What is Bloom’s Taxonomy? An Essential Guide for Teachers

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a group of three hierarchical models of classification that structures learning objectives into varying degrees of intricacy. It covers objectives in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, ranging from basic knowledge and understanding to advanced evaluation and creation. The taxonomy was originally published in 1956 by a committee of educators chaired by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago, after whom it is named.

After the cognitive domain, whose applications are predominantly relevant in a teaching-learning environment was devised, psychologists created further taxonomies to explain affective and psychomotor learning. To take into account and accurately represent the myriad active processes involved in learning, the initial taxonomy was improved and updated in 2001.

Let us take a closer look at the cognitive domain of Bloom’s taxonomy that breaks up learning objectives into six levels as listed below.

These levels can be used to structure learning objectives while creating curriculum, lesson plans or assessments.

• Remembering

Retrieving, recognising and recalling significant knowledge from long‐term memory. This includes the knowledge of terminology, specific facts, conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories, principles and generalisations and theories and structures.

Example: What is a fruit?

• Understanding

Construction of meaning from verbal, written and graphic messages through interpretation, exemplification, classification, summarisation, observation, comparison and explanation.

Example: What are the defining characteristics of a fruit?

• Applying

Carrying out or using a methodology for executing or carrying out a task.

Example: Are fruits edible?

• Analysing

The process of breaking down ideas into their constituting elements, deciding how these elements exist in relation to one another and to an overarching design or purpose by way of differentiation, organisation and attribution.

Example: What are the main differences between berries and melons?

• Evaluating

Make an assessment formed on precedents and standards by checking and criticism.

Example: Are fruits healthy?

• Creating

According to the University of Arkansas, this process involves putting elements together to form a coherent or a functional whole; reorganising elements into a new pattern or structure through generation, planning or production.

Example: How to make a healthy fruit juice recipe?

The taxonomy can also be used across the different levels of education (pre-primary, K-12 and higher education) and in all content areas. The structure provided by the taxonomy not only helps teachers plan and deliver instruction with appropriate activities and assessments but also ensures that all aspects of the teaching-learning process are aligned with the learning objectives.

This is precisely why every question among the 5,40,000+ questions from the Next Learning Platform library is tagged according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. This helps teachers include questions of all complexities in an assessment to test the knowledge of a student. The reports and analytics generated for each student takes into account their conceptual understanding and provide personalised remedial action to boost their academic performance. Learn more about the Next Learning Platform here.