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Learners often bring up Bloom’s Taxonomy in our Instructional Design for New Designers or Instructional Design for the Virtual Trainer workshops when we discuss action verbs or how to write objectives. It also comes up in the How Adults Learn workshop when we cover framing questions.
Like the principles of adult learning, Bloom’s Taxonomy is naturally involved in the instructional design process. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a great way to determine how much your learners understand. This blog will illustrate how and when Bloom’s Taxonomy has been, and can be, integrated into course design. But first, let’s look at some background information.
Benjamin Bloom introduced Bloom’s Taxonomy in 1956. The initial focus was primarily for academia, but it now finds a comfortable place in training. Bloom and associates identified three domains of learning:
- Cognitive (knowledge) – mental skills, intellectual capability
- Affective (attitude) – feelings, motivation, behavior
- Psychomotor (skills) – manual or physical skills
These are sometimes identified as “Do-Think-Feel” or KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude).
In this blog, we’ll focus on the cognitive domain and the application of the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. These levels represent a hierarchy of learning that goes from simple (level 1) to complex (level 6). The levels are as follows:
- Knowledge – recall basic information
- Comprehension – confirm understanding
- Application – use or apply knowledge
- Analysis – interpret elements, break information into smaller parts
- Synthesis – create or develop plans, put pieces together to form a new whole
- Evaluation – assess, think critically
Now that we have defined the six levels, let’s look at how they can be applied to instructional design.
Knowledge
This is usually assessed using a non-performance test that checks for knowledge of the information the learner was taught. This is accomplished through quizzes using assorted multiple choice, matching, or true/false questions. You want the learner to define, repeat, recall from memory, list, etc. the information they have learned (e.g., List the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.).
Comprehension
This next level is also a non-performance check for knowledge, but now you want the learner to “put it in their own words” by describing, explaining, discussing, etc. the information they were taught (e.g., Describe the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy in your own words.).
Application
Here, the focus is on performance-based assessment. You have the learner apply, interpret, practice, etc. the information they were taught (e.g., Design a question and answer to present to the group for each of the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy using the assigned content.).
Analysis
For this level, you ask the learner to compare, investigate, solve, examine, explain why, etc. (e.g., Examine the following questions and identify into which level of Bloom’s Taxonomy they can be categorized and why you came to that conclusion.).
Synthesis
Here, you have the learner suppose, create, construct, improve, etc. (e.g., Here’s a sample lesson plan that uses a few levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy to test the learner’s knowledge. The questions are not achieving the results you want. How would you change the questions, or levels of questions, to achieve the desired outcome?).
Evaluation
At this final level, you ask the learner to offer opinions, criticize, judge, recommend, justify, evaluate, or explain which option is better, based on a set of knowledge and criteria (e.g., You have examples of two courses that use the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. First, compare the examples against the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, then compare one example against the other. Determine which one best demonstrates the use of the six levels to test the learner’s knowledge at all six levels. Be prepared to present your decision to the table group.).
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy in instructional design is an excellent way to help gauge the level of knowledge amongst your learners. As you can see, it can easily be integrated into the design process.
What examples can you share of how you’ve used Bloom’s Taxonomy in the design of your courses?
