How to Incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy Into Lesson Plan Objectives

Educators commonly recognize the cognitive domain of Bloom's Taxonomy as a 6-level pyramid with the most basic objectives listed at the base.

Benjamin Bloom was an American educational psychologist who developed a conceptual outline for student learning objectives. Bloom's Taxonomy was developed in 1956 and is still being used today in elementary, middle and high schools across the nation. The original model was revised in 2001 to incorporate a more thorough understanding of the learning process as observed by the newly acquired focus on actionable verbs within the hierarchy of the six categories. The goal of incorporating Bloom's Taxonomy within lesson plans is to help students see the importance of the "big picture." Therefore, teachers use the cognitive domain of Bloom's Taxonomy to help form questions that teachers can ask students.

Instructions

1. Recall information. On the most basic level, students are asked to define terms and identify keywords.

2. Understand information. When students advance to this level, they are asked to interpret facts and compare and contrast newly learned information.

3. Apply knowledge. At this level, students can apply methods and concepts that they learned to authentic situations.

4. Analyze knowledge. On the fourth level, students are asked to reveal patterns and uncover hidden meanings by differentiating information.

5. Evaluate knowledge. At this level, teachers challenge students to develop high-level critical thinking skills. Students are asked to make choices and provide evidence for those choices.

6. Create a product on the basis of a given criteria. This is the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

References

• Old Dominion University: Bloom's Taxonomy

Resources

• St. Peter's College: Bloom's Taxonomy