5.1 Bloom’s Taxonomy
In 1956, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and his associates conceptualized a taxonomy to classify aspects of human learning that included three basic domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. The cognitive domain of this taxonomy represents a continuum of thinking that can be useful for teachers as they develop curricula for students, but also for students as they try to determine what a professor may be asking them to do on a particular test question or writing assignment. Bloom’s Taxonomy can also help students challenge themselves as they are creating active learning study strategies and/ or developing questions for self-testing for an exam. In addition, once students have taken an exam in a particular course, conducting a post-test review of the levels of thinking required by exam questions will provide clues regarding how to effectively study for future exams.
| Level of Cognitive Domain | Thinking Level | Generic Activity | Question Cues | Sample Questions | Example Activities of Products |
| Remembering | Basic thinking (lowest level) | Recalls facts, patterns, settings, etc.; remembers previously learned material | Cite, label, name, list, state, quote, reproduce, define, identify, describe (who, what, where, when) | Who is…? What is…? Where is…? Where was…? |
List items. Make a timeline. Recite a passage. List certain memorized facts. |
| Understanding | Basic thinking | Understands what is being communicated; grasps the meaning of material and can state in own words; can infer causes and predict consequences | Explain, restate, paraphrase, summarize, describe, illustrate, give examples, discuss, distinguish, interpret | How would you put this into your own words? What is an example of _____? How would you translate ____ to a visual form? What was the main idea? |
Create a flowchart to illustrate the sequence of events. Retell the story in your words. Write a summary. |
| Applying | Higher-level thinking | Uses the information in new concrete situations | Apply, classify, solve, demonstrate, calculate, illustrate (how it looks in a new situation), complete, employ | Can you apply this idea to your own life? Can you come up with another example? What does “x” equal in this case? |
Use this method to apply to a new case study. Solve different types of math problems. |
| Analyzing | Higher-level thinking | Breaks new information into parts to understand relationships; sees patterns and organizational structure | Diagram, analyze, diagnose, conclude, outline, separate, explain(relationships), infer, find, classify, discriminate, compare, contrast, why | Why did this happen? What were some of the motives behind _____? What was the problem with _____? Why did ____ changes occur? Can you explain what happened when _____? What difference exists between ____ and ____? |
Construct a diagram that shows the relationships between the parts. Research the issue to find information that supports a view. Write a biography. |
| Evaluating | Higher-level thinking | Make judgement of the value of an idea, method, resource, etc.; assess the value of theories, presentations, texts; make choices based on argument; recognize subjectivity | Assess, appraise, critique, judge, weigh, recommend, convince, support, evaluate, rank, decide, select, grade, defend, justify, compare, contrast | Is this a good or bad thing? Can you defend your position on ____? What do you believe and why? What would you have done differently? How effective is ____? What do you think about ____? Is this a credible source? |
Debate an issue from multiple perspectives. State your opinion and evidence for your opinion. Prepare a list of criteria used to judge something and apply it. |
| Creating | Higher-level thinking | Creates something new from the elements of the old information; generalizes from given facts; relates knowledge from different areas | Create, design, compose, develop, plan, propose, integrate, invent, generalize, combine, rewrite | What would happen if ____? How can we improve ____? Can you design a ___ to accomplish ___? How can this idea be combined with that idea to develop a better understanding of ____? How can we solve questions? |
Invent a new machine. Write a story. Compose a new piece of music or work of art. Devise a new way to do something. |
Students who challenge themselves to engage in higher-level thinking such as Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating are using what professors on our campus would commonly characterize as “critical thinking.”