How to Teach Bloom's Taxonomy

Popular in the field of education, Bloom's Taxonomy was created by Benjamin Bloom in 1956. One of the key assertions supporting Bloom's educational theories is that learning is a multi-layered process, consisting of more than just information recall. Indeed, the Taxonomy is comprised of 6 categories, which are often represented as tiers on a pyramid. In order to teach these categories, an instructor must learn how they are each used in real world situations.

Things You'll Need

• Overhead Transparencies, or Posterboard Worksheets for Review (optional)

Instructions

1. Present students with a full-color visual representation of the taxonomy. While you will not necessarily need to describe the elements of this graphical representation, presenting this visual aid for students to view will stimulate their interest in learning more about the taxonomy. By allowing students the luxury of being able to refer to this representation as you instruct them, your chances of effectively relaying this material will increase.

2. Engage students in an active practice of the categories of the taxonomy. When students are engaged in an active learning process, they are less prone to later forget what they have learned. Rather than to simply attempt to explain abstract concepts such as the difference between "analysis" & "comprehension", permit students to actively analyze information & to comprehend information and then discuss differences between these two processes.

3. Emphasize to students that each of the categories of the taxonomy complement one another, and can be practiced in unison rather than in isolation. Although the categories of Bloom's Taxonomy represent stages of thought, these stages are not mutually exclusive. Rather, they overlap each other. Just because a student chooses to "apply" information, for example, does not mean that the student cannot also "synthesize" information.

4. Suggest potential modifications for the taxonomy. No educational construct is perfect. Bloom's Taxonomy was not originally intended to be used by a wide audience, and it was recently modified in order to correct certain shortcomings. Should it be modified again? By discussing this issue with your students, you will actually involve them in the process of "Analyzing" information, which itself is one of the categories of the taxonomy.

5. Allow students to become familiar with competing theories. Help students to evaluate the importance of Bloom's Taxonomy by exposing them to a range of other theories. Perhaps they will rate Bloom's Taxonomy as the best, or perhaps as the worst, but when you allow them to express their informed opinions you are actually allowing them to practice the skill of "Evaluating", which like "Analyzing" is also a category of the taxonomy.

Tips & Warnings

• While the precepts of Bloom's Taxonomy can be made complex, they are actually quite simple. Rather than to present its categories as foreign concepts, describe common instances when each of these categories are used in everyday situations. For example, the concept "comprehension" is illustrated whenever someone summarizes the events of a movie to a friend.

• Bloom's Taxonomy was designed in order to describe & facilitate the educational process. Although useful in many organizations or classroom situations, the Taxonomy may not meet the needs of certain schools or educators.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Revised Bloom's Taxonomy
• Learning Domains or Bloom's Taxonomy
• Applying Bloom's Taxonomy