Bloom's taxonomy

We discussed Bloom’s taxonomy the other day. It was in relation to differentiated teaching and making exercises match the students level. It was triggered by the podcast XXX

Most teachers will have encountered Blooms taxonomy as part of their curriculum. It is a layered model about the level of understanding a topic

(image from simplypsychology.org)

At the very bottom you have Remember, which is stuff, that you have heard and can repeat, and moving through apply, where you are able to use the knowledge for something, and at the top, you have create, which is about making something new.

The above is the revised model from 2001. The original had the levels knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. I find, that I like the revised version better. It has more understandable words, even if they in essence mean the same.

There are also some accompanying model for psychomotor and affective skill. Same idea only applied at other areas than knowledge.

If you get an exercise, or give one to students, having understood these ideas will give you the ability to make things more difficult (or easier) while staying on topic. Maybe you do something on the understanding level, where you try to explain some topic. If that is too easy, try expanding to how it can be used (apply) in different settings, or try to figure out how we know it, and if the sources are valid and what could be done to improve them (evaluate).

In any case, the general topic is the same, and you don’t loose the social aspect of being in a group that work with the same curriculum.

It also got me thinking about annoying co-workers. You know the kind, that is very good at showing that they know or even understand something by telling you all about it. It usually includes why your idea (or analysis) is bad. I often think, they are insecure and need to keep things at a level where they can follow. I have often been tempted at saying “It is all well and good that you have a good understanding of this, may I suggest we use it for something besides bickering and sabotaging ideas?”

They will most likely never reach the “create” part of Bloom’s. This is in itself ok, and you will not peak at every topic you encounter, but some modesty about your own abilities compared to others is in order before you decide to force everyone to stay at your level.