Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

PREPARED BY Megha R Chandran

Prepared by Megha R Chandran

Introduction

Bloom's taxonomy is a way of distinguishing the fundamental questions

within the education system. Bloom's taxonomy refers to a classification of the

different objectives that educators set for students (learning objectives). It divides

educational objectives into three "domains": cognitive, affective,

and psychomotor (sometimes loosely described as "knowing/head", "feeling/heart"

and "doing/hands" respectively). Within the domains, learning at the higher levels

is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels.

A goal of Bloom's taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three

domains, creating a more holistic form of education. Bloom's taxonomy is

considered to be a foundational and essential element within the education

community. Benjamin S. Bloom, the associate director of the Board of

Examinations of the University of Chicago, initiated the idea, hoping that it

would reduce the labor of preparing annual comprehensive examinations. To

aid in his effort, he enlisted a group of measurement specialists from across the

United States, many of whom repeatedly faced the same problem. This group

met about twice a year beginning in 1949 to consider progress, make revisions,

and plan the next steps. Their final draft was published in 1956 under the title,

Taxonomy

Of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Hereafter,

this is referred to as the original Taxonomy. The revision of this framework,

which is the subject of this issue of Theory into Practice, was

Developed in much the same manner 45 years later. Hereafter, this is referred to as

the revised Taxonomy.

Prepared by Megha R Chandran

Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom's taxonomy is a way of distinguishing the fundamental questions

within the education system. Dr. Benjamin S Bloom's classified different

objectives that educators set for students (learning objectives). It divides

educational objectives into three "domains": cognitive, affective,

and psychomotor (sometimes loosely described as "knowing/head", "feeling/heart"

and "doing/hands" respectively). Within the domains, learning at the higher levels

is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels.

A goal of Bloom's taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three

domains, creating a more holistic form of education. Bloom's taxonomy is

considered to be a foundational and essential element within the education

community

Prepared by Megha R Chandran

Cognitive

Categories in the cognitive domain of the revised Bloom's taxonomy.

Skills in the cognitive domain revolve around knowledge, comprehension,

and critical thinking on 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 learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts, and

answers.

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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?

Understanding

Demonstrate understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing,

translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating the main ideas

Translation

Interpretation

Extrapolation

Questions like: Compare the health benefits of eating apples vs. oranges.

Application

Using acquired knowledge. Solve problems in new situations by applying acquired

knowledge, facts, techniques and rules

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Questions like: Would apples prevent scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency in

vitamin C?

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

Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements; it also refers the act of putting

parts together to form a whole 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

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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: Which kinds of apples are best for baking a pie, and why?

Affective

Skills in the affective domain describe the way people react emotionally and their

ability to feel other living things' pain or joy. Affective objectives typically target

the awareness and growth in attitudes, 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. Receiving is about the student's memory and recognition as

well.

Responding

The student actively participates in the learning process, not only attends to a

stimulus; the student also reacts in some way.

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Valuing

The student attaches a value to an object, phenomenon, or piece of information.

The student associates a value or some values to the knowledge they acquired.

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 at this level tries to build abstract knowledge.

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. Proposed the following levels

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Imitation

It is the urge to act.

Manipulation

It involves differentiating among various movements.

Precision

It refers to accuracy and exactness in performance.

Articulation

It involves co-ordination, sequence and unity among the acts.

Naturalization

It implies that the learner’s skill attains its highest level of proficiency and it

becomes natural and automatic.

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives, 1950s-developed by Benjamin Bloom

means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking been adapted for

classroom use as a planning tool. Continues to be one of the most universally

applied models provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the

most basic to the more complex levels of thinking.1990s-Lorin Anderson (former

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student of Bloom) revisited the taxonomy, as a result, a number of changes were

made.

BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY

Remember

- Retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

Specifications;

Recognizing

Recalling

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Understand

- Determining the meaning of instructional messages, including oral,

written, and graphic communication.

Specifications;

Interpreting

Exemplifying

Classifying

Summarizing

Inferring

Comparing

Explaining

Apply

- Carrying out or using a procedure in a given situation.

Specifications;

Executing

Implementing

Analyze

- Breaking material into its constituent parts

and detecting how the parts relate to one another and into an overall

structure or purpose.

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Specifications;

Differentiating

Organizing

Attributing

Evaluate

- Making judgments based on criteria and standards.

Specifications;

Checking

Critiquing

Create

- Putting elements together to form a novel ,coherent whole or make an

original product.

Specifications;

Generating

Planning

Conclusion

The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a scheme for classifying

educational goals, objectives, and, most recently, standards. It provides an

organizational structure that gives a commonly understood meaning to objectives

classified in one of its categories, thereby enhancing communication. The

original Taxonomy consisted of six categories, nearly all with subcategories. They

were arranged in a cumulative hierarchical framework; achievement of the next

more complex skill or ability required achievement of the prior one. The

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original Taxonomy volume emphasized the assessment of learning with many

examples of test items (largely multiple choice) provided for each category.

Our revision of the original Taxonomy is a two-dimensional framework:

Knowledge and Cognitive Processes. The former most resembles the

subcategories of the original. Knowledge category. The latter resembles the six

categories of the original Taxonomy with the Knowledge category named

Remember, the Comprehension category named Understand, Synthesis renamed

Create and made the top category, and the remaining categories changed to

their verb forms: Apply, Analyze, and Evaluate. They are arranged in a

hierarchical structure, but not as rigidly as in the original Taxonomy. In

combination, the Knowledge and Cognitive Process dimensions form a very

useful table, the Taxonomy Table. Using the Table to classify objectives,

activities, and assessments provides a clear, concise, visual representation of

a particular course or unit. Once completed, the entries in the Taxonomy

Table can be used to examine relative emphasis, curriculum alignment, and

missed educational opportunities. Based on this examination, teachers can

decide where and how to improve the planning of curriculum and the

delivery of instruction.

References

1. www.google.com

2. Fundamentals of mathematics by DR. S. Sivarajan

Prepared by Megha R Chandran