Bloom’s Taxonomy - a critical structure

Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a crucial framework to promote students’ higher order thinking skills. Teachers can utilize the framework’s hierarchies to build performance tasks, learner assessments, and provide reports on student performance. The student’s attention to detail, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving abilities are all improved by using Bloom’s Taxonomy. The Bloom’s Taxonomy is used by numerous educational actors. They consist of educators, managers, organizers, and researchers. The paradigm categorizes thinking based on six levels of cognition (Coffey). It has endured to stay among the most popular models in the field of education. The six cognitive levels utilized in Bloom’s taxonomy include Knowledge, Comprehension, application, Analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Knowledge

Knowledge tests the student’s memory on previously learned concepts, facts, theories, and materials. It includes the ability of the students to define, spell, find, name, match, chose among others. For instance, if it is a story, knowledge tests the ability of learners to recall certain details in the story and match specific statements and the characters in the story that made them. The teacher’s responsibilities at this level are to examine, direct and question the students.

Comprehension

Comprehension is the capacity of the students to understand facts by describing, interpreting and organizing them. It also includes the students’ ability to summarize, compare, contrast, explain and classify specific facts and concepts. The primary role of the instructors during comprehension involves demonstrating and listening to students.

Application

Application involves the ability of the students to use the acquired facts, methods, concepts and knowledge to solve problems. The acquired knowledge is used by the students to plan, develop, and construct things in real situations.

Analysis

Analysis is the ability to conduct a breakdown of knowledge and identify the causes of particular phenomena.

Synthesis

Synthesis is the compiling of knowledge in various ways by integrating different elements and finding solutions.

Examination

This is the final step in the hierarchy. It involves judging information based on the validity of the concepts.

A revised version of the Blooms Taxonomy was released recently; nonetheless, both versions enhance our ability to solve problems and make better plans. The taxonomy is based on the premise that each level relies on the ability of a learner to perform on the preceding level. Over time, the model underwent revisions to rectify some of its shortcomings (Armstrong). The model originally focused on three major domains of learning; psychomotor, cognitive and effective. In 1990, Lorin Anderson, one of the Blooms students revised the model. The newer version of the Blooms models breaks down knowledge into different forms such as factual, procedural, metacognitive and conceptual. The latest version also changes the ranking by moving evaluation a step further and makes creating the highest level in the hierarchy (Coffey). The new version involves the following stages: creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, and remembering in that order. Instructors can use the framework across all grades of learning. They use it to assess the students on various learning outcomes (Writing Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy).

In the application of the older version of Bloom’s taxonomy that was originally published in 1956, scientist discovered some fundamental underlying weaknesses and limitations. Also, fresh educational research uncovered various approaches and theories that assisted students have more control over their learning and cognition. These developments necessitated the revision of the old Bloom’s model. Researchers embarked on revising the original Blooms taxonomy. The main aim of the revision was overcoming fundamental weaknesses and incorporating new developments in education. The paper will compare and contrast the old and the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy.

The older version of Bloom’s Taxonomy was originally published in 1956. The older version had six major levels, including knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and application. Benjamin Bloom in the company of other educational psychologists designed the earlier version. On the other hand, Lorin Anderson, together with other cognitive scientists revised the older taxonomy. Even though the revision appeared minor, it had long-term implications in the education sector. The major distinction between the old and the revised version is the use of different terminologies. The six levels in the original version have different names in the revised form. One noticeable difference is the shift from the use of nouns in the original form to the use of verbs in the revised version. While the original form has six stages: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation. The revised version also has six stages, but changes the naming from nouns to verbs. The six stages include creating, evaluating, analyzing, applying, understanding, remembering. The noun knowledge of the older version is replaced by verb remembering in, the newer version. The highest stakes in the old and revised versions also change. While the highest stage in the older form is evaluation that changes in the revised version to creating. Evaluation in the revised version moves stage further to second. The original version of Bloom’s Taxonomy was designed as tool for learning in lower grades. However, revised version applies across the board from the lower grades, to adult education.

The Bloom’s Taxonomy has helped in imparting a high level of thinking and problem-solving skills of students. The weaknesses and limitations in the earlier version were overcome with a series of revisions. Instructors are now able to apply the revised version in higher levels of learning Curriculum planners, instructors, instructors and administrators use the original and revised model to enhance learning and training in schools.

References

Armstrong, P. (n.d). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Center for Teaching. Retrieved Sept. 19, 2017, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu//cft/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

Coffey, H. (n.d). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Learning NC. Retrieved Sept. 19, 2017, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/4719

Writing Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy. (n.d). The Center for Teaching and Learning: Division of Academic Affairs. Retrieved Sept. 19, 2017, from http://teaching.uncc.edu/best-practice/goals-objectives/writing-objectives