Aman dreams of joining the Indian Administrative Services. To prepare for the UPSC examinations for civil services, he enrolls in an expensive coaching center which has daily classes and a rigorous syllabus. But three months into the classes, he realizes he can’t keep up. He has no clear picture of what targets he needs to achieve in each subject and how the classes can help him ace the competitive exams. Puzzled, Aman asks one of his teachers for guidance, who introduces Aman to Bloom’s taxonomy.
With the help of Bloom’s taxonomy, Aman is able to figure out exactly what objectives and outcomes he needs from the coaching classes, which sets him up perfectly to achieve a high score in the exams.
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What Is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
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Types of Knowledge Found In The Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
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What Are The Six Levels Of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
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Experience A New Way Of Learning
What Is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom and his group of collaborators published a book called Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. This book transformed the process of teaching and learning by introducing Bloom’s taxonomy, which is a comprehensive framework of categorizing educational goals.
Bloom’s taxonomy is divided into three domains—cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Out of these, the cognitive domain is usually considered the most important and is often referred to as Bloom’s taxonomy by itself. Each of these domains has multiple levels that need to be cleared in order to progress with the learning process. There are six levels in the cognitive model, which have come to be known as the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
Types of Knowledge Found In The Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy
Before identifying the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, it’s worthwhile to understand the different types of knowledge that Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning provide. There are four knowledge types associated with Bloom’s levels of learning. Let’s take a look at them:
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Factual Knowledge:
Concerned with demonstrating knowledge of particular details, elements and terminology
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Conceptual Knowledge:
Concerned with demonstrating knowledge of a range of categories, classifications, models and theories
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Procedural Knowledge:
Concerned with demonstrating knowledge of specific techniques and skills that can be practically applied
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Metacognitive Knowledge:
Concerned with demonstrating self-knowledge and contextual information in relation to cognitive tasks
It’s important to note that not all these types of knowledge are found in every stage of Bloom’s level. Instead, these types are distributed across the different levels in Bloom’s taxonomy.
What Are The Six Levels Of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
The levels of Bloom’s taxonomy are what lend the model its structure and setup. These levels in Bloom’s taxonomy make it simple for learning to be measured in terms of gradual progression. Here’s an overview of the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy:
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Knowledge
This initial level is mostly about recollecting basic facts, methods and techniques that learners are already aware of as part of their prior memory. At the same time, this level also encourages acquiring and arranging new information. For example, remembering the names of different characters and settings in a novel.
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Comprehension
The second level is about understanding ideas and processing the knowledge gained at the first level to make complete sense of it. For example, comprehending how characters are behaving in a novel in terms of their agendas and motivations.
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Application
This level is concerned with using the knowledge and application gained in the previous two levels and applying it to specific contexts and situations. For example, using one’s knowledge and understanding of a novel to apply the themes of the novel to other novels or even to real life.
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Analysis
At this level, learners are supposed to establish the relationship between major concepts and ideas and use those connections to go into the depths of a range of topics. For example, conducting a thorough character analysis of the protagonists of a novel.
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Synthesis
This level requires learners to combine or blend different ideas and concepts to come up with original thoughts and observations. For example, taking inspiration from a couple of characters in the novel to create a rough character outline of a fresh character that could be inserted into the plot.
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Evaluation
In the original Bloom’s model, evaluation was the final level and marked the highest level of cognition for learners. This involved making judgments about the values and methods involved in the learning process and was often seen to be self-reflexive. (Clonazepam)
In 2001, when Bloom’s original taxonomy was revised, two significant changes were made with respect to the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Firstly, each and every one of Bloom’s levels of learning was changed from a noun to a verb. As a result, the revised version had the following levels of Bloom’s taxonomy:
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Remember
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Understand
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Apply
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Analyze
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Evaluate
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Create
The second change concerning Bloom’s level involved replacing the level of “Synthesis” with a new level called “Create” that would succeed “Evaluate”. This change was introduced to Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning to give more importance to the complex process of creativity, which was seen to be the highest level any learner can aspire to.
Experience A New Way Of Learning
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Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics such as The Three Domains Of Bloom’s Taxonomy, What Is Authentic Assessment and Types Of Student-Centric Teaching Methods that will help organizations and institutions tap into people's potential.