A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives (Anderson,
Krathwohl, et al., 2001)
Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and
Assessing
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of
educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of
intellectual behavior important in learning. During the 1990's a new group of
cognitive psychologist, lead by Lorin Anderson (a former student of Bloom's),
updated the taxonomy reflecting relevance to 21st century work.
 |
Change
in Terms
·
The names of six major categories were changed from noun to
verb forms.
·
As the taxonomy reflects different forms of thinking and thinking
is an active process verbs were used rather than nouns.
·
The subcategories of the six major categories were also replaced
by verbs and some subcategories were reorganized.
·
The knowledge category was renamed. Knowledge is an outcome or
product of thinking not a form of thinking. Consequently, the word knowledge
was inappropriate to describe a category of thinking and was replaced with the
word remembering instead.
·
Comprehension and synthesis were retitled to understanding and
creating respectively, in order to better reflect the nature of the
thinking defined in each category.
·
From One Dimension to Two Dimensions (1. The
Knowledge dimension -kind
of knowledge to be learned (factual, conceptual, procedural, meta-cognitive. 2.
Cognitive process dimension – process used to learn (remember, understand,
apply, analyze, evaluate, create)
The Cognitive Dimension Process
Level 1
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Remember
|
Retrieve knowledge from
long-term memory
|
|
Recognizing
|
Identifying
|
Locating knowledge in
long-term memory that is consistent with presented material
|
Recalling
|
Retrieving
|
Retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory
|
Level 2
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Understand
|
Construct meaning from
instructional messages, including oral, written, and graphic communication
|
|
Interpreting
|
Clarifying
Paraphrasing
Representing
Translating
|
Changing from one form of
representation to another
|
Exemplifying
|
Illustrating
Instantiating
|
Finding a specific example
or illustration of a concept or principle
|
Classifying
|
Categorizing
Subsuming
|
Determining that something belongs to a category
|
Summarizing
|
Abstracting
Generalizing
|
Abstracting a general
theme or major point(s)
|
Inferring
|
Concluding
Extrapolating
Interpolating
Predicting
|
Drawing a logical
conclusion from presented information
|
Comparing
|
Contrasting
Mapping
Matching
|
Detecting correspondences
between two ideas, objects, and the like
|
Explaining
|
Constructing models
|
Constructing a cause and
effect model of a system
|
Level 3
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Apply
|
Applying a procedure to a
familiar task
|
|
Executing
|
Carrying out
|
Applying a procedure to a
familiar task
|
Implementing
|
Using
|
Applying a procedure to an
unfamiliar task
|
Level 4
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Analyze
|
Break material into its
constituent parts and determine how the parts relate to one another and to an
overall structure or purpose
|
|
Differentiating
|
Discriminating
Distinguishing
Focusing
Selecting
|
Distinguishing relevant
from irrelevant parts or important from unimportant parts of presented
material
|
Organizing
|
Finding coherence
Integrating
Outlining
Parsing
Structuring
|
Determining how elements
fit or function within a structure
|
Attributing
|
Deconstructing
|
Determine a point of view,
bias, values, or intent underlying presented material
|
Level 5
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Evaluate
|
Make judgments based on
criteria and standards
|
|
Checking
|
Coordinating
Detecting
Monitoring
Testing
|
Detecting inconsistencies
or fallacies within a process or product; determining whether a process or
product has internal consistency; detecting the effectiveness of a procedure
as it is being implemented
|
Critiquing
|
Judging
|
Detecting inconsistencies
between a product and external criteria; determining whether a product has
external consistency; detecting the appropriateness of a procedure for a
given problem
|
Level 6
Categories & Cognitive
Processes
|
Alternative Names
|
Definition
|
Create
|
Put elements together to
form a coherent or functional whole; reorganize elements into a new pattern
or structure
|
|
Generating
|
Hypothesizing
|
Coming up with alternative
hypotheses based on criteria
|
Planning
|
Designing
|
Devising a procedure for
accomplishing some task
|
Producing
|
Constructing
|
Inventing a product
|
Structure
of the Knowledge Dimension of the Revised Taxonomy
Dimension
|
Definition
|
A.
Factual
Knowledge
Aa. Knowledge of terminology
Ab. Knowledge of specific details and elements
|
The basic elements
students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it
|
B.
Conceptual
Knowledge
Ba. Knowledge of classifications and categories
Bb. Knowledge of principles and generalizations
Bc. Knowledge of theories, models, and structures
|
The interrelationships
among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to
function together
|
C.
Procedural
Knowledge
Ca. Knowledge of subject-specific skills and
algorithms
Cb. Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and
methods
Cc. Knowledge of criteria for determining when to
use appropriate procedures
|
How to do something,
methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques,
and methods
|
D.
Metacognitive
Knowledge
Da.
Strategic knowledge
Db. Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including
appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge
Dc. Self-knowledge
|
Knowledge of cognition in
general as well as awareness and knowledge of one’s own cognition
|
The Taxonomy
Table
In
the revised Taxonomy, the fact that any objective would be represented in two
dimensions immediately suggested the possibility of constructing a
two-dimensional table, which we termed the Taxonomy Table. The Knowledge
dimension would form the vertical axis of the table, whereas the Cognitive
Process dimension would form the horizontal axis. The intersections of the
knowledge and cognitive process categories would form the cells. Consequently,
any objective could be classified in the Taxonomy Table in one or more cells
that correspond with the intersection of the column(s) appropriate for
categorizing the verb(s) and the row(s) appropriate for categorizing the
noun(s) or noun phrase(s).
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.
The Cognitive Process Dimension
The
knowledge dimension
|
Remember
|
Understand
|
Apply
|
Analyze
|
Evaluate
|
Create
|
Factual knowledge
|
||||||
Conceptual Knowledge
|
||||||
Procedural
knowledge
|
||||||
Metacognitive Knowledge
|
