Cognitive Domain Questions
Knowledge
Ability to recall
information
Comprehension
Ability to interpret
information
Verbs:
Remember
Memorize
Recognize
Recall
identify
define
describe
list
examine
Questions:
What are the steps involved
in?
What are the three main
points of?
Verbs:
summarize
compare
contrast
distinguish
estimate
extend
classify
paraphrase
locate
Questions:
How is it related to?
How is it an example
of?
What qualities
differentiate?
Describe in your own
words
What themes do you
see?
What are the three main
principles behind?
Application
Ability to apply
information in a new
situation
Verbs:
Apply
Adapt
Choose
Demonstrate
Illustrate
Construct
simulate
Questions:
Would this concept
work in…?
Is this argument
supported by the data?
Can you illustrate how
this principle…?
What would happen
if…?
Analysis
Ability to break down
information and show
relationships
Verbs:
Diagram
Differentiate
Calculate
Discriminate
Compare
Contrast
Select
Explain
Evaluate
Questions:
What are the parts or
features of…?
How yould you
classify…according
to…?
How does…compare
or contrast with …?
What evidence can
you give for…?
What was his
motive?
Why have these
changes occurred?
Synthesis
Ability to bring together
information to solve a
problem
Verbs:
Categorise
Combine
Compose
Design
Formulate
Manage
Reorganize
create
Evaluation
Making judgments based on
criteria
Verbs:
Appraise
Assess
Choose
Judge
Predict
Rate
Support
Justify
Questions:
What would you
predict/infer from…?
What ideas can you add
to…?
Questions
Do you agree tha…?
How would you design a
new …?
What might happen if you
combined…?
How might…have turned
out if…?
What solutions would you
suggest for…?
What advice would you give
to…?
What is the most important…?
What do you think about?
Which of these has a higher
priority?
How sould you decide about…?
What criteria would you use to…?
Which option would be the most
effective?
This chart is an adaptation of materials found in Benjami S. Bloom, ed. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain (New York, Longman, 1956). For a
similar summary of affective domain questions, see David R. Krathwohl, et al., Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook II: Affective Domain (New York, Longman,
1964).
Socratic Questioning Prompts
Seek Clarification
Initial Questions
Probe Assumption
What do you mean
by…?
What is your main
point?
How can we find out?
What are you
assuming?
What could we assume
instead?
How does it relate
to..?
Would …. Have put it
differently?
Can you put it another
way?
What do you think the
main issue is here?
Let me see if I
understand you. Do
you mean…?
Can you summarize in
your own words?
Is that what you mean?
Can you give me an
example?
Can you explain that
further?
Can we break this
question down at all?
Does this question lead
to other questions?
What does this
question assume?
You seem to be
assuming… Do I
understand you
correctly?
How do you justify
taking this for granted?
Is this always the case?
Probe Reasons and
Evidence
Can yo give an
example?
Can you explain your
reason for this?
Are those reasons
adequate?
Do you have any
evidence for that?
How can we find out if
that is true?
Probe Origins or
Sources
Where did you get this
idea?
Have you been
influence in this by the
media?
What casued you to
feel this way?
Probe Implications or
consequences
What are youy
implying by that?
What effect would that
have?
What might underlie
your reasoning here?
If this is the case, what
else must be true?
What is an alternative
Probe Viewpoints or
Perspectives
How would other
groups respond?
How would you
answer the objection
that >>> makes?
Can yousee this in
another way?
What would someone
who disagrees say?
What assumptions do
you think hold here?
Selected from a list compiled by Richard Paul, in Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World (Rohnert Park, CA: Center for Critical
Thinking and Moral Critique, 1990)