Spanish-American
Institute
Learning Taxonomies and
Learning Outcomes Workshop
June 28, 2008
In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologist who developed a taxonomy (classification) for learning. Bloom developed his taxonomy because he had found that up to then most teachers developed lessons and tested students only at the lowest possible learning level—the recall of information.
Adaptations of Bloom’s taxonomy are now used worldwide to promote teaching and learning at more complex and abstract levels. At the Spanish-American Institute, all curriculum and textbooks aim at increasing students’ critical thinking or higher learning skills.
Bloom’s Six Levels of Learning: Bloom identified six cognitive levels. The levels moved from the lowest, the simple recall of information, through increasingly higher and more complex and abstract mental levels.
The triangle on the left is based on Bloom’s original classification. The one on the right is a more modern adaptation. This is the model most closely reflected in most Spanish-American Institute curriculum and textbooks such as those used in accounting, computer applications, and ESL courses.
Learning Activities and Outcomes for the Six Levels: Verbs used to describe each of the six learning levels reflect the kinds of activities teachers ask students to do and the kind of learning outcomes they expect from them. In educational terms, these are called behavioral objectives. Good teaching, good teaching materials, and good teacher testing aims for the highest intellectual outcomes appropriate to the level and material.
|
Intellectual
Activity Lowest to Highest |
“Teaching”
Verbs For The Activity |
Typical Question
Paths For The
Activity |
|
1. Knowing/Remembering: requires students to remember,
memorize, recall, or recognize something. . |
tell |
Who, what, when, where, how
..? What happened after...? |
|
2. Comprehending/Understanding: requires students
to use information, to describe in other words, to organize and select facts
or options, to retell something, to predict consequences, etc. based on information provided by
others. |
explain distinguish (as in paraphrase) |
Can you write in your own
words...? What differences exist
between...? |
|
3. Applying:
requires students to select, transfer, or use information with a minimum of
direction, to illustrate something with well chosen examples, etc. . |
show |
Do you know another
instance where...? |
|
4. Synthesising/Analysing: requires students to combine
information to produce a new whole;
to find underlying meaning, to find hidden meanings, to predict or infer from
material, etc. |
analyze |
Which events could have
happened...? |
|
5. Synthesizing/Evaluating: requires students to
make value decisions, to express and resolve differences of opinion, to
express new ideas or expression from prior learning, etc. |
create |
Can you design a ... to
...? |
|
6. Evaluating/Creating: requires students to develop and support opinions,
judgments, or decisions based on facts; to make reasoned arguments, to
recognize subjectivity, to critique or assess based on standards and
criteria, etc. |
judge |
Is there a better solution
to... |
Critical Thinking in Institute Courses: Good teaching, good teaching materials, and good teacher testing aim for the highest intellectual outcomes appropriate for the level and material in every course.
We will divide into smaller groups. Group members will discuss and then report back to the entire group in very specific terms about:
1. How their course(s) and teaching material,
especially textbooks, reflect:
q lower order thinking skills at an appropriate level
and
q higher order thinking skills at an appropriate level.
- How their classroom activities support student
learning outcomes of some or all of the six cognitive levels in Bloom’s
taxonomy. Please be specific.
3. How their testing reflects student achievement
of these skills.