Imagine a seed, tucked into the soil, ready to start its growth. It will go through stages, transforming from a tiny seed into a sprouting plant, and eventually into a blooming flower.
This process is not unlike the journey your mind embarks on when learning something new. That’s where Bloom’s Taxonomy comes in – a framework for understanding the stages of learning.
Higher-order thinking refers to the top levels of cognitive thinking, as laid out in the Bloom’s Taxonomy model. When we use higher-order thinking, we push beyond basic memorization and recall to analyze and synthesize information.
These are the skills that help us evaluate information and think critically. We also use these skills to develop new ideas and concepts, building on previous knowledge to create something entirely new.
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification of the different outcomes and skills that educators set for their students (learning outcomes). The taxonomy was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. The terminology has been recently updated to include the following six levels of learning.
It means that the students can recover, remember and know applicable knowledge from their memory. Also, it helps to recover information from long-term memory. Suitable learning verbs for this level are: choose, define, find, how, tag, list, match, quote, sketch, tell, select, show, what, when, where, which, etc.
Examples: List prime and composite number, to recall dates of important events, and remember the formula, etc.
Understand
Understand reveal understanding through one or more outlines of explanation. Also, it helps in organize, compare, translate, interpret and give a description.
Examples: classify a disease, compare two related processes, summarize features of a product, etc.
Apply
Apply means that students use their knowledge in new conditions to gain results. In addition, it also performs a method by a given method.
Examples: make different between squares and triangles, using trigonometry formula to solve the problem, do pH test of different soap bars, etc.
Analyze
To analyze means to break materials into its regular elements. Furthermore, it establishes how parts relate to other parts. It also performs the process in a given situation.
Examples: To analyze the connection between flora and fauna, select the fullest list of actions, find the difference between cultures, etc.
Evaluate
Evaluate means to judge on the basis of principles and norms. It also validates a course of action taken by students or teachers. Furthermore, it identifies the success of the process.
Examples: decide whether scientist’s end result matches with experimental data, Judge the efficiency of a technique or method, verify the progress of someone, etc.
Create
It means to put elements together to form a new logical or practical entity. Also, it rearranges elements to form a new model or structure.
Examples: on the basis of criteria develop a hypothesis, make a new course outline for students, develop a new formula, etc.
Bloom’s Taxonomy, also known as The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, provides a roadmap for the journey of learning, outlining the steps from basic knowledge to complex understanding. The aim is to promote higher forms of thinking in education, moving beyond rote memorization to foster critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Bloom’s Taxonomy has been widely embraced in education and training contexts around the globe, and it remains one of the most well-known and frequently used educational frameworks. In essence, it provides a blueprint for learning, offering a structured approach to the development of educational programs and lesson plans, and a systematic method for assessing learners’ understanding.