In education, understanding how students learn is as crucial as what they learn. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy offers a powerful framework for educators to categorize and understand different Levels Of Learning, ensuring that teaching and assessment methods appropriately challenge students’ cognitive skills. This taxonomy provides a hierarchy of cognitive processes, moving from basic recall to complex creative thinking, and is instrumental in designing effective learning outcomes and assessments.
The Levels of Learning in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is structured into six main cognitive levels of learning, each building upon the previous one. These levels are essential for educators to consider when planning lessons, designing assessments, and ensuring comprehensive student development.
Remember
At the foundational level is Remembering. This level of learning involves the most basic cognitive processes: retrieving, recalling, and recognizing information from long-term memory. It’s about students’ ability to access knowledge they’ve previously encountered. Activities at this level might include memorizing facts, dates, terms, or formulas.
Appropriate verbs for learning outcomes at the “Remember” level include: cite, define, describe, find, identify, label, list, locate, match, name, note, outline, quote, recall, recognize, record, relate, report, reproduce, retrieve, select, show, state, tabulate, and tell.
For example, in a history class, a student might be asked to list the causes of World War I or identify key figures of the Renaissance. In science, they might define the parts of a cell or label the stages of mitosis.
Understand
Moving beyond simple recall, the Understanding level of learning requires students to demonstrate comprehension. This means they can explain ideas or concepts, interpret information, and grasp the meaning of what they have learned. Understanding goes beyond mere memorization and indicates a deeper cognitive engagement.
Verbs suitable for “Understand” level outcomes are: abstract, arrange, articulate, associate, categorize, clarify, classify, compare, compute, conclude, confirm, contrast, convert, defend, diagram, differentiate, discuss, distinguish, estimate, exemplify, explain, extend, extrapolate, generalize, give examples of, illustrate, infer, interpret, match, outline, paraphrase, predict, rearrange, reorder, rephrase, represent, restate, summarize, transform, and translate.
An example of understanding could be a student comparing the political systems of two countries, explaining the water cycle in their own words, or summarizing the plot of a novel.
Apply
The Apply level of learning involves using learned information or skills in new and concrete situations. This demonstrates that students can not only understand but also utilize knowledge effectively. Application requires procedural knowledge and the ability to transfer learning to different contexts.
Effective verbs for “Apply” level learning outcomes include: apply, calculate, carry out, change, choose, classify, complete, compute, demonstrate, discover, dramatize, employ, examine, execute, experiment, generalize, illustrate, implement, infer, interpret, manipulate, modify, operate, organize, outline, predict, relate, solve, transfer, translate, and use.
For instance, in mathematics, students apply formulas to solve problems. In a practical science lab, they might carry out an experiment using learned procedures. In language arts, they could apply grammatical rules to edit a piece of writing.
Analyze
The Analyze level of learning requires students to break down material into its constituent parts, understand the relationships between these parts, and see how they relate to an overall structure or purpose. Analysis involves critical thinking and the ability to identify patterns, connections, and underlying structures.
Verbs that align with the “Analyze” level are: analyze, appraise, arrange, break down, categorize, classify, compare, connect, contrast, deconstruct, detect, determine, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, divide, examine, explain, infer, integrate, inventory, order, organize, relate, separate, structure, and survey.
Examples of analysis include students analyzing the causes of a historical event, comparing and contrasting different scientific theories, or deconstructing the arguments in a persuasive essay.
Evaluate
At the Evaluate level of learning, students make judgments based on criteria and standards. This involves critical evaluation of information, arguments, or methods, leading to informed decisions or critiques. Evaluation requires students to assess the validity, reliability, and quality of information.
Appropriate verbs for “Evaluate” level outcomes include: appraise, argue, assess, compare, conclude, consider, contrast, convince, criticize, critique, decide, defend, determine, discriminate, evaluate, explain, grade, interpret, judge, justify, measure, rank, rate, recommend, review, score, select, standardize, support, test, and validate.
Examples of evaluation tasks include students critiquing a research study, assessing the effectiveness of a solution, defending a position in a debate, or judging the quality of a piece of art.
Create
The highest level of learning in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is Creating. This involves putting elements together to form a new coherent or functional whole, reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure. Creation is about originality and the generation of new ideas, products, or perspectives.
Verbs associated with the “Create” level are: adapt, arrange, assemble, build, change, choose, combine, compile, compose, construct, create, design, develop, devise, formulate, generate, hypothesize, imagine, integrate, invent, make, manage, modify, organize, perform, plan, prepare, produce, propose, rearrange, reconstruct, reorganize, revise, rewrite, set up, solve, specify, synthesize, and write.
Examples of creation tasks are students designing a new experiment, writing an original story, composing a piece of music, developing a business plan, or formulating a new theory.
By understanding and applying these levels of learning, educators can create more targeted and effective learning experiences. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy provides a valuable tool for ensuring that educational activities move beyond rote memorization to foster deeper cognitive engagement and the development of higher-order thinking skills in students.
Source: Anderson, Lorin W., and David R. Krathwohl, eds. 2001. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
