Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives is a framework that was first introduced in 1956 by an educational psychologist named Benjamin Bloom, along with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl. The taxonomy was developed as a means of categorizing educational goals and objectives in order to better understand and facilitate learning and assessment. The taxonomy is traditionally presented as a hierarchical model of cognitive skills that can be used by educators to design curriculum and by students to approach learning in a structured way.
The original Bloom’s Taxonomy is divided into six major cognitive levels, arranged from the simplest to the most complex: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The lowest level, Knowledge, involves the recall of facts, concepts, and information. Comprehension is the understanding of the meaning and translation of what has been learned. Application refers to using the acquired knowledge in new and concrete situations. Analysis involves breaking down information into its components to see how they relate to one another. Synthesis is about combining parts to form a new whole, and Evaluation is the ability to make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
In 2001, a revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy was published, spearheaded by one of Bloom’s former students, Lorin Anderson, and Bloom’s colleague, David Krathwohl. This updated version introduced a number of significant changes. The categories were changed from nouns to verbs to reflect thinking as a process: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. ‘Creating’ replaced ‘Synthesis’ as the highest level, emphasizing the generation of new patterns or structures. Furthermore, the taxonomy was restructured into a two-dimensional framework: the cognitive process dimension (as mentioned above) and the knowledge dimension, which includes Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, and Metacognitive knowledge. This revision aimed to better reflect the dynamic nature of thinking and the complexity of the cognitive processes involved in learning.
Bloom’s Taxonomy serves as a valuable tool in education for developing learning objectives, designing curriculum, and assessing student performance. It encourages educators to focus on higher-order thinking skills rather than just memorization, and it promotes active learning by guiding students through progressively challenging tasks. By offering a structured approach to conceptualizing the learning process, Bloom’s Taxonomy continues to influence educational practices and provides a common language for teachers to discuss student learning and achievement.
Mgr. Pavel Bartoš, LL.M., DBA (Evropská akademie vzdělávání / European Academy of education)
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