“Although it received little attention when first
published, Bloom's Taxonomy has since been
translated into 22 languages and is one of the most
widely applied and most often cited references in
education.”
(Anderson & Sosniak, 1994, preface), (Houghton, 2004),
(Krathwohl, 2002), (oz-TeacherNet, 2001)
Professor, University of Chicago
At the 1948 Convention of the American Psychological
Association, Bloom decided to lead a group of
educators in “the ambitious task of classifying
educational goals and objectives.” The group intended
to analyze behaviors of thought that seemed important
to the learning process.
In 1956, eight years after the group first began,
“Bloom’s Taxonomy” was completed and a handbook
was published.
• Incorporates six levels of cognition
• Hierarchical model
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Understanding
Knowledge
One-dimensional model of learning
• Examples of Bloom’s Taxonomy charts
• Instructional models of Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Cubing
• Tiered Assignment
One-dimensional model of learning
As instructional practices began to shift towards
performance assessments and performancebased instruction, researchers revised Bloom’s
Taxonomy.
• More detailed objectives were necessary, and
the one-dimensional model wasn’t sufficient for
guiding the writing of these objectives.
• Performance-based instruction involves
metacognitive skills, such as self-evaluation.
Two-dimensional model of learning
Dimension 1: Kind of Content to be Learned
1. Factual Knowledge
2. Conceptual Knowledge
3. Procedural Knowledge
4. Meta-Cognitive Knowledge
Consult the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Chart. Locate
the first dimension on the left side of the table.
Dimension 1: Kind of Content to be Learned
Factual Knowledge
The basic elements students must know to be
acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in
it.
• Knowledge of terminology
• Knowledge of specific details and elements
Dimension 1: Kind of Content to be Learned
Conceptual Knowledge
The interrelationships among the basic elements
within a larger structure that enable them to
function together.
• Knowledge of classifications and categories
• Knowledge of principles and generalizations
ex. Pythagorean theorem, law of supply and demand
•
Knowledge of theories, models and structures
ex. theory of evolution, structure of congress
Dimension 1: Kind of Content to be Learned
Procedural Knowledge
How to do something, methods of inquiry, and
criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques,
and methods.
• Knowledge of subject-specific skills and
algorithms
• Knowledge of subject-specific techniques
• Knowledge of criteria for determining when to
use appropriate procedures
Dimension 1: Kind of Content to be Learned
Meta-Cognitive Knowledge
Knowledge of cognition in general as well as
awareness and knowledge of one's own cognition.
• Strategic knowledge
outlining as a means of capturing the structure of a
unit of subject matter in a textbook
•
Cognitive tasks
knowledge of the different types of tests, cognitive
demands of different tasks
•
Self-knowledge
knowledge that critiquing essays is a personal
strength, whereas writing essays is a personal
weakness; awareness of one's own knowledge
Dimension 2: Cognitive Process
1.
Remember: Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term
memory
2. Understand: Construct meaning from instructional
messages, including oral, written,and graphic
communication.
3. Apply: Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation
4. Analyze: Break material into constituent parts and
determine how parts relate to one another and to an overall
structure or purpose
5. Evaluate: Make judgments based on criteria and standards.
6. Create: Put elements together to form a coherent whole;
reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure.
• Read the standards in your curriculum area.
• Using the two-dimensional model, place each
standard in the appropriate block based upon the
type of knowledge and cognition needed to master
the standard.
• Discuss one instructional method that could be
used to allow students to practice and illustrate
mastery of one objective at the appropriate level of
cognition.
How can the earlier instructional
strategies be revised to include the
Bloom’s revision?