What Is Bloom’s Taxonomy Definition and Levels of Learning 2020 Update.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Definition and Levels of Learning: In 1956, Benjamin Bloom with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst,
Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl wrote a framework for classifying educational goals: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
Commonly known as Bloom’s Taxonomy, this framework has been used by generations of K-12 teachers and college teachers in their teaching.
The framework expounded by Bloom and his collaborators contained six major classes: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.
The categories after Knowledge were presented as “skills and abilities,” with the understanding that knowledge was the essential condition for putting these skills and talents into practice.
While each class contained subcategories, all lying along with a range from simple to complex and concrete to abstract, the taxonomy is universally remembered according to the six main categories.
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy Definition and Levels of Learning
In a simple sentence Bloom’s Taxonomy simply entails a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can, amongst uncountable other uses, help teachers in the overall teaching process of the student
For instance, Bloom’s Taxonomy can, for example, be used to develop assessments, assess the complexity of assignments, design assessments, design curriculum, and create online courses. Or plan project-based learning, experiences for students.
A Brief History of Bloom’s Taxonomy Revisions
Bloom’s Taxonomy was established by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, published as a kind of classification of learning outcomes and aims that has, in the more than a half-century since, been used for everything from framing digital tasks and assessing apps to writing questions and assessments.
The first sequence of cognitive skills was Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The framework was reviewed in 2001 by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl, yielding the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.
The most important change was the removal of ‘Synthesis’ and the addition of ‘Creation’ as the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy. And being at the uppermost level, the insinuation is that it’s the most complex or demanding cognitive skill–or at least represents a kind of pinnacle for cognitive tasks.
How Bloom’s Taxonomy is Useful for Teachers
In a separate post, we’re going to cover precisely how Blooms can be used by teachers. There are many reasons for the attractiveness of Bloom’s Taxonomy that likely deserve an article of their own to travel.
For now, it’s clear that many educators love Bloom’s because, among other qualities, it gives them a way to think about their teaching—and the following learning of their students.
As stated above, the framework can be used to use to create valuations, evaluate the complexity of assignments, increase the rigor of a lesson, shorten the activity to help personalize learning, design a summative assessment, plan project-based learning, frame a group discussion, and more.
Because it simply provides an order for cognitive behaviors, it can be applied to almost anything. (You can see one example here–one of our teaching materials that combined Bloom’s Taxonomy with common digital tasks
The 6 Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
1. The first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to Remember.
Example activities at the Remembering level: memorize a poem, recall state capitals, and remember math formulas
2. The second level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to Understand.
Example activities at the Understanding level: establish the animal kingdom based on a given framework, demonstrate the difference between a rectangle and square, and summarize the plot of a simple story
3. The third level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to Apply.
Example activities at the Application level: use a formula to solve a problem, choice a design to meet a purpose, reconstruct the passage of a new law through a given government and system
4. The fourth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to Analyze.
Example activities at the Analysis level: recognize the ‘parts of’ democracy, enlighten how the steps of the scientific process work together, recognize why a machine isn’t working
5. The fifth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to Evaluate.
Example activities at the Evaluation level: make a judgment regarding a moral predicament, interpret the significance of a given law of physics, explains the relative value of technological innovation in a specific setting—farming, for example.
6. The sixth and final level of Bloom’s taxonomy is to Create.
Example activities at the Creation level: design a new solution to an ‘old’ problem that honors/acknowledges the previous failures, delete the least useful arguments in a persuasive essay, write a poem based on a given theme and tone
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StudentsandScholarship Team.
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