52
Chapter 4
The Cognitive, Affective, and
Psychomotor Domains:
The Taxonomy of the Traditional Learner
Learning Objectives. The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, better known as Bloom’s Taxonomy,
is a classification system that governs how learning objectives are designed, implemented and assessed.
First proposed in 1956, Benjamin Bloom began his scrutiny into educational objectives by exploring the
cognitive domain (which will serve as the focus for this chapter). Later, with other colleagues including
Lorin W. Krathwohl and S. R. Kibler, he considered the affective and psychomotor domains to round
out his body of study.
Bloom’s taxonomy differentiates six levels of teaching and learning: (1) knowledge, (2) comprehension, (3) application, (4) analysis, (5) synthesis, and (6) evaluation. This chapter offers a perspective for developing instruction purposely targeting the traditional learner. Specifically, the reader will
understand:
•
•
•
•
The characteristics of the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
The stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy and its application to teaching and learning.
The uses of the Taxonomy to plan and deliver instruction in the classroom or at a distance.
Key instructional technologies supporting Bloom’s Taxonomy and the cognitive domain of the
traditional learner.
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-824-6.ch004
Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
The Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Domains
Figure 1. Traditional Lesson Plan Template (Focus on Learning)
Lesson Plan Template. Refer to Appendix A, Traditional Learner Lesson Plan Template as the
chapter discusses Focus on Learning as depicted in Figure 1.
INTRODUCTION
The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives began as an ambitious project undertaken as the direct result
of discussions held during the 1948 Convention of the American Psychological Association. Benjamin
Bloom gathered a select group of educators who eventually undertook the complex task of classifying
educational goals and objectives. The group met from 1949 to 1956 when they published the Taxonomy
of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain
(Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, & Krathwohl, 1956).
One of the initial goals for building a taxonomy was to reduce the labor –intensive task of preparing
questions for comprehensive examinations. Researchers explored several possible methods of classifying behaviors believed to be important for learning. The framework eventually produced taxonomies
for three domains:
•
•
Cognitive domain – focusing on knowledge, skills, and competencies and consisting of six
levels;
Affective domain – focusing on attitudes, feelings, and emotions and consisting of five levels;
and,
53
15 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may
be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the publisher's webpage:
www.igi-global.com/chapter/cognitive-affective-psychomotor-domains/38127
Related Content
Developing Support Networks
Lynnette R. Porter (2004). Developing an Online Curriculum: Technologies and Techniques (pp. 222-247).
www.irma-international.org/chapter/developing-support-networks/8255/
Developing and Validating a High School Version of the Robotics Motivated Strategies for
Learning Questionnaire
Yuan Ten Huang, Eric Zhi-Feng Liu, Chun Hung Lin and Pey-Yan Liou (2017). International Journal of
Online Pedagogy and Course Design (pp. 20-34).
www.irma-international.org/article/developing-and-validating-a-high-school-version-of-therobotics-motivated-strategies-for-learning-questionnaire/176611/
Online Learning at the K-12 Level: An Examination of Teacher Technology Use by Subject Area
and Grade Level
Chris Sorensen (2016). International Journal of Online Pedagogy and Course Design (pp. 15-28).
www.irma-international.org/article/online-learning-at-the-k-12-level/147743/
Cognitive Informatics
Yingxu Wang (2008). Encyclopedia of Information Technology Curriculum Integration (pp. 104-111).
www.irma-international.org/chapter/cognitive-informatics/16688/
Cooperation and Collaboration in Higher Education: An Exploratory Study on the Cognitive,
Affective, and Moral Dimensions of Online Argumentation
Milton N. Campos, Lia B. de L. Freitas and Cristina Grabovschi (2013). International Journal of Online
Pedagogy and Course Design (pp. 1-16).
www.irma-international.org/article/cooperation-collaboration-higher-education/75538/