bloom's taxanomy

Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
(Bloom 1956)

1. Knowledge

· of terminology; specific facts; ways and means of dealing with specifics (conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology); universals and abstractions in a field (principles and generalizations, theories and structures):
Knowledge is (here) defined as the remembering (recalling) of appropriate, previously learned information.

· Remembering: Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.

• defines; describes; enumerates; identifies; labels; lists; matches; names; reads; records; reproduces; selects; states; views; writes;.

2. Comprehension:

· Grasping (understanding) the meaning of informational materials.

· Understanding: Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

• classifies; cites; converts; describes; discusses; estimates; explains; generalizes; gives examples; illustrates; makes sense out of; paraphrases; restates (in own words); summarizes; traces; understands.

3. Application:

· The use of previously learned information in new and concrete situations to solve problems that have single or best answers.

· Applying: Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing.

• acts; administers; applies; articulates; assesses; charts; collects; computes; constructs; contributes; controls; demonstrates; determines; develops; discovers; establishes; extends; implements; includes; informs; instructs; operationalizes; participates; predicts; prepares; preserves; produces; projects; provides; relates; reports; shows; solves; teaches; transfers; uses; utilizes.

4. Analysis:

· The breaking down of informational materials into their component parts, examining (and trying to understand the organizational structure of) such information to develop divergent conclusions by identifying motives or causes, making inferences, and/or finding evidence to support generalizations.

· Analyzing: Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.

• analyzes; breaks down; categorizes; compares; contrasts; correlates; diagrams; differentiates; discriminates; distinguishes; focuses; illustrates; infers; limits; outlines; points out; prioritizes; recognizes; separates; subdivides.

5. Synthesis:

· Creatively or divergently applying prior knowledge and skills to produce a new or original whole.

· Creating: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.

• adapts; anticipates; collaborates; combines; communicates; compiles; composes; creates; designs; develops; devises; expresses; facilitates; formulates; generates; hypothesizes; incorporates; individualizes; initiates; integrates; intervenes; invents; models; modifies; negotiates; plans; progresses; rearranges; reconstructs; reinforces; reorganizes; revises; structures; substitutes; validates.

6. Evaluation:

· Judging the value of material based on personal values/opinions, resulting in an end product, with a given purpose, without real right or wrong answers.

· Evaluating: Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.

• appraises; compares & contrasts; concludes; criticizes; critiques; decides; defends; interprets; judges; justifies; reframes; supports.