The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: What is it and why is it important?

1. The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: What is it and why is it important? Lorin W. Anderson Purveyor of Common Sense [andregroup@sc.rr.com]

2. A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHWe don’t see the world as it is; we see the world through the lens through which we look at it.

3. Unfortunately, many people believe that everyone sees the world they way they do. To reinforce this belief they form “tribes” that include those who see things the way they do and exclude those who do not. The proliferation of these tribes has led to a serious problem in education. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AShBoF1FPSE

4. From 1949 until 1956, Benjamin Bloom and a host of educators worked together to develop a common lens that allowed educators to see the world in the same way and provided a common language to talk about problems and ways of solving them. This lens was referred to as a taxonomy … a taxonomy of educational objectives.

5. Bloom had great hopes for the Taxonomy. He believed it “could do much to bring order out of chaos in the field of education.” Specifically, it could provide a conceptual framework around which descriptions of educational programs could be oriented and it could furnish the scheme needed for helping teachers see the varied possibilities of education.

6. But why objectives? “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?" asked Alice. "That depends a great deal on where you want to go to," said the Cat. "I don't much care, where," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. “You’re bound to get somewhere.”

7. Objectives Give Purpose to What We Do!!! • If you play a new board game or a video game, one of the first things you want to know is, “What is the object of the game?” Without an object, people can still shake dice, spin spinners, and move markers, but they don’t know how, when, or why? • Without objectives, much of what happens in schools and classroom is aimless. It should not be surprising that students can tell you what they DID in school, but when asked what they LEARNED in school, their response is most often “Nothing.”

8. Task 1 • Think of a hobby. Examples include collectibles, cross stitch, music, and golf. • Now, suppose you wanted to teach someone something about your hobby. What would it be? That is, what would you want that person to learn? Write it down in this form: “I want the person to learn _______ “.

9. The Common Format of Objectives Subject Verb Object S V O

10. The SUBJECT of the Sentence is the Learner By high school, teachers typically write “The learner should.” In elementary schools, teachers typically write “The learner will” or “TLW.” By college, teachers typically write “The learner might.”

11. Objectives, Standards, and Changes in Format • Standards are simply mandated objectives. That is, they are objectives others think are important whether you do or not. • Often, in statements of standards, the subject is understood (like a command). The statements then begin with the verb (e.g., “Locate continents on a world map).

12. 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master – the words or me. That's all.' Alice was too much puzzled to say anything; so after a minute Humpty Dumpty began again. 'They've a temper, some of them - particularly verbs: they're the proudest.

13. Task 2 • Let’s begin a list of the verbs you’ve included in your objective. • Verb 1 • Verb 2

14. Add Analyze Apply Approximate Build Classify Collect Communicate Compare Compute Connect Consolidate Construct Contrast Convert Create Describe Determine Develop Display Those Pesky Verbs: A Heinz List from Mathematics’ Standards

15. Divide Draw Estimate Examine Explain Extend Evaluate Find Formulate Graph Identify Interpret Investigate Justify Label List Locate Make Model Monitor A Few More Verbs

16. Multiply Order Organize Plot Produce Recognize Reflect Select Show Simplify Solve State Subtract Translate Understand Use Write And they keep on comin’

17. Borrowing from Bloom and his colleagues, the RBT contains six categories of verbs in terms of learning processes • Remember • Understand • Apply • Analyze • Evaluate • Create

18. Task 3 • Look at your verb and see if you can determine into which category it falls. • Again, the categories are: • Remember • Understand • Apply • Analyze • Evaluate • Create

19. Categories and Cognitive Processes • Each of the categories contain two or more specific cognitive processes. • For all six categories, there are a total of 19 cognitive processes. • Let’s look at the categories and cognitive processes more closely.

20. Remember • Retrieve relevant knowledge from long term memory • Recognizing • Recalling

21. Understand • Construct meaning from instructional messages, including oral, written and graphic communication. • Interpreting • Exemplifying • Classifying • Summarizing • Inferring • Comparing • Explaining

22. Apply •  Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation. • Executing • Implementing

23. Analyze • Break material into its constituent parts and determine how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose. • Differentiating • Organizing • Attributing

24. Evaluate • Make judgments based on criteria and standards • Checking • Critiquing

25. Create • Put elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure • Generating • Planning • Producing

26. That takes care of the V of the SVO. So what about the O – the objects of the statements of objectives?

27. Task 4 • Generally, the material included in the object of the sentence (O) describes the content. • Let’s look at some of your objectives and see what content is included. • Example 1 • Example 2

28. When you examine the content • You generally focus on the differences. Different hobbies require different content. Similarly, difference subjects or academic disciplines are built around different content. • As was true of the verbs (cognitive processes) to come up with a taxonomy for the content, we need to establish categories.

29. In order to form categories we need to shift from CONTENT to KNOWLEDGE. While content is subject-specific, certain types of knowledge cut across subjects.

30. What is the major difference between content and knowledge? • Content exists outside the student. A major problem, then, is how to get the content inside the student. When content gets inside the student, it becomes knowledge. This transformation of content to knowledge takes place through the cognitive processes used by the student.

31. There are four major types of knowledge! • Factual • Conceptual • Procedural • Metacognitive

32. Before we consider each in some detail, let’s look at a very familiar example … a recipe.

33. HOT ARTICHOKE DIP (Serves 10 to 14) • 2 14-oz cans artichoke hearts • 16 oz. mayonnaise • 1 c. grated Parmesan cheese • Garlic salt (optional) • ==================================== • Drain artichoke hearts. • Mash artichokes with fork. • Mix with mayonnaise, cheese, and garlic salt. • Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. • Serve with crackers or party rye.

34. Notice that: • artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, cheese and garlic salt (the content of the recipe) appear twice.

35. At the top of the recipe they appear as ingredients. You must have these ingredients before you begin. That’s a fact! • The next time you see them, they are part of a sequence of steps. The sequence of steps is called a procedure and tells you what to do with the ingredients in what order.

36. If you see each of the ingredients as parts of categories or classifications, you are working with conceptual knowledge. Concepts, psychologically speaking, are mental or cognitive categories. Understanding Parmesan cheese conceptually means seeing Parmesan cheese in relation to other types of cheeses. • Finally, metacognitive knowledge is your unique knowledge of the recipe based on your experience. Metacognitive knowledge enables you to decide whether to add the garlic salt or not.

37. Factual Knowledge • The basic elements students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems in it. • Knowledge of terminology • Knowledge of specific details and elements

38. Conceptual Knowledge • The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together. • Knowledge of classifications and categories • Knowledge of principles and generalizations • Knowledge of theories, models and structures

39. Procedural Knowledge • How to do something, methods of inquiry and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques and methods. • Knowledge of subject-specific skills and algorithms • Knowledge of subject-specific techniques and methods • Knowledge of criteria for determining when to use appropriate procedures

40. MetacognitiveKnowledge • Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and knowledge or one’s own cognition. • Strategic knowledge • Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including appropriate contextual and conditional knowledge • Self-knowledge How did I get that answer?

41. Task 5 • What type of knowledge is most appropriate for your objective in light of your content and your verb (cognitive process)?

42. When you combine the cognitive process dimension with the knowledge dimension you get a two-dimensional table that we call the Taxonomy Table.

43. THE TAXONOMY TABLE 1. REMEMBER Recognizing Recalling 2. UNDERSTAND Interpreting Exemplifying Classifying Summarizing Inferring Comparing Explaining 3. APPLY Executing Implementing 4. ANALYZE Differentiating Organizing Attributing 5. EVALUATE Checking Critiquing 6. CREATE Generating Planning Producing A. Factual Knowledge B. Conceptual Knowledge C. Procedural Knowledge D. Metacognitive Knowledge

44. For ease of reference, we use letter-number combinations to refer to cells of the Taxonomy Table.

45. THE TAXONOMY TABLE 1. REMEMBER Recognizing Recalling 2. UNDERSTAND Interpreting Exemplifying Classifying Summarizing Inferring Comparing Explaining 3. APPLY Executing Implementing 4. ANALYZE Differentiating Organizing Attributing 5. EVALUATE Checking Critiquing 6. CREATE Generating Planning Producing A6 A. Factual Knowledge A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 B. Conceptual Knowledge B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 C. Procedural Knowledge C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 D. Metacognitive Knowledge D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6

46. So, how does it work? Consider this objective. The student will learn to apply the reduce-reuse-recycle approach to conservation.

47. The student will learn to apply the reduce-reuse-recycle approach to conservation. OBJECT the reduce-reuse-recycle approach to conservation. VERB apply This objective would be placed in cell C3.

48. Task 6 • Into which cell of the Taxonomy Table would your object fit and why?

49. So let us return to the two questions with which we began this slide show What is the Revised Blooms’ Taxonomy? Why is it important?

50. What is the RBT? • The RBT is a common lens that allows educators to work together to solve problems and make informed decisions. • The RBT is a conceptual framework that enables educators to move beyond what is likely to what is possible.