Teaching with
the Revised
Bloom’sTaxonomy
Janet Giesen
Faculty Development and
Instructional Design Center
Taxonomy = Classification
Classification of thinking
Six cognitive levels
of complexity
Why use Bloom’s taxonomy?
• Write and revise
learning objectives
• Plan curriculum
• Identifies simple to
most difficult skills
• Effectively align
objectives to
assessment
techniques and
standards
• Incorporate
knowledge to be
learned (knowledge
dimension) and
cognitive process to
learn
• Facilitate questioning
(oral language =
important role within
framework)
Original
Revised
Evaluation
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analyzing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
Remembering
Noun
Verb
Original
Revised
Evaluation
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analyzing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
Remembering
Noun
Verb
Original
Revised
Evaluation
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analyzing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
Remembering
Noun
Verb
Creating
Evaluating
Analyzing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Creating
Evaluating
Analyzing
Applying
Understanding
Remembering
Cognitive
Domain
Analyzing
Applying
Creating
Affective
Domain
Psychomotor
Domain
Characterizing
by value or
value concept
Articulating
Evaluating
Organizing &
conceptualizing
Remembering
Receiving
Understanding
Responding
Valuing
Imitating
Manipulating
Performing
Precisioning
Cognitive
Domain
Analyzing
Applying
Creating
Affective
Domain
Psychomotor
Domain
Characterizing
by value or
value concept
Articulating
Evaluating
Organizing &
conceptualizing
Remembering
Receiving
Understanding
Responding
Valuing
Imitating
Manipulating
Performing
Precisioning
Change in Terms
• Categories noun to verb
– Taxonomy reflects different forms of thinking
(thinking is an active process) verbs describe
actions, nouns do not
• Reorganized categories
– Knowledge = product/outcome of thinking
(inappropriate to describe a category of
thinking) now remembering
– Comprehension now understanding
– Synthesis now creating to better reflect nature
of thinking described by each category
Handout #
Changes in Structure
• Products of thinking part of taxonomy
• Forms of knowledge = factual, conceptual,
procedural, metacognitive (thinking about
thinking)
• Synthesis (creating) and evaluation
(evaluating) interchanged
– Creative thinking more complex form of
thinking than critical thinking (evaluating)
Handout #
Changes in Emphasis
• USE: More authentic tool for curriculum
planning, instructional delivery and
assessment
• Aimed at broader audience
• Easily applied to all levels of education
• Revision emphasizes explanation and
description of subcategories
Handout #
Remembering
The learner is able to recall, restate and
remember learned information
– Describing
– Finding
– Identifying
– Listing
– Retrieving
– Naming
– Locating
– Recognizing
Can students recall information?
Understanding
Student grasps meaning of information
by interpreting and translating
what has been learned
– Classifying
– Comparing
– Exemplifying
– Explaining
– Inferring
– Interpreting
– Paraphrasing
– Summarizing
Can students explain ideas or concepts?
Applying
Student makes use of information in a context
different from the one in which it was learned
– Implementing
– Carrying out
c
=
– Using
– Executing
Can students use the information in
another familiar situation?
Analyzing
Student breaks learned information into
its parts to best understand that information
– Attributing
– Comparing
– Deconstructing
– Finding
– Integrating
– Organizing
– Outlining
– Structuring
Can students break information into parts to
explore understandings and relationships?
Evaluating
Student makes decisions based on in-depth
reflection, criticism and assessment
– Checking
– Critiquing
– Detecting
– Experimenting
– Hypothesising
– Judging
– Monitoring
– Testing
Can students justify a decision or
a course of action?
Creating
Student creates new ideas and information
using what previously has been learned
– Constructing
– Designing
– Devising
– Inventing
– Making
– Planning
– Producing
Can students generate new products,
ideas, or ways of viewing things?
Questioning . . .
• Lower level questions—remembering,
understanding & lower level applying levels
• Lower level questions
– Evaluate students’ preparation and
comprehension
– Diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses
– Review and/or summarizing content
Handout #
University of Illinois (2006)
Questioning . . .
• Higher level questions require complex
application, analysis, evaluation or creation
skills
• Higher level questions
– Encourage students to think more deeply and
critically
– Facilitate problem solving
– Encourage discussions
– Stimulate students to seek information on their
own
Handout #
University of Illinois (2006)
“Remembering” stems
What happened after...?
How many...?
What is...?
Who was it that...?
Name ...
Find the definition of…
Describe what happened after…
Who spoke to...?
Which is true or false...?
(Pohl, 2000)
“Understanding” stems
Explain why…
Write in your own words…
How would you explain…?
Write a brief outline...
What do you think could have happened next...?
Who do you think...?
What was the main idea...?
Clarify…
Illustrate…
(Pohl, 2000)
“Applying” stems
Explain another instance where…
Group by characteristics such as…
Which factors would you change if…?
What questions would you ask of…?
From the information given, develop a set of
instructions about…
(Pohl, 2000)
“Analyzing” stems
Which events could not have happened?
If. ..happened, what might the ending have been?
How is...similar to...?
What do you see as other possible outcomes?
Why did...changes occur?
Explain what must have happened when...
What are some or the problems of...?
Distinguish between...
What were some of the motives behind..?
What was the turning point?
What was the problem with...?
(Pohl, 2000)
“Evaluating” stems
Judge the value of... What do you think about...?
Defend your position about...
Do you think...is a good or bad thing?
How would you have handled...?
What changes to… would you recommend?
Do you believe...? How would you feel if...?
How effective are...?
What are the consequences...?
What influence will....have on our lives?
What are the pros and cons of....?
Why is....of value?
What are the alternatives?
Who will gain & who will loose?
(Pohl, 2000)
“Creating” stems
Design a...to...
Devise a possible solution to...
If you had access to all resources, how would you
deal with...?
Devise your own way to...
What would happen if ...?
How many ways can you...?
Create new and unusual uses for...
Develop a proposal which would...
(Pohl, 2000)
Summary
Bloom’s revised taxonomy
• Systematic process of thinking & learning
• Assists assessment efforts with easy-to-use
format
• Visual representation of alignment between goals
& objectives with standards, activities, &
outcomes
• Helps form challenging questions to help
students gain knowledge & critical thinking skills
• Assists in development of goals, objectives, &
lesson plans
Let’s Practice!
Worksheets
Thank You!
Discussion and
Questions
References and Resources
Cruz, E. (2003). Bloom's revised taxonomy. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational
Technology. http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/bloomrev/start.htm
Dalton, J. & Smith, D. (1986) Extending children’s special abilities: Strategies for primary classrooms.
http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm
Ferguson, C. (2002). Using the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy to plan and deliver team-taught, integrated,
thematic units. Theory into Practice, 41(4), 239-244.
Forehand, M. (2008). Bloom’s Taxonomy: From emerging perspectives on learning, teaching and
technology. http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy
Mager, R. E. (1997). Making instruction work or skillbloomers: A step-by-step guide to designing and
developing instruction that works, (2nd ed.). Atlanta, GA: The Center for Effective Performance,
Inc.
Mager, R. E. (1997). Preparing instructional objectives: A critical tool in the development of effective
instruction, (3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: The Center for Effective Performance, Inc.
Pohl, Michael. (2000). Learning to think, thinking to learn: Models and strategies to develop a
classroom culture of thinking. Cheltenham, Vic.: Hawker Brownlow.
Tarlinton (2003). Bloom’s revised taxonomy.
http://www.kurwongbss.qld.edu.au/thinking/Bloom/bloomspres.ppt.
University of Illinois, Center for Teaching Excellence (2006). Bloom’s taxonomy.
www.oir.uiuc.edu/Did/docs/QUESTION/quest1.htm