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Understanding Bloom Reading and Writing

Bloom's Taxonomy is a model that categorizes educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity, from simple recall or recognition of material to more complex and abstract levels of understanding, application, analysis, evaluation and creation. The original taxonomy was developed in the 1950s by Benjamin Bloom but was later revised in 2001. It provides a framework for instructors to design assignments and assessments targeting different types of learning, and for students to understand the cognitive levels and skills professors expect them to demonstrate.

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25 views8 pages

Understanding Bloom Reading and Writing

Bloom's Taxonomy is a model that categorizes educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity, from simple recall or recognition of material to more complex and abstract levels of understanding, application, analysis, evaluation and creation. The original taxonomy was developed in the 1950s by Benjamin Bloom but was later revised in 2001. It provides a framework for instructors to design assignments and assessments targeting different types of learning, and for students to understand the cognitive levels and skills professors expect them to demonstrate.

Uploaded by

Nisreen Omar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Understanding Bloom’s

Taxonomy
Educators often use a model of learning called “Bloom’s Taxonomy”.
This taxonomy divides learning into categories that instructors can use to
specify the learning that they wish to see in their students—and to build
assignments and assessments that target those types of learning.

As a student, you can use this model as a way to think more deeply about
what you are trying to accomplish when you do an assignment and to
understand better the kinds of learning that your professors are asking you to
do, even if your professor isn’t using this model intentionally.
A Brief History of Bloom’s Taxonomy
This model was originally developed in the 1950s and 60s by a group of
researchers led by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom—a model that
became known as “Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Bloom’s work was revised in 2001 by
another group of researchers led by Lorin W. Anderson, a former student of
Bloom’s, and David R. Krathwohl. To distinguish between the two, writers
sometimes add the word “revised,” but most people just call it “Bloom’s
Taxonomy,” no matter which version they are using.

Let’s take a look at one depiction of this model:


A Model of Learning Objectives–based on A Taxonomy for Learning, Teachi
ng, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objecti
ves by Rex Heer, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Iowa State
University is licensed und
I like this model because it incorporates examples of tasks that a professor
might ask for, something we will explore in more depth in most of the rest of
this section. Before we get into detail, though, take a look at how the model
works.

There are four types of knowledge in the revised version, and they move
along a continuum from concrete factual knowledge through conceptual and
procedural knowledges to metacognition, which is much more abstract than
the other types. Then, there are six cognitive processes, listed as verbs:
remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create.

These are depicted in this figure as a grid, which emphasizes how these
dimensions intersect. Notice how the stacks get higher as you move from the
factual/remember grid block to the metacognition/create block. This implies
that these tasks become more complex as you move “up” the axes. However,
as we’ll see, this isn’t always true.

First, let’s look at each of the dimensions.

The Knowledge Dimension


The knowledge dimension lays out the types of knowledge that professors
expect students to acquire.

Factual knowledge includes terms, locations, and other listable knowledge.


This kind of knowledge often serves as a base for more advanced knowledge.

Conceptual knowledge includes ways of organizing information and ideas,


including knowledge of theories and principles. This type of knowledge helps
you structure factual knowledge, as well as understand the relationships
among information and ideas.

Procedural knowledge includes knowledge of techniques and methods, as


well as when to use those techniques. This type of knowledge tends to be
subject-specific, so, for example, different majors will use different procedures
for identifying and solving problems.
Metacognitive knowledge is sometimes described as “thinking about
thinking.” This kind of knowledge involves your ability to take a step back and
understand how you think and learn, which is why it’s considered abstract
knowledge. You will often be asked to do reflective work in college, and every
time you are explaining how you know what you know, you’re practicing
metacognition.

You can think about the knowledge dimension as the type of information or
ideas that you are supposed to demonstrate and/or work with when you get to
the cognitive processes dimension.

The Cognitive Processes Dimension


Notice that the cognitive processes are labeled with verbs (e.g., apply,
evaluate). These words indicate action, something you are doing.

If you search online, you will often see Bloom’s Taxonomy presented as a
pyramid, like this:
“Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved
July 9, 2022, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-
taxonomy/. Licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license.

This version of the model focuses on the cognitive processes and ignores the
knowledge dimension, but it’s helpful here.

Remembering involves recalling information and ideas. This kind of thinking


regularly serves as base for the work you are asked to do in college, but it is
rarely an endpoint—and almost never an endpoint in writing assignments.

Understanding asks you to explain information or ideas. Again, this type of


thinking often serves as a base for college-level work, but you will see this a
bit more often in writing assignments than remembering; frequently, it is the
first part of a two-part question (e.g., explain Bloom’s taxonomy and then use
it to develop a sample writing assignment).
Applying asks you to take information and ideas from one context and use
them in a different context, a somewhat more complex cognitive task than the
first two. This kind of cognitive task often takes the form of a writing
assignment because instructors are looking for explanations along the way
(e.g., describe the learning objectives for this course using Bloom’s
taxonomy).

Analyzing asks you to take something apart as a way of understanding it.


Analyzing involves showing how your object of study works or how its parts
are related or how it is similar to or different from something else. As with
applying, analyzing is often done in writing assignments because instructors
are looking for explanation (e.g., explain the differences between the original
version of Bloom’s taxonomy and the revised version).

Evaluating asks you to make a judgment based on some kind of criteria.


Because you have to explain why you believe something is good/bad or
better/worse, evaluating is often done in writing (e.g., explain which version of
Bloom’s taxonomy is more effective and why).

Creating asks you to make something new. What you make and whether you
create it in writing depends heavily on your discipline. Painting a self-portrait,
for example, would not be done in writing, though a professor might ask you to
write about your experiences. While designing a biology experiment would be
done with some writing, you’d focus more on the hypothesis, data gathering
methods, and calculations—though, you would almost certainly be expected
to write up the results. However, some creating is done entirely in writing (e.g.,
create a handout explaining Bloom’s taxonomy to other education students).

I don’t favor the pyramid because it implies that “remember” is the least
important and “create” is the most, but the last three especially are all fairly
complex intellectual tasks. To get at this idea, some renditions use an inverted
pyramid with analyzing, evaluating, and creating on an equal footing at the
top.
© Rawia Inaim. “Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Retrieved July 12, 2022, from
https://opentextbc.ca/studentsuccess/chapter/effective-questions/. Licensed
under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license.
LOTS and HOTS
Many educational professionals call remembering, understanding, and
applying “lower order thinking skills” (sometimes abbreviated “lots”) and
analyzing, evaluating, and creating “higher order thinking skills” (“hots”). The
difference is primarily the complexity of the intellectual work required to do
one or the other.

In writing assignments and other complex tasks, the “hots” often build on the
“lots” so ultimately multiple levels appear in any given work product.

In addition to the depictions I’ve included here, you can find Bloom’s
taxonomy in many forms: a chart, a circle, even a rose! If the representations
I’ve included here don’t work for you, do a quick search online.

Embrace the Power of “And”


These groupings and categorizations are not hard and fast. When you think
about the assignments your professor gives you, don’t worry about trying to
force that assignment into one category or another. Embrace the power of
“and.” Writing is a complex task, so your professor almost certainly is asking
you to do more than one kind of intellectual work.
Taxonomies Break Down

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