Writing Objectives II: Bloom’s Taxonomy EDU 300 Newberry College Jennifer Morrison

Writing Objectives II How does Bloom’s Taxonomy work? Why is higher order thinking so important? By the end of class you should be able to answer these questions.

What is Bloom’s Taxonomy? In 1956, Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues published the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, a book that classified educational goals according to the cognitive processes that learners must use in order to attain those goals. It was revised in 2001 by Lorin Anderson and David Krathwohl. SC Academic Standards are based on Bloom’s. Research has shown that greater learning happens when students learn and are assessed at higher levels of learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Domains of Knowledge: Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, Metacognitive Cognitive Processes: Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create Give students copies of Revised Bloom’s Verbs Sheet.

Read “Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy” (Appendix A from SC Academic Standards) Richard Mayer – “Rote Versus Meaningful Learning” Tell students they will be reading about Bloom’s for homework. This system of classification has profoundly affected American education for over 50 years; it is important to know it and be able to use it.

Rote Versus Meaningful Learning Richard Mayer What are the two overall educational goals of the revised Taxonomy? What is the difference between “no learning,” “rote learning,” and “meaningful learning”? Mayer says there are two components of problem solving. What are they? How does the revised Taxonomy view learning? What is the lowest level? Why is it important? What’s the danger? Create a graphic organizer showing the six levels of the revised Taxonomy and how those levels relate to and build on each other. Have students answer questions in pairs. Discuss whole class. Pose question: What cognitive level of the revised Taxonomy is required for #6? (The obvious answer is create, but in actuality, a student would simply need to understand the levels.) Pose question: If #6 were a standard, what objectives would students have to master in order to meet the standard?

Look at the SC Academic Standards for your unit… At what level of the revised Taxonomy are they written? Is this appropriate? Why or why not? What does this mean for you as a curriculum designer? Picture: http://palmettohealing.com/images (see Charleston, SC Palmetto Tree)

Label your proposed unit objectives… A = Remember B = Understand C = Apply D = Analyze E = Evaluate F = Create What percentage do you have of each cognitive level? Is this appropriate? Why or why not? As a designer, what’s a good Bloom’s mix for a set of unit objectives?

What’s Due?