Level 1: Remember – To recall facts and ideas

At this level, students are challenged to recall and remember the basic facts and information of the story or text.

Verb List: Cite, Define, Describe, Draw, Identify, Label, List, Match, Memorize, Name, Record, Repeat, State, Write

Level 2: Understand – To comprehend information and grasp its meaning

Level 2 gives the student a chance to show a fundamental understanding of the story or text.

Verb List: Add, Clarify, Compare, Contrast, Explain, Give, Infer, Observe, Predict, Summarize, Translate

Level 3: Apply – To use information, theories, concepts and skills to solve problems

Here, students gain an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to use the information in a new way.

Verb List: Adapt, Assign, Calculate, Construct, Employ, Express, Illustrate, Modify, Show, Solve, Use

Level 4: Analyze – To make connections; recognize patterns and deeper meanings

At this level, students can deconstruct the story into its component parts to better understand it.

Verb List: Break down, Characterize, Classify, Contrast, Distinguish, Explore, Identify, Investigate, Order, Prioritize

Level 5: Evaluate – To make and justify a judgement

This level gives students an opportunity to develop an opinion and back it up with reasoning and evidence.

Verb List: Appraise, Assess, Critique, Defend, Determine, Estimate, Explain, Grade, Justify, Rank, Rate

Level 6: Create – To combine elements of learning to create new or original work

This level affords an opportunity for students to take what they have learned and make something new from it.

Verb List: Abstract, Assemble, Combine, Compose, Construct, Correspond, Design, Develop, Generate, Integrate, Portray, Produce

Clearly, the verbs listed above do not represent a comprehensive list of all the possibilities of verbs and verbal phrases available at each level, but they certainly provide a good starting point.

You may also note that some verbs and phrases will work at more than one level, just be sure to refer to the stated aim of each level to assess what the purpose is in that particular context.

A useful way to employ verb lists such as those above is to incorporate them into your learning objectives for lessons or for longer-range planning such as term plans or writing a curriculum or scheme of work.

You can easily differentiate the learning objectives you set by moving up and down levels and by using simpler verb synonyms in those objectives. Using a thesaurus is a great way to achieve this quickly.

FREE BLOOMS SPELLING RESOURCE

Level 1: Remember

Suggested Questions

●     How many…?

●     Who was it that… ?

What happened after…?

●     Can you name the person who…?

●     Who said that…?

●     What does this mean…?

●     Why did…?

●     Describe what happened when…?

●     Which is true and which is false…?

Suggested Activities

●     Match character names and profiles

●     Arrange scrambled story scenes in sequence

●     Identify most important attributes of main characters

●     Create a chart / picture / diagram of the information

Level 2: Understand

●     Can you write in your own words…?

●     What do you think will happen next…?

●     Can you provide a short outline…?

●     Who was the main character…?

●     Who do you think…?

●     What was the main idea…?

●     Can you distinguish between…?

●     What were the differences between…?

●     Write a summary of the main events

●     Retell the story in your own words

●     Explain what you think the main idea of the piece was

●     Predict what could happen next in the story

Level 3: Apply

●     Have you experienced anything like this in your own life…?

●     What questions would you ask…?

●     Could this have happened in…?

●     How could you use this …?

●     What would happen if…?

●     Make a model to show how it works

●     Rewrite the scene according to how you would react

●     Transfer the main character to a different setting

●     Produce examples from real life based on the central problem in the story

Level 4: Analyze

●     What is the underlying theme…?

●     Can you identify the main idea / character / events…?

●     What other possible outcomes could work here…?

●     Select the parts of the story that were the most exciting, happiest, saddest, believable, fantastic etc

●     Differentiate fact from opinion in the text

●     Distinguish between events in the story that are credible and fantastical

●     Compare and contrast two important characters

  Level 5: Evaluate

●     What is your position on the text and can you defend it…?

●     Determine the most important points of the text and rank them in order…?

●     What would you have done…?

●     How effective was…?

●     Write a review of the text expressing your personal opinion on it

●     Assess the value of the story

●     Compare and contrast this story with another you have read

●     Judge the main character and their actions from a moral or ethical point of view

Level 6: Create

●     Can compose a song about…?

●     Can you see another solution to…?

●     How many ways can you…?

●     Compose an internal monologue for the main character during a pivotal moment

●     Imagine you are one of the characters and write a diary entry

●     Create a new character and explain how they would fit into the story

●     Changing the setting and the characters, retell the story in your own words

A great Bloom’s Taxonomy video for teachers and Students

In Conclusion

The great value of Bloom’s taxonomy is in its flexibility as a tool across diverse fields of learning.

Its comprehensive scope provides a useful framework to organize and plan learning experiences designed to cover a broad range of cognitive abilities without being too prescriptive.

Just as Bloom’s taxonomy ranks Create as its highest level, when approaching planning and/or assessment using this taxonomy, be creative in its use to get the most benefit from it in your classroom.

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What is Bloom’s Taxonomy: the pyramid of true learning

Exploring the depths and implications of Bloom's Taxonomy in learning.

Imagine a seed, tucked into the soil, ready to start its growth. It will go through stages, transforming from a tiny seed into a sprouting plant, and eventually into a blooming flower.

This process is not unlike the journey your mind embarks on when learning something new. That’s where Bloom’s Taxonomy comes in—a framework for understanding the stages of learning.

A Seed Planted: What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical model designed to classify learning objectives. Created by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues in the 1950s, it’s a ladder of sorts—a way to understand how learning progresses from simple facts to complex analysis. Each rung represents a different level of understanding, a new layer of complexity, a new bloom on the flower of knowledge.

Bloom’s Taxonomy, also known as The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, provides a roadmap for the journey of learning, outlining the steps from basic knowledge to complex understanding. The aim is to promote higher forms of thinking in education, moving beyond rote memorization to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills .

It’s not just about memorizing — it’s about understanding information, applying it, analyzing it, evaluating it, and creating something new with it. It’s a model that recognizes that learning is not a one-size-fits-all process but a layered, multifaceted journey.

Bloom’s Taxonomy has been widely embraced in education and training contexts around the globe, and it remains one of the most well-known and frequently used educational frameworks. In essence, it provides a blueprint for learning, offering a structured approach to the development of educational programs and lesson plans, and a systematic method for assessing learners’ understanding.

“At the time it was introduced, the term taxonomy was unfamiliar as an education term. Potential users did not understand what it meant, therefore, little attention was given to the original Taxonomy at first. But as readers saw its potential, the framework became widely known and cited, eventually being translated into 22 languages,” wrote American psychologist David R. Krathwohl, who would later greatly influence the revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Original Bloom’s Taxonomy: The First Blossom

The original Bloom’s Taxonomy had six stages, each representing a different cognitive skill. Let’s take a walk through this garden of growth.

The first level of the taxonomy is Knowledge. This is where your learning journey starts. It’s about remembering and recalling basic facts and information—names, dates, places, and ideas. This is the seed of knowledge, the foundation upon which all other learning is built.

Comprehension

Next comes Comprehension. It’s more than just knowing facts—it’s understanding them. It’s the moment when a seedling first breaks through the surface and reaches towards the sunlight, starting to take in its environment.

Application

At the Application level, things start getting interesting. Here, you begin to use what you’ve learned in new ways. It’s the stage when the plant begins to spread its leaves, putting to use the sunlight it’s absorbing.

The fourth stage, Analysis, is where the understanding becomes deeper. It’s about breaking information down into parts and understanding how those parts relate to each other—the way a botanist might dissect a flower to better understand its structure.

Synthesis, the second-to-last stage, is where creativity comes into play. It’s about combining information in new ways like a gardener arranging different flowers to create a beautiful bouquet.

The final stage, Evaluation, is about making judgments and forming opinions about what you’ve learned. It’s the full bloom of the flower, ready to be admired and critiqued.

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: A New Bloom

Over time, our understanding of learning has evolved, and so too has Bloom’s Taxonomy. Just as a gardener might prune and adjust a plant to help it grow more effectively, a group of cognitive psychologists are improving and adapting the taxonomy.

Led by one of Bloom’s former students, Lorin Anderson, and educational psychologist David R. Krathwohl , researchers revisited the original taxonomy in the early 2000s . They made some key changes to better reflect our contemporary understanding of learning processes. The revised taxonomy maintains the essence of the original—still presenting a hierarchical model of cognitive processes. However, there were two significant adjustments.

Changing Nouns to Verbs

The first change was linguistic but impactful: the six categories were renamed from nouns to verbs. This shift emphasizes that learning is an active process. Each category now represents an action that a learner engages in, rather than a static stage of understanding.

• Remembering: The base level, previously known as “Knowledge,” is now “Remembering.” This involves retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.
• Understanding: Previously “Comprehension,” this level involves constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages.
• Applying: This remains unchanged in name but now emphasizes the use of procedures to solve problems, not just in routine tasks.
• Analyzing: This level is about breaking material into constituent parts and detecting how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose.
• Evaluating: Previously the highest level in the original taxonomy, “Evaluation” is now the penultimate stage. It involves making judgments based on criteria and standards.
• Creating: This final stage, previously “Synthesis,” is now “Creating.” It’s about putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole or reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure.

Swapping the Top Two Levels

The second significant change in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is the swapping of the top two levels. In the original, “Evaluation” was the highest level of cognitive work. In the revised model, “Creating” takes this spot. This change was made to reflect the idea that creating a new product or point of view requires a higher level of understanding and mastery than making a judgment or evaluation.

These adjustments in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy were not made to replace the original model but to update it, recognizing that our understanding of cognitive processes and learning behaviors have evolved.

Like the original, the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy serves as a powerful tool that can enhance teaching and learning strategies, emphasizing the active, dynamic nature of learning.

The Importance of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Why it Matters

Why should we care about this taxonomy? Why not just learn and let learn? Well, Bloom’s Taxonomy offers a structured way to approach learning that helps ensure a deep, thorough understanding of a topic. It’s like a map guiding us through the territory of knowledge, ensuring we don’t miss any important landmarks along the way.

The taxonomy also provides a useful framework for teachers and educators to design their curriculum and assessments. By addressing each level of the taxonomy, they can ensure they’re not just teaching facts, but also fostering understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, and creativity. It’s a way to nurture the whole garden of learning, not just a single plant.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs: The Language of Learning

Each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is associated with specific verbs that describe the cognitive processes involved. These verbs serve as signposts, guiding learners and educators alike through the stages of understanding.

• Remembering: This level involves verbs like define, list, recall, and recognize. You’re dealing with the basic elements of knowledge here—the seeds of understanding.
• Understanding: Verbs at this level include describing, explaining, summarizing, and interpreting. They’re about making sense of the knowledge you’ve gained.
• Applying: Here, you’ll see verbs like use, demonstrate, solve, and implement. These actions are all about using your knowledge in practical ways.
• Analyzing: At this level, verbs such as compare, differentiate, examine, and relate come into play. They’re about dissecting knowledge, and understanding its inner workings.
• Evaluating: Here, verbs, like assess, critique, judge, and defend, are used. These actions are about forming judgments based on your understanding.
• Creating: The highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy involves verbs like design, construct, produce, and invent. These are the actions of a fully bloomed learner, able to use their knowledge in new and innovative ways.

These verbs aren’t just descriptors—they’re actions that learners actively engage in. They provide a clear structure to follow, guiding learners and educators alike on the journey from the simple act of recalling information to the complex process of creating something new.

It’s not just about the destination—it’s also about the journey, and these verbs help illuminate the path.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions: Probing the Depths of Knowledge

Bloom’s Taxonomy doesn’t just guide the learning process—it also provides a framework for asking questions. Each level of the taxonomy corresponds to a different type of question , allowing teachers and learners to probe the depths of understanding.

• Remembering: Questions at this level might include “What is…?” or “Can you recall…?” They’re about retrieving basic information.
• Understanding: Here, questions might be “Can you explain why…?” or “How would you summarize…?” They’re about comprehending the information.
• Applying: Questions at this level could include “How would you use…?” or “What examples can you find…?” They’re about applying knowledge to new situations.
• Analyzing: Questions like “What are the differences between…?” or “How does…relate to…?” come into play here. They’re about breaking down complex ideas.
• Evaluating: Questions at this level might be “What do you think about…?” or “Can you defend your position on…?” They’re about making judgments based on knowledge.
• Creating: Finally, questions like “What would you invent…?” or “How would you improve…?” are used. These are the questions that push learners to create something new from their understanding.

Bloom’s Taxonomy List of Objectives: Guiding the Learning Journey

Just as a gardener plans out a garden, setting objectives for what they want to grow and where, educators use Bloom’s Taxonomy to plan out the learning journey. Each level of the taxonomy can be associated with specific learning objectives , forming a roadmap for growth.

• Remembering: The objective at this level is to recall information accurately.
• Understanding: The goal here is to comprehend the meaning of the information.
• Applying: The aim at this level is to use the information in a new context.
• Analyzing: The objective here is to break down complex information into its constituent parts and understand how they relate.
• Evaluating: The goal at this level is to make informed judgments based on the acquired understanding.
• Creating: The final objective is to use the accumulated knowledge to create something new or original.

Each objective serves as a stepping stone, guiding the learner from one level of understanding to the next, ensuring a comprehensive grasp of the subject matter.

Using and Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy: Charting the Course of Learning

Like a compass in a vast forest, Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a sense of direction in the learning journey. But how do you use it in practice?

Start by identifying the current level of understanding. Are you or your students just beginning to learn about a topic, or do you already have a solid foundation to build upon? This will determine your starting point on the taxonomy.

From there, use the taxonomy as a guide to structure your learning or teaching. Plan activities and assessments that address each level of the taxonomy, ensuring a well-rounded understanding.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Activities: From Seed to Blossom

Let’s take a look at some examples of activities that correspond to each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Remember, these are just starting points—feel free to adapt and expand upon them to suit your specific learning needs.

Remembering: Create flashcards with key terms and concepts. Use them to practice recalling information.

Understanding: Write a summary or an explanation of a topic in your own words. This can help solidify your understanding.

Applying: Solve a problem or carry out a task using the information you’ve learned. This could be a math problem, a science experiment, or a real-world scenario.

Analyzing: Compare and contrast two related concepts or ideas. How are they similar? How are they different? This can help you see the nuances of the topic.

Evaluating: Form an opinion about a topic and defend it with evidence. This encourages critical thinking and helps you form your own perspectives.

Creating: Design a project or create a product that incorporates what you’ve learned. This could be a piece of artwork, a business plan, a research proposal, or anything else that allows you to use your knowledge in a new and creative way.

Critique and Limitations of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy has been applied by generations of  K – 12  teachers and college instructors in their teaching. It is a model that greatly enhances learning objectives compared to unstructured learning. But like all models, it is not perfect.

In a 2018 article , Ron Berger, Chief Academic Officer at EL Education, critiques the traditional view of Bloom’s Taxonomy. He argues that the hierarchical pyramid graphic misrepresents the nature of learning by suggesting that cognitive processes are discrete and ranked in importance.

Berger contends that learning does not occur in a linear progression, starting with remembering and moving upward. Instead, he asserts that understanding is built through the application and creation of knowledge. Just as adults learn new skills by applying and creating, students also need opportunities to apply their knowledge and engage in the creation process to develop a deep understanding. Berger suggests that the integrated, circular, and iterative process of creating, analyzing, revising, and improving is how learners truly build understanding.

While acknowledging the usefulness of frameworks like Bloom’s Taxonomy in organizing thinking and reminding educators to address a range of skills, Berger argues that the taxonomy encourages instructional practices that do not align with how learning actually happens. He emphasizes the importance of providing students with ample opportunities to create and analyze throughout their learning journey, integrating active, hands-on experiences with the acquisition of knowledge.

Final words

In the end, Bloom’s Taxonomy is more than just a hierarchy of learning—it’s a celebration of the human mind’s capacity to grow, to understand, and to create. It’s a reminder that learning is not a straight line but a blooming flower , each petal a new layer of understanding. So the next time you embark on a journey of learning, remember to take a moment to stop and smell the roses.

FAQ about Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework used to classify educational objectives and skills into different levels of complexity and cognitive processes.

Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist, in collaboration with a group of educators in the 1950s.

The purpose of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to provide educators with a structured and systematic approach to design and assess learning outcomes. It helps in setting clear learning objectives, planning instructional strategies, and evaluating student performance.

The six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, in ascending order of complexity, are: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating.

The “Remembering” level focuses on recalling or retrieving factual information, such as facts, terms, and concepts. It involves tasks like listing, defining, naming, and describing.

The “Understanding” level requires students to demonstrate comprehension and interpretation of information. It involves tasks like summarizing, explaining, comparing, and paraphrasing.

The “Applying” level involves using acquired knowledge and skills in new situations or contexts. It includes tasks like solving problems, demonstrating techniques, and implementing procedures.

The “Analyzing” level focuses on breaking down information into its constituent parts and examining relationships between them. It involves tasks like categorizing, organizing, comparing, and contrasting.

The “Evaluating” level requires making judgments and assessments based on criteria and standards. It involves tasks like critiquing, appraising, justifying, and defending.

The “Creating” level involves generating new ideas, products, or interpretations by combining existing knowledge and skills. It includes tasks like designing, constructing, composing, and planning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used by teachers to design effective lesson plans, develop appropriate assessment methods, and scaffold student learning. It encourages higher-order thinking skills and promotes deep understanding.

Yes, Bloom’s Taxonomy is applicable to all subjects and grade levels. It can be adapted and customized according to the specific needs and learning objectives of different disciplines and age groups.

Absolutely! Bloom’s Taxonomy can be effectively applied in online or distance learning environments. It provides a framework for designing engaging and interactive activities that promote active learning and critical thinking.

Some critics argue that Bloom’s Taxonomy oversimplifies the complexity of learning and that it places too much emphasis on the cognitive domain while neglecting other important aspects, such as affect

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Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Ultimate Guide [Free Download]

Gain a deep understanding of Bloom's taxonomy and how it can be effectively applied in the learning process to benefit both educators and learners

Christine Persaud

In this guide, you’ll learn about:

• The six Bloom’s Taxonomy levels of thinking and how to apply them throughout a lesson plan;
• The three key domains, cognitive, affective and psychomotor, and their importance;
• How Bloom’s taxonomy can aid in active learning, as well as in formative and summative assessments.

Finally, we’ll address some of the criticisms of Bloom’s taxonomy, and how to address these in your classroom planning.

→ Download Now For Free: Ultimate Guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Table of contents

1.0. What is Bloom’s taxonomy?

2.0. The history of Bloom’s taxonomy

2.1. Original Bloom’s taxonomy from 1956

2.2. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy from 2001

3.0. Why is Bloom’s taxonomy important?

4.0. The levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy

4.1. What the levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy mean

4.2. How to use the Bloom’s taxonomy levels of thinking

4.3. bloom’s taxonomy level 1: remembering, 4.4. bloom’s taxonomy level 2: understanding, 4.5. bloom’s taxonomy level 3: applying, 4.6. bloom’s taxonomy level 4: analyzing, 4.7. bloom’s taxonomy level 5: evaluating, 4.8. bloom’s taxonomy level 6: creating.

5.0. What are the Bloom’s taxonomy objectives?

5.1. The cognitive domain in Bloom’s taxonomy

5.2. the affective domain in bloom’s taxonomy, 5.3. the psychomotor domain in bloom’s taxonomy.

6.0. How to use Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom + Bloom’s taxonomy examples

6.1. Using Bloom’s taxonomy in lesson planning and course design

6.2. bloom’s taxonomy and active learning, 6.3. bloom’s taxonomy and formative assessment, 6.4. bloom’s taxonomy and summative assessment.

6.5 Bloom’s Taxonomy for adjunct professors

7.0. Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems

8.0. Problems with Bloom’s taxonomy

8.1. Creativity as a goal, not as a tool

8.2. over-reliance, 1. what is bloom’s taxonomy.

Bloom’s taxonomy is a framework for learning, teaching and educational achievement in which each level depends on the one below. It’s often depicted in the form of a pyramid—similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Basic knowledge, the first stage of learning, leads to the development of the skills and abilities that are crucial to completing the pedagogical process: Comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. While there are subcategories within each, each stage lies on a continuum. The belief is that students move up through each level of the pyramid in Bloom’s taxonomy, starting from very basic learning, to acquire deeper knowledge on a subject, with each level crucial to the development of the next. In this free guide, you can learn how professors effectively put Bloom’s taxonomy to work in their college classrooms.

Teachers can apply Bloom’s taxonomy by asking questions and delivering assignments that directly correlate with specific learning objectives in each stage of the process, making the objectives clear to the student. For example, posing multiple-choice questions can help gauge a student’s level of basic understanding and remembering of a subject, while asking a student to come up with a comparison or analogy points towards entering the application or analysis stage.

2. The history of Bloom’s taxonomy

2.1. original bloom’s taxonomy from 1956.

In the 1940s, Benjamin Bloom, along with his collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill and David Krathwohl, devised Bloom’s taxonomy to place educational goals into specific categories, with the belief that this classification would be useful to better assess college student performance.

Each year for the following 16 years, Bloom and his colleagues revised and refined the framework at the American Psychological Association convention. In 1956, the final version was published as the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , showing the path of educational attainment through six orders of learning.

“After forty years of intensive research on school learning in the United States as well as abroad, my major conclusion is: What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn if provided with appropriate prior and current conditions of learning.” Benjamin Bloom

The original taxonomy has served as the backbone of many teaching philosophies ever since. While it initially aided in the assessment of students, it quickly became a tool for teachers to devise their curriculum, outline clear learning objectives, and design classroom activities. It has been adapted for use in classrooms from K–12 to college and at the university level.

• Benjamin Bloom and several of his peers developed Bloom’s Taxonomy in 1956 to better assess college student performance.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six different levels of learning that build on one another to guide students and educators through the stage of educational attainment.

2.2. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy from 2001

In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists, instructional researchers and testing assessment specialists led by Lorin Anderson, a colleague of Krathwohl’s and former student of Bloom’s,   aimed to reorganize and create a revised Bloom’s taxonomy . This involved putting together a series of more dynamic concepts for the classification system as compared to the original static, one-dimensional levels of educational objectives.

At the core of the revision of Bloom’s taxonomy is the use of verbs to replace nouns—providing learners with clearer objectives for what is expected of them.

The new revision swaps the two final Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning, Synthesis/Evaluation, making them clearer and emphasizing the application of knowledge, which is the end goal of effective learning.

Additionally, Bloom’s revised taxonomy separates the cognitive domain , which consists of all of the levels involved in learning noted above, into four distinct types within a matrix: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.

Factual knowledge is characterized by terminology and discrete facts. Conceptual by categories, principles, theories, and models, looking at the relationships among all elements within a larger structure that helps it work together. Procedural is the knowledge of a specific technique, process, or methodology: essentially, how to do something. Finally, metacognitive defines a student’s self-assessment of their ability and knowledge of different skills and techniques. The question this attempts to answer is this: Is the student aware of their cognition or learning?

The matrix organization of the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy is designed to be a more precise form of thinking about learning, making it easier for educators to create clear objectives for lesson planning and student evaluation. It also makes it simpler for students to understand what is expected of them.

• Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy focuses on the use of verbs and action words to provide learners with a clearer understanding of what is expected of them.
• Bloom’s revised taxonomy separates the cognitive domain into four distinct types within a matrix: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.

3. Why is Bloom’s taxonomy important?

Bloom’s taxonomy has been actively used by teachers from K-12 to college instructors for over five decades. Yet it is still just as important today as it was  in the 1950s.

At the heart of Bloom’s taxonomy framework is the ability to create achievable learning goals that teachers and students understand, and build a definitive plan to meet them. Instructors are encouraged to view learning objectives in behavioral terms, such that they can see what students are capable of as a direct result of the instruction they have received at each level, without the need for class-wide generalizations.

Using the categorization, educators can more effectively organize objectives and create lesson plans with appropriate content and instruction to lead students up the pyramid of learning. Educators can also design valid assessment tools and strategies to ensure each category is met in turn, and that each part of the course material is in line with the level’s objectives, whether it’s basic knowledge at the beginning of a course (e.g. remembering and recalling basic concepts), or applying that knowledge towards the middle of a school year (e.g. using the learned information in specific settings by solving problems.) For students, Bloom’s levels bridge the gap between what they know now, and what they need to learn to attain a higher level of knowledge.

At the end of the learning process, the goal with Bloom’s taxonomy is that a student has honed a new skill, level of knowledge, and/or developed a different attitude towards the subject. And that teachers can effectively assess this learning on an ongoing basis, as the course moves through each stage of the framework.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is essential because it helps educators identify achievable learning goals and develop plans to meet them.
• The Bloom’s Taxonomy framework allows educators to assess learning on an ongoing basis, encouraging students to reflect on their progress.

4. The levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy

This pyramid, courtesy of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, represents the revised Bloom’s taxonomy framework and educational objectives and outlines the key levels of thinking.

It starts with the most basic level of knowledge at the bottom, Remembering, whereby students recall facts and basic concepts, and moves up towards the pinnacle: Create, where new or original work is produced in some fashion.

4.1. What the levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy are, explained

In any learning environment, according to Bloom’s taxonomy, it’s critical to start from the bottom level and work your way up. The lower-order skills require less cognitive process but provide an important base for learning. Meanwhile, the higher Bloom’s levels require deeper learning and a greater degree of cognitive processing, which, presumably, can only be achieved once the lower-order skills have been mastered.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework that encourages learners to work their way up towards higher-order thinking and cognitive tasks.

Each level of Bloom’s taxonomy should be addressed before moving on to the next. When course planning, bear in mind the implications—how quickly to introduce new concepts, when to reinforce them and how to test them.

The first stage, Remember, is about recalling facts and concepts. A student can define and duplicate, make a list, memorize points, repeat information, and make valid statements. But this does not prove comprehension.

This is where Understand, the next level comes in. The student explains ideas and concepts, discusses and describes a topic in detail, explains what it means, recognizes it and translates the facts in some way. They can paraphrase a point, or compare and contrast information.

Once this level is conquered, students move up the pyramid to the next stage of learning: Apply. They use the information they’ve learned in new situations, whether to solve a problem, demonstrate an idea, interpret, schedule, sketch—whichever method works for the specific type of learning, course of study, and/or class environment.

Then, they must draw connections between ideas in the Analyze level of Bloom’s taxonomy, and differentiate, organize, relate, compare, contrast, examine, question or test their knowledge. Critical thinking finally comes into play, as the student distinguishes between fact and opinion, and breaks information down into component parts.

In the Evaluate stage, the student can justify a stand or decision by appraising a situation, arguing, defending, judging, critiquing, supporting, or weighing in with thoughts based on the knowledge and application they’ve acquired thus far. In the original version of Bloom’s taxonomy, this was considered the pinnacle of learning. But in the revised version, Create (which Bloom originally called Synthesis) is at the top of the pyramid. There, students produce new or original work.

Something can’t be understood without first remembering it; can’t be applied without understanding it; must be analyzed before evaluating it; and an evaluation needs to have been conducted before making an accurate conclusion.

Using verbs and actions allows educators to encourage success through each Bloom’s taxonomy level of thinking, also helping them accurately measure learning. Do so by defining learning outcomes, and breaking them down as parts of a lecture. Use three key pillars to achieve this: condition (the resource being used), performance (what students should accomplish by the end), and criteria (the method of measuring success).

Importantly, some education-related words like include, understand and learn can’t be measured in a meaningful way. Following the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy makes performance actionable and effective, using verbs that set clear expectations that can be specifically measured.

In the first stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, you might ask students to recite something you’ve taught them, quoting information from memory based on previous lectures, reading material, and notes. Educators can use verbs like define, describe, identify, label, list, outline, recall, and reproduce to effectively measure success in this stage. It’s the most basic level in Bloom’s taxonomy, but represents an important foundation; a stepping stone toward deeper learning. A basic way to test learning on this level is simple questions and answer periods, or multiple-choice questions. This shows that the student can memorize facts and recall them. But it does not yet suggest that students understand the material.

• The first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is remembering. This level helps build a solid foundation and acts as a stepping stone towards more complex learning. At this level, students are asked to memorize and recall facts.

→ Free Download to Learn More:   The Ultimate Guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Ask students to discuss a problem or idea in their own words, to evaluate their comprehension from the “remembering” stage of Bloom’s taxonomy. For example, they might have to paraphrase a story or definition, explain a concept in their own words, tell a story that relates to it, or provide analogies. To measure this, we can use verbs like defend, explain, generalize, paraphrase, summarize and translate. A student who reaches this level can interpret the materials, and demonstrate comprehension of the material.

• The second level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is understanding. This level asks students to explain course concepts in their own words.

The student will now have to take what they’ve learned and apply it to a scenario outside of the classroom. For example, they can use a math formula they’ve learned to calculate a family budget in the real world or apply a legal ruling to a specific case in the news headlines. Verbs to use in this stage of Bloom’s taxonomy include apply, demonstrate, predict, show, solve or use. That could come in the form of collaborative group projects or the composition of a blog.

• The third level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is applying. This level encourages students to extend their learning outside the classroom by finding similarities and differences in the real world.

Now it’s time to reach the higher half of the learning levels in Bloom’s taxonomy. Here, students can draw connections between ideas, utilize critical thinking, and break down knowledge into the sum of its parts. This can include using logical deduction to figure out how a piece of equipment works, or finding fallacies in the reasoning of an argument. Key verbs for measurement include analyze, break down, compare, contrast, differentiate, deconstruct and infer. Upon achieving this level of Bloom’s taxonomy, a student can demonstrate that they fully understand the material on the whole, and its component parts. They might be able to draw diagrams or deconstruct thought processes.

• The fourth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is Analyzing. This level allows students to use their critical thinking skills to understand how or why different concepts work together.

Here is where the student makes an educated judgment about the value of the material they’ve just learned, applied and analyzed, to be able to tell the difference between fact and opinions or inferences. That could include finding an effective solution to a problem, or justifying a specific decision and being able to back up that justification with knowledge. Appraise, conclude, critique, evaluate, support and summarize are all good verbs to use in this level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Tools like surveys and blogs can help in this particular level.

• The fifth level of Bloom’s taxonomy is Evaluating. This level asks students to make value judgments about the material they’ve learned.

In the final level of Bloom’s taxonomy, the student demonstrates full knowledge by applying what they’ve learned, analyzed and evaluated, and building something, either tangible or conceptual. That could include writing a manual or report on a particular topic, designing a piece of machinery, or revising a process to improve the results. Verbs to use include categorize, combine, compile, devise, design, generate, modify and write. Projects can range from detailed essays that put parts of the learning together to form a whole concept or idea, or networking with others to discuss the merits of a study.

• The sixth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is Creating. This level encourages students to demonstrate their knowledge by building something tangible or conceptual.

5. What are the Bloom’s taxonomy objectives?

Bloom’s taxonomy is further divided into three distinct Bloom’s taxonomy objectives, or domains of educational activities: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. These are also referred to by the acronym KSA, for Knowledge (cognitive), Skills (psychomotor), and Attitudes (affective). The goal is that by the end of a learning session, the student will have acquired new knowledge, skills and attitudes towards a subject.

Knowledge and development of intellectual skills is at the heart of the cognitive domain or objective of Bloom’s taxonomy, whereby a student can recall or recognize facts, patterns, and concepts that will serve as a foundation for deeper learning. This is where the six key facets of Bloom’s taxonomy—Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation–come in.

In this domain, students have new feelings or emotions about the subject, and/or themselves. They should be able to place more value on something, and have a greater appreciation for it, along with different motivations and attitudes. In a medical or caregiving setting, students might be able to demonstrate empathy towards patients or children. Students can be assessed in several ways when it comes to the affective domain, such as their ability to listen with respect and provide their unwavering attention, actively participate in class discussions, resolve conflicts and exhibit consistent and pervasive behaviors that reflect their internalized values.

The psychomotor domain is one of the later additions to Bloom’s taxonomy, as the original team did not believe they had sufficient knowledge in teaching such skills at the post-secondary level. In this domain of Bloom’s taxonomy, students develop manual or physical skills. There are three versions: physical movement, coordination and the use of motor skills. A student in a medical setting might demonstrate psychomotor development by properly stitching a wound; a student of construction through an understanding of how to operate a backhoe. Psychomotor skills can represent basic manual tasks, like washing a car or planting a garden, as well as more complex activities, like operating heavy machinery or following choreographed dance steps. Psychomotor skills are measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures and technique.

• Bloom’s taxonomy consists of three domains of educational activities.  These domains are cognitive, psychomotor and affective.
• Instructors are encouraged to design learning plans so that students will have acquired new knowledge, skills and attitudes towards a subject.

6. How to use Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom + Bloom’s taxonomy examples

Educators can use the tools of Bloom’s taxonomy to precisely focus curricula throughout the year on specific parts of the framework, ensuring that students demonstrate the proper cognitive abilities in each assignment and exam before moving on to the next.

This way, students can have clear, concise, and measurable goals to achieve. They answer questions and complete tasks based on which objective is the focus at the time, using measurable verbs like the ones previously noted for each level to elicit the proper types of responses. For example, questions asking students to compare, discuss, and predict will help their basic understanding of a project, while the use of verbs like “investigate” and “relate” suggest that they’ve moved on to the analyzing stage.

Students can move from the lower levels to the higher Bloom’s levels of learning through course materials, topics, lectures, assignments and in-classroom activities that are fine-tuned to help them succeed. Following the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy, assignments and classroom learning can be restructured to ensure that they fall in line with each level in succession, so students have the critical tools to move towards achieving that all-important deeper level of learning: the top of the Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid.

• Educators should consider designing lesson and curriculum plans following Bloom’s Taxonomy. This way, students can build on their learning and progress through the levels throughout the term.

In modern classrooms, students aren’t always sitting passively in front of a lecturer. Mobile devices and online course materials are the norms. It’s a testament to the versatility of Bloom’s taxonomy that fits extremely well into lesson planning for active learning.

In the Remember stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, instead of sitting back and absorbing information, you could ask students to challenge each other to recollect facts, or make a list at the end of the class of the most important facts they learned that day. And in the Analyze stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, you can spark class discussions by exploring problems, comparisons, and examining how a subject might relate to students’ everyday lives.

Being explicit about expectations in class can also help guide students in the right direction—a great application of metacognition within Bloom’s taxonomy. In this way, you can help students take responsibility for their learning. For instance, in a marketing class, teachers can instruct students that, by the middle of the term, they should not only know the components of an effective TV commercial, but why each is important, and how they holistically work together to achieve the goals of the company placing the advertisement.

• Each of Bloom’s Taxonomy levels is designed with active learning in mind. This way, students feel a sense of responsibility for their learning.

A student’s grade isn’t directly impacted by ongoing, or formative, assessment, but it’s a way for educators to gauge how well students are learning, and moving up the Bloom’s taxonomy hierarchy. Formative assessment is not a scale that determines the success or failure of a student; instead it’s used as a tool for teaching.

Focus on what you want students to achieve, using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide, as opposed to whether a specific activity will contribute toward their overall grade. Develop concrete learning objectives for each stage, and give the students clear expectations. Identify what action a student should be taking with your assignment, and to which level it applies. Then, match suggested assessment techniques and questions to the lecture, and choose activities that will encourage results.

In the Remember and Understand stage of Bloom’s taxonomy in an entry-level class, for example, multiple-choice or true or false questions make sense. 

Once you reach the top Analyze, Evaluate, and Create levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, whether it’s in an advanced class or toward the end of the course, consider oral examinations or written essays. Even if they aren’t tied to a grade, the assignments can paint a picture of how much the students have truly learned to date so educators can tweak course materials or their approach. This will help better prepare students to succeed when it comes time for summative assessment.

• Bloom’s taxonomy can be used to test and reinforce learning as the term progresses. Educators can course-correct and refocus on areas of learning where students are struggling.

For assignments and exams that impact grading, Bloom’s taxonomy can also apply. Typically, mid-term exams might cover material and learning that fits closer to the bottom of the pyramid, in Remembering, Understanding, and Applying.

When you get to final exams, however, this is when it can be useful to assess learning towards the top of the pyramid, including Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. Students should be able to apply their knowledge to everyday situations beyond course material, provide informed opinions and defend them, and consider additional questions that need to be addressed, including providing examples. Perhaps ask them to make a booklet outlining five to ten important rules, a mock marketing campaign, a flowchart, or a series of tips based on their learning. By the time you get to the summative assessment, the results should indicate a deeper level of learning that fits within the top of Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy allows students to apply their knowledge in creative ways. Educators can use the later levels to design flexible assessments that let students demonstrate their learnings in ways that make sense for them/

6.5. Bloom’s taxonomy for STEM Classes

With so much emphasis on ensuring students meet math and science standards, particularly in introductory courses, higher-order thinking skills are sometimes deprioritized. With most STEM assessments consisting of multiple-choice questions, which tend to focus on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to cover higher levels. Unfortunately, much of what students will need in order to be successful outside the classroom requires them to proficiently apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. 

The good news is that STEM subjects lend themselves well to Bloom’s Taxonomy’s higher levels. Educators can help students internalize course concepts by designing engaging activities in which they practice learning through higher-order question stems. They’ll not only perform better on assessments, but they’ll also be better prepared to apply their learnings outside the classroom as well.

7. Bloom’s taxonomy question stems

Bloom’s revised taxonomy gives educators the ability to construct a curriculum to assess objective learning outcomes. Pre-created Bloom’s taxonomy question stems make engaging students in each of these levels easier. This way, educators can plan opportunities for students to learn, reflect and assess their learning in motivating and creative ways throughout the term.

8. Problems with Bloom’s taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is by no means a hard and fast rule book that needs to be followed to a tee; it’s a theoretical construct that can be interpreted in many ways to fit individual teaching styles, courses, and lesson plans. Some believe that it is only appropriate for the lower Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning and that it fails to address more recent developments in cognitive psychology, including the ability for students to create knowledge in their minds throughout the learning process. Some also frown on the idea that students must start at the lowest level and work their way up before engaging in a meaningful dialog about facts, which isn’t always necessarily the case.

Sometimes, creativity isn’t just a goal, it’s a tool that can be effectively used to further learning. You could ask students to create something in the first lesson, like a mock advertisement in a marketing class, or a proposed solution to global warming. Educators can deconstruct and compare the results with them, and use that creative project to introduce facts, concepts, and basic knowledge of the topic. In that respect, while the components of the framework are always the same, it isn’t always necessarily organized neatly into a pyramid, as with the original Bloom’s taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy structure can morph into everything from a circle, to a web, a flower, or even a mandala (below) in design, showing each level of learning feeding into one another and occurring at different points in the process. No matter which way you slice (or organize) Bloom’s taxonomy, though, it always uses the six key principles to result in deeper learning.

Bloom’s taxonomy mandala. Based on an image from K. Aainsqatsi

As with any construct, there’s always room for improvement. With Bloom’s taxonomy, the 21st-century revision proved there was further refinement and adjustments necessary to make the framework relevant for future decades. Sticking to the template without thinking about the reasons behind it can lead to an over-reliance on the literal interpretation of Bloom’s taxonomy. Just because a student can defend a position, for example, doesn’t mean they’re doing so in anything more than a superficial way. And the ability to come up with a detailed plan isn’t evidence that the plan itself is the result of good judgment and analysis. There’s more than meets the eye to learning and education, but using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide to ensure all six of Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning are covered, in whichever way works best, can put you on the right path to success.

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