A Focus on Higher Level Thinking Skills Bloom’s Taxonomy Jack Truschel East Stroudsburg University Fall 2006

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. CHALLENGES Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Marie Curie

Background In 1956, Benjamin Bloom, a professor at the University of Chicago, shared his famous "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives." Bloom described 3 Domains of Learning Cognitive – how someone processes information Affective – attitude towards the information Psychomotor – demonstrating the information HISTORY – The Original Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom developed the Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives in the 1950s The name “Bloom’s Taxonomy” came from the first editor listed on the book – being Benjamin Bloom. There were actually about 40 people who worked on this. It as become a means of expressing qualitatively different types of intellectual skills and abilities and most recently is has been adapted for classroom use as a planning tool. In a fundamental manner, it provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the more complex levels of thinking.

Higher-Level Thinking Skills Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge Bloom’s (et al) original level of higher thinking included these steps to the domains of learning. Many terms were revised to match what is really taking place in the higher level of thinking. See following slide for explanation.

In the 1990s, Lorin Anderson, who was a former student of Bloom, revisited the taxonomy to what would be termed as more contemporary terminology.

Higher-order thinking Evaluation Synthesis Analysis Application Comprehension Knowledge Bloom’s Taxonomy - Revised Create Higher-order thinking Evaluate Analyze Bloom’s Taxonomy has been revised, based on over 50 years of using Taxonomy for Learning Teaching and Assessing (Bloom’s Taxonomy) The names of the six major categories were changed from noun to verb and the word knowledge was replaced with the word remembering instead. Bloom’s Taxonomy was adapted for classroom use as a planning tool. This model continues to be one of the most universally applied models. This model provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the higher order levels of thinking. Comprehension and synthesis were retitled to understanding and creating respectively, in order to better reflect the nature of the thinking defined in each category. Creating took the place of Synthesis and moved to a more cognitively complex position on the matrix. (Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, pp. 7-8) Apply Understand Remember

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level I – Remember Memorizing of information in a basically word-for-word fashion Reciting definitions of terms Remembering lists of items The basic elements students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it. Knowledge of terminology Knowledge of specific details and elements

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level II – Understand Understanding the meaning and intent of the material Being able to put into one’s own words Rewording a definition Paraphrasing a rule

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level III – Apply Applying knowledge to new situations Applying math principles to the solution of a word problem

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level IV – Analyze Breakdown of knowledge into parts and show relationship among parts Discovering the assumptions underlying a philosophical essay Identifying key points in a seeming logical argument

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level V - Evaluate Bring together parts of knowledge to form a whole; build relationships for new situations Constructing something new by integrating several pieces of information Developing a theory

Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy Level VI – Creating Making judgments on basis of criteria Examining the internal and external validity of an experiment Critiquing a theory

Blooming Questions Questioning should be used purposefully to achieve well-defined goals. Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of thinking organized by level of complexity. It gives learners an opportunity to learn and practice a range of thinking and provides a simple structure for many different kinds of questions and thinking. The taxonomy involves all categories of questions.

Level of Thinking Lower-level questions – questions that require students to answer in the way they learned it. Usually questions at the lower levels are appropriate for Reciting a definition Describing a topic the way that their teacher presented it class Evaluating students’ preparation and comprehension Diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses Reviewing and/or summarizing content

Level of Thinking Higher-level questions – questions that require students to do something new with the information they have learned Usually questions at the higher levels are appropriate for Consists of applying, synthesizing, or evaluating Encouraging students to think more deeply and critically Problem solving Encouraging discussions Stimulating students to seek information on their own

Remember list classify name describe identify locate show outline Recall or recognition of information list name identify show define recognize recall match classify describe locate outline give examples distinguish opinion from fact

Understanding summarize paraphrase explain differentiate interpret The ability to understand, translate, paraphrase, interpret or extrapolate material (Predict outcome and effects) paraphrase differentiate demonstrate visualize restate  rewrite give examples summarize explain interpret describe compare convert distinguish estimate

Apply apply solve classify illustrate modify calculate The capacity to use information and transfer knowledge from one setting to another (Use learned material in a new situation) apply classify modify put into practice demonstrate compute operate solve illustrate calculate interpret manipulate predict show

Analyze contrast compare distinguish categorize outline relate analyze Identifying detail and having the ability to discover and differentiate the component parts of a situation or information contrast compare distinguish  categorize outline relate analyze organize deduce choose diagram discriminate

Top of Bloom’s Taxonomy Higher Order Thinking Analyze | Evaluate | Create Ex: There have been a number of studies that indicate tutoring services assist with retention. What are some of the research questions that can support this hypothesis? What factors can be attributed to retention other than tutoring and do these factors interact in a positive or negative manner? The “higher order of thinking” of Bloom’s Taxonomy may be followed as one researches the affects of tutoring on student retention. The researcher would gather the information that would analyze the questions on the slide.

Evaluate discuss plan compare create construct rearrange compose The ability to combine parts to create the big picture discuss plan compare create construct  rearrange compose organize design hypothesize support write report combine comply develop

Top of Bloom’s Taxonomy Higher Order Thinking Analyze | Evaluate| Create Ex: Evaluation entails recommending the best manner in assisting students to develop better study skills, based upon all available factors related to a student persisting in college, his or her GPA and motivation to do well in school.

Create criticize justify debate support your reason conclude assess The ability to judge the value or use of information using appropriate criteria (Support judgment with reason) criticize justify  debate support your reason conclude assess rate evaluate choose estimate judge defend appraise

Top of Bloom’s Taxonomy Higher Order Thinking Analyze | Evaluate | Create Ex: Answering the aforementioned questions would lead to the review of the currently available research and the preparation of a report on the findings.

Summary He who learns but does not think is lost! To summarize, Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification in which there are six learning tasks that vary in degrees of complexity. Remember: He who learns but does not think is lost! (Chinese Proverb)

References Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives: Complete edition, New York : Longman. Anderson , L.W., & Sosniak, L.A. (Eds.). (1994). Bloom's taxonomy: a forty-year retrospective. Ninety-third yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Pt.2 . , Chicago , IL . , University of Chicago Press.

References Bloom, Benjamin S. & David R. Krathwohl. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals, by a committee of college and university examiners. Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. New York , Longmans. Pohl, M (2000), Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, (pp. 7-8).