Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy,a hierarchy of different levels of learning, was created by Bloom (1956) and revised by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001). Bloom’s taxonomy includes levels of learning from the lowest to the highest

• Knowledge (memorization and recall of facts),
• Comprehension (understanding of concepts),
• Application (using knowledge and understanding to solve problems and transfer theoretical knowledge to practical situations)
• Analysis (identifying parts of concepts so relationships between are clear)
• Synthesis (putting parts together and creating a new meaning as a whole)
• Evaluation (making a judgment about products or ideas and providing justification)

Bloom’s revised taxonomy added another level of creating a new product or idea.

Instructors use Bloom’s taxonomy to write their objectives and test questions. The question can be reviewed based on the levels of learning they were assessed. Students may have performed poorly on exams if they did not prepare for different levels of test questions. Usually, questions that assess factual knowledge and memorization are easier to answer. A student grasped the understanding of the concept but was not able to apply facts and concepts in questions that use practical situations or case scenarios.

Students can analyze test questions using levels of learning in Bloom’s taxonomy or write their own questions when preparing for exams.

©UAMS Student Success Center/ Vuk, J. M.D., Ph.D. July/2015