Bloom's Taxonomy.

The taxonomy was created in the 1950s by Benjamin Samuel Bloom, an American educational psychologist. Bloom's Taxonomy is a framework for enhancing student learning and improving the way you teach.

This framework helps us to understand the different levels at which we master knowledge. As a teacher, you can use this information to better plan lessons and measure student skills in the classroom. Bloom's taxonomy can be said to be a constructivist learning theory as we construct our learning.

Three Domains of Bloom's Taxonomy

The first is the cognitive domain, which focuses on acquiring knowledge.

Second, the emotional domain focuses on the individual's feelings, emotions, and attitudes.

Third, the psychomotor domain focuses on manual or physical skills.

Levels of the taxonomy.

The lowest challenge level is at the bottom of the taxonomy, and the most difficult level is at the top.

Lower-order thinking exists at the bottom of the pyramid and involves remembering basic facts.

Higher-order thinking exists near the top of the pyramid and requires you to apply knowledge, such as the ability to hypothesize and create theories. Your students will become more proficient in a given topic as they progress through taxonomy.

The Six Levels Of The Taxonomy

1. Remember

The first level of thinking is to remember. It involves recalling relevant facts.

2. Understand

The second level of thinking is to understand. It involves understanding, not just remembering. You must be able to conclude and summarize information.

3. Apply

The third level of thinking is to apply. You apply learned facts and rules to solve problems in new situations.

4. Analysis

The fourth level of thinking is analysis. The learner breaks down information into its essential parts and interprets how the parts relate to each other and a total structure.

5. Evaluate

The fifth level of thinking is evaluation. It is the evaluation or critique of information based on criteria and standards.

6. Create

The final level of thinking is to create. It's about combining previously learned elements in new ways to create something different.

Bloom's Verbs

At the core of Bloom’s Taxonomy are the action verbs associated with each of the six levels.

How to Use Bloom’s Taxonomy

When you use Bloom’s Taxonomy, the learners have clear expectations known as objectives. The objectives are what the students will learn. The objectives can be skills, abilities, and knowledge. To use Bloom's Taxonomy, you will use verbs to create the learning objectives.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Example and Where To Use

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a teaching and learning tool that can help you shape nearly everything in your classroom. Bloom focuses on student thinking and observable outcomes, useful in formal learning contexts.

How To Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom

Bloom's Taxonomy is a teaching and learning tool that can help you shape nearly everything in your classroom. Bloom focuses on student thinking and observable outcomes, useful in formal learning environments.

Guide student learning.
Develop research-backed teaching plans.
Assess the effectiveness of teaching.

How To Use Bloom's Taxonomy In The Classroom

Bloom's Taxonomy is a learning framework that shows how learners master knowledge and at what level. As a learner, this can help you improve how you structure your research and assess your skills. As a teacher, it can help you better plan lessons and assess students' skills.

Every lesson plan has a learning objective that can be aligned with one of the ideas in either the original or the revised Taxonomy of Learning.

In particular, the Revised Taxonomy can be used to brainstorm and write learning goals — just substitute the verb with another that accurately represents what you’re trying to do in the classroom:

"Remember — Define, describe, identify, name, memorize, outline, trace, and write.
Understand — Classify, compare, defend, discuss, elaborate, estimate, infer, paraphrase
Apply — Adapt, back up, calculate, examine, modify, practice, solve, use
Analyze — Break down, contrast, diagnose, illustrate, prioritize, transform.
Evaluate — Assess, critique, explain, interpret, predict, validate, verify.

Create — Budget, categorize, compose, develop, formulate, integrate, and plan. "(Hill, 2022)

References

Denis G. (2022, November 23). Bloom’s taxonomy is explained with examples. Bloom’s Taxonomy Explained with Example. https://expertprogrammanagement.com/2022/02/blooms-taxonomy/#How_to_Use_Blooms_Taxonomy

Hill, M. (2022, January 11). How to use Bloom’s taxonomy of learning in your classroom. McGraw Hill Canada. https://www.mheducation.ca/blog/how-to-use-blooms-taxonomy-of-learning-in-your-classroom

Mcdaniel, R. (1970, June 10). Bloom’s taxonomy. Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Mcleod, S. (2023, June 15). Constructivism learning theory & philosophy of education. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

Shabatura, J. (2022, July 26). Using Bloom’s taxonomy to write effective learning outcomes. Teaching Innovation and Pedagogical Support. https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/

Soenen, P. (2021, October 25). Bloom’s taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy - Qualified Audit Academy. https://www.audit-academy.be/nl/woordenlijst/bloom-taxonomy

Staff, T. (2023, July 18). 126 Bloom’s taxonomy verbs for digital learning. TeachThought. https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/blooms-taxonomy-verbs-2/

YouTube. (2022). 6 levels to reach Mastery. Where are you in Bloom's Taxonomy? YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYIqikNbqxw&ab_channel=SimplifiedStudents.

YouTube. (2022). Bloom’s Taxonomy Explained with Example. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hE_XjCekfs&ab_channel=EPM.