In 1956 Benjamin Bloom and some fellow researchers published a taxonomy of educational objectives that has been extremely influential in the research and practice of education ever since.
- A taxonomy is a system of classification. Bloom and his colleagues categorized objectives from simple to complex, or from factual to conceptual.
- These key elements are commonly known as Bloom’s taxonomy.
This taxonomy defines levels of objectives in 3 domains:
- Cognitive (knowledge based) – relating to intellectual capability i.e. knowledge or ‘think’
- Affective (emotive based) – relating to feelings, attitudes, values and behaviours
- Psychomotor (action based) – relating to physical coordination and performance of physical skills
The original Bloom’s Taxonomy contained six developmental categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
A revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy was published by Anderson et al. in 2001. Three most prominent changes are:
- changing the names in the six categories from noun to verb forms
- rearranging them as shown in the chart below
- creating processes and levels of knowledge matrix
Bloom’s taxonomyIt is hierarchical. Higher level learning is reliant on knowledge and skills attained at lower levels.
As per revised version, the 6 levels within the Cognitive domain are:
1. Remembering: To recall, recognise, or identify concepts
2. Understanding: To comprehend meaning, explain data in own words
3. Applying: Use or apply knowledge, in practice or real life situations
4. Analysing: Interpret elements, structure relationships between individual components
5. Evaluation: Assess effectiveness of whole concepts in relation to other variables
6. Creation: Display creative thinking, develop new concepts or approaches
The 5 levels within the Affective domain are:
1. Receiving: Open to experience or idea, willing to hear
2. Responding: Get involved in or participate actively
3. Valuing: Attach values and express personal opinions
4. Organising: Reconcile disparate elements or conflicts, develop value system
5. Internalising: Adopt belief system or philosophy
The 5 levels within the Psychomotor domain are:
1. Imitation: Copy the actions of another, to observe and replicate
2. Manipulation: Reproduce activity from instruction or memory
3. Precision: Demonstrate activity reliably, to a high quality, and independently
4. Articulation: Integrate and adapt expertise to fulfill a non-standard objective
5. Naturalisation: Automated, unconscious mastery of activity at a strategic level
In summary, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a universally effective classification strategy for educators, useful as a guide in creating educational / training content, impart learning with clear objectives, and assess learners on the learning outcomes.
Almost every CTET and State TET ( UPTET, HTET etc) question paper has questions from this topic.
Previous Year Questions:
| Question #1 | Following is a problem from textbook of Class III“Which mathematical operation will be used to solve the following problem? A milkmansold 1410 L of milk in 10 days. How many litres of milk did he sell in a day?” Whichcompetence of Bloom’s cognitive domain is referred in the above question? [Mathematics] [CTET-2013-07] |
|---|---|
| Options | A) Synthesis B) Knowledge C) Comprehension D) Analysis correct answer |
| Question #2 | Which one of the following represents the domain ‘evaluating’ in the Bloom’s revised taxonomy? [Child Development and Pedagogy] [CTET-2014-02] |
| Options | A) Creating a graph or chart using the data B) Judging the logical consistency of a solution correct answer C) Evaluating the pertinence of the data provided D) Formulating a new way for categorizing objects |
| Question #3 | According to Bloom’s revised taxonomy, the cognitive objective that can be achieved through the following task“Prepare a PowerPoint presentation on contribution of Indian mathematicians.” is [Mathematics] [CTET-2014-02] |
| Options | A) remembering B) understanding C) analyzing D) creating correct answer |
| Question #4 | Bloom’s taxonomy is a hierarchical organisation of ____ , [Child Development and Pedagogy] [CTET-2013-07] |
| Options | A) achievement goals B) curricular declarations C) reading skills D) cognitive objectives correct answer |
| Question #5 | Following is a problem from text-book of class VI:“Express the following statement through linear expression : Neha has 7 more toffees than Megha. If Megha has x toffees, how many toffees does Neha have ?” Which competence of Bloom’s cognitive domain is referred in the above question? [Mathematics] [CTET-2013-07] |
| Options | A) Knowledge B) Comprehension correct answer C) Analysis D) Synthesis |