Bloom's Taxonomy refers to a classification of the different objectives that
educatorsEducation in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual...
set for students (learning objectives). The taxonomy was first presented in 1956 through the publication "The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain," by
Benjamin BloomBenjamin S. Bloom was an American educational psychologist who made contributions to the classification of educational objectives and to the theory of mastery-learning.-Biography:...
(editor), M. D. Englehart, E. J. Furst, W. H. Hill, and
David KrathwohlDavid R. Krathwohl, currently the Hannah Hammond Professor of Education Emeritus at Syracuse University, has made notable contributions to the field of educational psychology. While studying with Benjamin Bloom, he co-authored the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, known as Bloom's taxonomy...
. It is considered to be a foundational and essential element within the education community as evidenced in the 1981 survey "Significant writings that have influenced the curriculum: 1906-1981", by H.
Bloom's Taxonomy refers to a classification of the different objectives that
educatorsEducation in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual...
set for students (learning objectives). The taxonomy was first presented in 1956 through the publication "The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain," by
Benjamin BloomBenjamin S. Bloom was an American educational psychologist who made contributions to the classification of educational objectives and to the theory of mastery-learning.-Biography:...
(editor), M. D. Englehart, E. J. Furst, W. H. Hill, and
David KrathwohlDavid R. Krathwohl, currently the Hannah Hammond Professor of Education Emeritus at Syracuse University, has made notable contributions to the field of educational psychology. While studying with Benjamin Bloom, he co-authored the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, known as Bloom's taxonomy...
. It is considered to be a foundational and essential element within the education community as evidenced in the 1981 survey "Significant writings that have influenced the curriculum: 1906-1981", by H. G. Shane and the 1994 yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. A great mythology has grown around the taxonomy, possibly due to many people learning about the taxonomy through second hand information. Bloom himself considered the Handbook, "one of the most widely cited yet least read books in American education.",
Key to understanding the taxonomy and its revisions, variations, and addenda over the years is an understanding that the original Handbook was intended only to focus on one of the three domains (as indicated in the domain specification in title), but there was expectation that additional material would be generated for the other domains (as indicated in the numbering of the handbook in the title). Bloom also considered the initial effort to be a starting point, as evidenced in a memorandum from 1971 in which he said, "Ideally each major field should have its own taxonomy in its own language - more detailed, closer to the special language and thinking of its experts, reflecting its own appropriate sub-divisions and levels of education, with possible new categories, combinations of categories and omitting categories as appropriate."
Bloom's Taxonomy divides educational objectives into three "domains:" Affective,
PsychomotorPsychomotor learning is the relationship between cognitive functions and physical movement. Psychomotor learning is demonstrated by physical skills such as movement, coordination, manipulation, dexterity, grace, strength, speed; actions which...
, and Cognitive. Within the
taxonomyTaxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word finds its roots in the Greek , taxis and , nomos...
learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels (Orlich, et al. 2004). A goal of Bloom's Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more
holisticHolism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...
form of education.
Affective
Skills in the
affective domain describe the way people react
emotionAn emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Emotions are subjective experiences, often associated with mood, temperament, personality, and disposition. The English word 'emotion' is derived from the French word émouvoir...
ally and their ability to feel another living thing's pain or joy. Affective objectives typically target the awareness and growth in
attitudesAn attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are generally positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event-- this is often referred to as the attitude object...
, emotion, and feelings.
There are five levels in the affective domain moving through the lowest order processes to the highest:
Receiving:The lowest level; the student passively pays attention. Without this level no learning can occur.
Responding:The student actively participates in the learning process, not only attends to a stimulus; the student also reacts in some way.
Valuing:The student attaches a value to an object, phenomenon, or piece of information.
Organizing:The student can put together different values, information, and ideas and accommodate them within his/her own schema; comparing, relating and elaborating on what has been learned.
Characterizing: The student holds a particular value or belief that now exerts influence on his/her behaviour so that it becomes a characteristic.
Psychomotor
Skills in the
psychomotor domain describe the ability to physically manipulate a tool or instrument like a hand or a hammer. Psychomotor objectives usually focus on change and/or development in behavior and/or skills.
Bloom and his colleagues never created subcategories for skills in the psychomotor domain, but since then other educators have created their own psychomotor taxonomies.
Cognitive
Skills in the
cognitive domain revolve around knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking of a particular topic. Traditional education tends to emphasize the skills in this domain, particularly the lower-order objectives.
There are six levels in the taxonomy, moving through the lowest order processes to the highest:
Knowledge:Exhibit memory of previously-learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers
- Knowledge of specifics - terminology, specific facts
- Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics - conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology
- Knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field - principles and generalizations, theories and structures
Questions like: What are the health benefits of eating apples?
Comprehension:Demonstrative understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating main ideas
- Translation
- Interpretation
- Extrapolation
Questions like: Compare the health benefits of eating apples vs. oranges.
Application:Using new knowledge. Solve problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way
Questions like: Which kinds of apples are best for baking a pie, and why?
Analysis:Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support generalizations
- Analysis of elements
- Analysis of relationships
- Analysis of organizational principles
Questions like: List four ways of serving foods made with apples and explain which ones have the highest health benefits. Provide references to support your statements.
Synthesis:Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions
- Production of a unique communication
- Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations
- Derivation of a set of abstract relations
Questions like: Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for apple pie to a "healthy" recipe by replacing your choice of ingredients. Explain the health benefits of using the ingredients you chose vs. the original ones.
Evaluation:Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria
- Judgments in terms of internal evidence
- Judgments in terms of external criteria
Questions like: Do you feel that serving apple pie for an after school snack for children is healthy? Why or why not?
Some critiques of Bloom's Taxonomy's (cognitive domain) admit the existence of these six categories, but question the existence of a sequential, hierarchical link. Also the revised edition of Bloom's taxonomy has moved Synthesis in higher order than Evaluation. Some consider the three lowest levels as hierarchically ordered, but the three higher levels as parallel. Others say that it is sometimes better to move to Application before introducing concepts. This thinking would seem to relate to the method of
problem-based learningProblem-based learning is a student-centered instructional strategy in which students collaboratively solve problems and reflect on their experiences. It was pioneered and used extensively at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Materials department at Queen Mary, University of...
.
See also
- Educational psychology
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Educational psychology is concerned with how students learn and develop, often focusing...
- Educational technology
Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources." The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and...
- Higher order thinking skills
The concept of higher order thinking skills became a major educational agenda item with the 1956 publication of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives....
- Mastery learning
Image:Challenge_vs_skill.jpg|Control in terms of challenge level and skill level. Clickable.|thumbpoly 66 7 211 9 285 189 254 234 67 152 Anxietypoly 221 7 428 7 351 188 296 187 294 188 Arousalpoly 439 7 583 7 584 149 388 236 360 194 Flow...
- Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting...
- David Krathwohl
David R. Krathwohl, currently the Hannah Hammond Professor of Education Emeritus at Syracuse University, has made notable contributions to the field of educational psychology. While studying with Benjamin Bloom, he co-authored the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, known as Bloom's taxonomy...
- Fluid and crystallized intelligence
In psychology, fluid and crystallized intelligence are factors of general intelligence originally identified by Raymond Cattell. Fluid intelligence is the ability to find meaning in confusion and solve new problems. It is the ability to draw inferences and understand the relationships of various...