The Importance of Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is extremely important for all educators to know because it is a useful tool in the planning process. It is defined as a set of models that are used to classify learning into different levels of complexity. Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of three domains that reflect the types of learning we all do. Each domain has different levels of learning. They are put in order from the simplest to the most complex. 

The three domains include:

1. The cognitive domain: thinking and experiencing

2. The affective domain: emotion and feeling

3. The psychomotor domain: practical and physical

Bloom's Taxonomy also includes 6 different levels:

1. Creating 

designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making

2. Evaluating

checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing, detecting, monitoring

3. Analyzing

comparing, organizing, deconstructing, attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating 

4. Applying

implementing, carrying out, using, executing 

5. Understanding

interpreting, exemplifying, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining

6. Remembering 

recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding 

Why is it important for teachers to know the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy? 

    It is important for teachers to understand Bloom's Taxonomy because each level is a vital part of learning to achieve deeper, more advanced cognitive skills and abilities. Building upon each level in your lesson plans will guide students to think in "increasingly more sophisticated ways."

After taking the Bloom's Taxonomy quiz, I realized just how important it is to know each level and the verbs associated with them. While I was taking the quiz I was able to use my knowledge of what I learned while researching Bloom's Taxonomy and apply it to each question. In addition, Bloom's Taxonomy can be used in the classroom in a number of different ways. For example, When creating a math lesson plan, it is often necessary to ‘apply’ before introducing new concepts (remember, understand). So in this case, the real-world context comes first and the theory comes second. 

How to apply Bloom's Taxonomy in the classroom?

•     Use the action verbs to inform your learning intentions
•     Use Bloom-style questions to prompt deeper thinking
•     Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to differentiate your lessons