BLOOM’

STAXONOMYANDLEARNI
NGOUTCOMES

I
ntr
oduct
ion
I
nor derf oryoutobeanef fect
iveteacherofComput erStudi
es,youneed
toappr oachyourlessoninawayt hatpromoteshigherformsoft hi
nking
i
nyourl earner
s.Youcanachievethisbyusingspecif
iclearni
ngoutcomes
i
nyourl essonsthatpromotesthinkingf r
om l
ow levelt ohigherlevel.
Therefore,thisuni
twil
lhelpyouunder standwhatlearni
ngout comesar e,
thei
rroleandhowt owri
tethem.

OUTCOMES

Uponcompl
eti
onoft
hisuni
t,youshoul
d:

 St
atethedomai nsoflearning
 Defi
nelearni
ngoutcomes
 St
atethreetypesofl
ear ningoutcomes
 Descri
becomponent sofl ear
ningoutcomes
 Demonstrateunder
standingoft herol
eoflear
ningout
comes
 St
atethelimit
ati
onsofl earni
ngoutcomes

TERMI
NOLOGI
ES

Bloom’ staxonomy:Isasetofthreehi erarchi

calmodelsusedt oclassi
fy
educationallear
ningoutcomesi
ntolevelsofcompl exi
tyandspecif
icit
y.
Learningout comes:Arestat
ementsofwhatal ear
nerisexpect
edtoknow,
understandand/ orbeabletodemonst rateaft
ercompl et
ionofapr ocess
oflear
ni ng.
Bl
oom’
sTaxonomy
Bloom'staxonomyi sasetoft hreehierarchi
calmodelsusedtocl assify
educati
onallearningout comesintolevelsofcompl exi
tyandspecificit
y.
Thet hr
eemodel scovert hel
ear
ningout comesi ncogni
ti
ve,af
fect
iveand
psychomotordomai ns.Thecogni t
ivedomai nlisthasbeenthepr imar y
focusofmostt radi
tionaleducati
onandi sfrequent
lyusedtostruct ure
curri
cul
um l ear
ning out comes,assessment s and act
ivi
ti
es.Itassi sts
t
eachersindesigni
ngperfor
mancet asks,
craft
ingquesti
onsf
orconf
err
ing
wit
hlearner
s,andprovi
dingfeedbackonlearnerwork.

The models wer e named after Benjamin Bloom,who chai

red the
commi t
teeofeducatorsthatdevi
sedt hetaxonomywhoalsoeditedthe
fi
rstvol
umeoft hestandardtext
,TaxonomyofEducat i
onalObj
ectives:
‘
TheClassif
icat
ionofEducati
onalGoals’
.

TheThreeDomai
nsofLear
ning(
Cogni
ti
ve,
Psychomot
orand
Aff
ect
ive)

Domai ns may be t houghtofas cat egori

es.I nstructi
onaldesi gners,
trai
ners,and educatorsof ten ref
ert otheset hreecat egoriesasKSA
(Knowl edge [
cognit
ive]whi ch has to do wi t
h ment alskil
ls,At t
it
udes
[
af f
ective]deal
swi thgrowt hi nfeel
ingsoremot ionalar eas)andSki ll
s
[
psychomot or
]dealswi thmanualorphysi calskill
s.Thi st axonomyof
l
earning behaviors may be t houghtofas “ t
he goal s ofthe learni
ng
process.”Thati s,aftera l earni
ng episode,t he learnershoul d have
acquiredanewski l
l,knowledge,and/oratti
tude.

Cogni
ti
veDomai
n

Bloom identi
fi
edsixl
evel
swithi
nthecogni
ti
vedomai n,from thesi mple
recallorrecogni
ti
onoffact
s,asthelowestlevel
,throughincreasingly
mor e complexandabst r
act
ment al l
evels,tot he highest
order whichisclassifi
edas
eval
uation. Listed
below are a descr i
pti
on of
the si x l
evels and t he ver b
examples t
hat
repr
esent i nt
ell
ectual
activi
ty.
 Knowl edge is defined as remember ing of pr
eviousl
yl earned
mater i
al.Thismayi nvolvether ecallofawi derangeofmat eri
al,
from specifi
cfactst ocompletet heori
es,butal
lthatisr equiredis
thebr ingi
ng to mind oft heappr opri
at ei
nfor
mation.Knowl edge
representsthelowestl eveloflearningoutcomesi nt hecogni ti
ve
domai n.

Verbs:arr
ange,define,dupli
cate,l
abel
,li
st,memor
ize,name,or
der
,
recogni
ze,rel
ate,
recall
,repeat
,repr
oduce,stat
e.

 Compr ehensionisdef i
nedast heabi li
tyt ograspt hemeaningof
materi
al.Thismaybeshownbyt ranslatingmat er
ialfr
om onef orm
toanother( wordstonumbers),byi nterpreti
ngmat eri
al(
explaini
ng
or summar i
zing)
,and by est imating f uturetrends (
predicti
ng
consequencesoref fects)
.Thesel earningout comesgoonest ep
beyond t he si
mpler ememberi
ng ofmat er
ial
,and repr
esentt he
l
owestl evelofunder
standi
ng.

Ver
bs:classi
fy,descr
ibe,discuss,explai
n,expr
ess,identi
fy,
indi
cat
e,
l
ocate,
recognize,r
eport
,restate,r
eview,sel
ect,
translat
e.

 Appl i
cat
ionreferstotheabil
it
ytousel ear
nedmat er
iali
nnew and
concretesi
tuati
ons.Thismayincludetheappli
cat
ionofsucht hings
asr ul
es,methods,concept
s,pri
ncipl
es,l
aws,andtheori
es.Learning
outcomesi nthisarearequi
reahi gherl
evelofunderst
andingthan
 t
hoseundercompr
ehensi
on.

Verbs:appl
y,choose,demonstr
ate,dramatize,employ,il
lust
rat
e,
i
nterpr
et,
operat
e,pr
act
ice,
schedul
e,sketch,
solve,use,
writ
e.

 Anal ysisr eferst ot he abi l

it
yt o br eak down mat erialint
oi t
s
componentpar ts so thati ts or ganizati
onalst ruct
ure may be
under stood.Thismayi ncludet heidentif
icati
onoft heparts,anal
ysi
s
of t he r elati
onships bet ween par ts, and r ecognit
ion of the
organi zati
onal pr inci
ples i nvolved. Lear ning out comes her e
represent a hi gher intel
lectuall evelt han compr ehension and
application because t hey require an under standing ofbot hthe
contentandt hest r
ucturalform ofthemat er
ial
.

Verbs:analyze,appr
aise,cal
cul
ate,categori
ze,compare,contr
ast
,
cri
ti
cize,di
ffer
ent
iat
e,discr
imi
nat
e,dist
inguish,exami
ne,
experiment
,
question,t
est.

 Synthesi
sr eferst
ot heabil
itytoputpar t
stoget
hertofor
m anew
whole.Thismayi nvolvetheproductionofauni quesetofabst
ract
rel
ati
ons( schemeforclassi
fyi
nginformat i
on)
.Learni
ngout
comesi n
thi
sar east resscr
eativebehaviors,wi t
hmaj oremphasi
sont he
for
mul at
ionofnewpat ter
nsorstructures.

Verbs:arrange,assemble,coll
ect,compose,construct
,create,
design,
develop,
for
mulat
e, manage,
organi
ze,
plan,
prepare,
propose,
setup,wri
te.

 Evaluati
on i s concer ned wi t
ht he abili
tyt oj udge the value of
mat er
ial( statement ,research report)fora gi ven purpose.The
judgment sar et obebasedondef init
ecrit
eria.Thesemaybei nter nal
crit
eri
a( organi zati
on)orexternalcr i
ter
ia(relevancet ot hepurpose)
andt hel earnermaydet erminet hecr i
teri
at obegi ven.Lear ning
outcomesi nthi sareaarehighesti nthecogni t
ivehi er
archybecause
theycont ainel ementsofal ltheot hercat egor i
es,plusconsci ous
valuejudgment sbasedonclear l
ydef i
nedcr i
teria.
 Verbs:apprai
se,argue,assess,att
ach,choose compare,defend
est
imate,j
udge,pr
edict
,rat
e,core,
sel
ect,
support
,value,
eval
uate.

Af
fect
iveDomai
n

Skil
lsintheaf f
ecti
vedomai ndescribet hewaypeopl ereactemotionall
y
andt hei
rabil
it
ytof eelot
herli
vingthings'painorjoy.Af
fecti
veoutcomes
typi
callytar
gett he awareness and growthi n att
it
udes,emotion,and
feel
ings.Thisdomai nhasf i
velevelsmovi ngthrought helowest-or
der
processestothehighest:

 Recei vi ng:Thel owestl evel;thel earnerpassi velypaysat tenti

on.
Wi thoutt hisl evel,nol ear ni
ngcanoccur .Receivingi saboutt he
l
ear ner 'smemor yandr ecogni ti
onaswel l.
 Respondi ng:Her et hel ear neractivelypar ti
cipatesint hel earning
process, notonl yat t
endst oast i
mul us;butal soreactsinsomeway.
 Val uing:Thel earnerat tachesaval uet oanobj ect,phenomenon,or
pieceofi nformat ion.Thel earnerassoci atesaval ueorsomeval ues
tot heknowl edgeacqui red.
 Organi zing: The l earner can put t ogether differ
ent val ues,
i
nf ormat i
on,andi deas,andcanaccommodat ethem wi thi
nhi s/her
ownschema;t hel earneri scompar ing,r el
ati
ngandel aboratingon
whathasbeenl ear ned.
 Char act er i
zing:The l ear neratt hisl evelt ri
es to build abstract
knowl edge.

Psychomot
orDomai
n

Ski
ll
si nthe psychomotordomai n descr
ibe t
he abili
tyto physical
ly
manipul
ateatoolorinst
rumentli
keacomput er.Psychomotoroutcomes
usual
lyf
ocusonchangeand/ ordevel
opmentinbehaviorand/
orskil
ls.
 Perception:Theabi
li
tytousesensorycuestoguidemotoractivi
ty:
Thisr angesf r
om sensor
ystimulat
ion,thr
ough cueselect
ion,to
tr
anslati
on.

Ver
bs:chooses,describes,detect
s,di
ff
erent
iat
es,di
sti
ngui
shes,
i
denti
fi
es,
isol
ates,
rel
ates,sel
ect
s.

 Set:Readinesstoact.Itincl
udesment al,physical
,andemot i
onal
sets.Thesethr
eesetsaredisposi
ti
onst hatpredeter
mineaperson's
responsetodiff
erentsi
tuati
ons(sometimescal ledmindset
s).This
subdivi
sionofpsychomotoriscloselyrelat
edwi ththe"r
esponding
tophenomena"subdivi
sionoftheaffect
ivedomai n.

Verbs:begi
ns,displ
ays,expl
ains,moves,pr
oceeds,r
eact
s,shows,
st
ates,vol
unt
eers.

 Guidedr esponse:Theearl
ystagesoflear
ningacomplexski
llt
hat
i
ncludesi mit
ationandtri
alanderror
:Adequacyofper
formanceis
achievedbypr act
ici
ng.

Ver
bs:copi
es,
traces,
fol
lows,
react
,repr
oduce,
responds.

 Mechanism:Thei nt
ermedi
atest agei
nl earning a compl
exskil
l
:
Lear
nedr esponseshavebecomehabi t
ualandt hemovementscan
beperf
ormedwi thsomeconfidenceandpr
of i
ciency.

Verbs:assembl es,cal i
brates,construct
s,dismant
les,displ
ays,
fast
ens,fi
xes,grinds,heats,manipul
ates,measur
es,mends,mixes,
organi
zes,sket
ches.

 Compl exovertresponse:Theski ll
fulperfor
manceofmot oracts
thati
nvolvecomplexmovementpat t
erns:Prof
ici
encyisindi
cat
edby
aquick,accurat
e,andhi ghl
ycoor di
natedper f
ormance,requi
ri
nga
minimum ofener gy.This categoryi ncl
udes perf
orming wit
hout
hesit
ationandautomati
cper for
mance.
 Verbs: assembl es, bui l
ds, cal
ibrates, constr
ucts, dismantles,
displays,fastens,f i
xes,gr i
nds,heat s,mani pulat
es,measur es,
mends,mi xes,organizes,sket
ches.( Note:Thekeywor dsar ethe
sameasi nmechani sm,butwi l
lhaveadver bsoradj ecti
vesthat
i
ndi catet
hattheper f
or manceisquicker,bet
ter
,mor eaccurate,
etc.)

 Adapt
ati
on:Ski
ll
sar
ewelldevelopedandtheindi
vidualcanmodi
fy
movementpat
ter
nst
ofi
tspecialrequi
rement
s.

Verbs:adapt
s,al
ter
s,changes,r
ear
ranges,r
eor
gani
zes,r
evi
ses,
var
ies.

 Ori
gination:Creat
ing new movementpat ter
ns t
ofita par
ti
cul
ar
si
tuation or specif
ic probl
em: Lear
ning outcomes emphasi
ze
cr
eativit
ybaseduponhi ghl
ydevel
opedskil
ls.

Verbs:arranges,bui
lds,combines,composes,const
ruct
s,cr
eat
es,
designs,
init
iat
es,makes,ori
ginat
es.

Not
e:Cogni
ti
vedomai
nisusedf
orl
ear
ningout
comes.

Speci
fi
cLear
ningOut
comes

Learningoutcomesar estatement sdescr i

bingwhatl earnerswillbeabl e
toknow,t hi
nk,orbeabl etodouponcompl eti
onofauni tofinstructi
on.
Theyexami necogniti
veski l
lsthatl earner
sdevel opt hroughdepar t
ment
i
nteracti
ons,measurableandt ransferableskil
ldevel opment.Ther efor
e,
l
earningoutcomesshoul donl ydescr ibewhatl earnersshoul dbeabl et o
douponcompl eti
onofauni tofinstructi
on.Theyshoul dnoti ncludeany
i
nformation aboutthe targetaudi ence,orwhatt ype ofi nstructi
onal
str
ategywi l
lbeused.Takenot et hatt heoutcomesshoul dbewr i
tt
eni n
ter
msoft helearneri
nsteadofi ntermsoft heinstructional uni
t.

Char
act
eri
sti
csofLear
ningOut
comesSt
atement
s
Lear
ningout
comesshoul
d:

 refl
ectbroadconcept ualknowl edgeandadapt ivevocati
onaland
genericskil
ls;
 refl
ectessenti
alknowledge,ski
ll
sorat t
it
udes;
 focusonr esult
softhelearni
ngexper iences;
 refl
ectthedesiredendoft helearningexper i
ence,nott
hemeansor
theprocess;
 representthe mini
mum per f
ormancest hatmustbeachi eved t
o
successfull
ycompleteacour seorpr ogram;
 answert he question,"Why shoul dal earnertake t
his cour
se
anyway? "

Learningoutcomesneedt obespeci
fi
candmeasurabl
eandar
egenerall
y
writt
enbasedonBl oom’
sTaxonomy.Bl oom'
sTaxonomyexpl
ainsthe
processoflearningandhencehaspr ovedtobeapowerf
ult
ooltohelp
developlear
ningoutcomes.Ther
efor
e,when
teachingComput erStudi
es,l
ear
ningoutcomesshoul
dbebasedont he
foll
owingfactor
s:

Knowledge -Knowledge aboutthe subject,famil

iari
ty,awareness or
underst
andingofthesubj
ect,suchasfacts,inf
ormation,descri
pti
ons,or
ski
ll
s,whichisacquir
edthroughexperi
enceoreducat i
onbydi scover
ing
orl
earning.Thecommonlyusedwordsarel i
st,r
ecognize,def
ineetc.

Cognit
ive–I ntel
lectualski
ll
s,shouldincl
udehow toappl
yknowledgeto
acti
ons,shouldincludeproblem sol
vingski
ll
s.Thecommonlyusedwords
aredescri
be,explai
n, i
denti
fyetc.

Pract
ical– How t
odesignandcar
ryoutexper
iment
s.Thecommonl
y
usedwordsaredemonst
rat
e,i
mpl
ementet
c.

Gener
icSkil
ls-Gener i
cski
ll
sincludeprobl
em sol
vingt echni
quesand
keyst
olear
ning.Thecommonlyusedwordsareanal
yse,compareetc.

Component
sofaLear
ningOut
come(
Behavi
our
,Cr
it
eri
onand
Condi
ti
onSt
atement
)

Inmostcases,learni
ngout comesar ewri
tt
eni
nobservabl
ebehavi
our
al
ter
ms.Henceameani ngfullear
ningout
comeshoul
dhavet hr
eeparts
namel
ybehaviour,cri
ter
ionandconditi
on.

Behavi
our

Firstandf or
emost ,anout comemustdescr ibet hecompet encyt obe
l
ear nedinper for
mancet er
msbecauset hisisthemeatoft heinstructi
onal
out comet hatstateswhatl earnerswillbeablet odoaf t ertheinstructi
on.
Thispar toftheout comeshoul dcont ai
naver bt hatclear l
ycommuni cates
theski l
lthatthelearnerwillperfor
m.Thef requent l
yusedt ermslikeknow,
under st
and,gr aspandappr eciatedonotmeett hisrequi r
ement .Acl ear
statementi s est abli
shed onlyi fthe verbt hati s used i n stati
ng an
out comei dentif
iesanobser vablelearnerbehavi ourlikedef i
ne,i denti
fy
andsol ve.

Cr
it
eri
on

Secondly,a lear ning outcome shoul di nclude crit

eri
a which def i
nes
acceptableperformance,wheni tisappropr i
atetodoso.Thi sgi vesan
opportunit
ytomakesur el earningoutcomesar eclearl
ycommuni cati
ng
theintentt olear ner
sand t eachers.Itstatest heacceptancelevelof
att
ainmentoft hebehavior .Itspecifi
esdur ati
on,forexample,‘i
nf if
teen
minutes’ortoquant i
fysuchas‘ get15outof20i temscorrect’
.Thispar t
ofa speci fi
cl earni
ng out come i s al
so cal l
ed a quali
fyi
ng ter m or
eval
uat i
onstatement .

Condi
ti
on(
s)

Thir
dly,anoutcomeshouldincludethespecif
iccondit
ion(s)underwhich
thelearnerwil
lbeexpectedtoper formi nt
heevaluationsituat
ion.The
condit
ioncanspecifyresourcemat er
ial
sneededandhel pcont r
olthe
complexityofthet
ask.Ittherefor
e,stateswhatwillbeavai l
abl
et othe
l
earnerinordert
ocarr
youtthetask.Resourcemat er
ial
scanbetool
s,
r
eferencesorotherai
ds.Forexample,Given a computerl
ear
ner
sto
…………………. .

Note:Itisimportantto writ
el earning outcomes wit
ht hree parts as
i
ll
ustr
atedaboveinordert
or educeambi qui
tybutmakelear
ningout comes
speci
fi
c. The most i mportant thing i s that t
he outcome shoul d
communicatethei
ntendedlearni
ngout comeasclearl
yaspossible.

Hereisanexampl eofacomplet
el earni
ngout
come:Givenamonitor
,
pr
int
er,keyboar
d,mouseandUSBcables,t
hel
ear
nerwi
llbeabl
etosetup
acomput err
eadyf
oruse.

Condi
ti
on:Gi
venamoni
tor
,pr
int
er,
keyboar
d,mouseandUSBcabl
es.

Behavi
our
:lear
nerwi
ll
beabl
etosetupacomput
err
eadyf
oruse

Cr
it
eri
on:r
eadyf
oruse.

Benef
it
sofLear
ningOut
comes

Havingl ookedatwhatout comesar eandhow at eachercanf ormulat

e
them,l etusnow l ookatt heirbenef i
ts.Creati
ngl earni
ngout comesi san
essentialstepindesigningi nstr
uctionofanyki nd.Thi sisbecausethey
describeexactlywhatl ear nerswillbeabl etodoandt heoutcomeshelp
defi
net hescopeofani nstructi
onalcont ent.Assessmentact i
vit
iesor
test
sshoul dalsobedevel opeddi rectl
yf r
om learningout comestoensure
thattheseact i
vit
iesar epr operlyfocusedonwhatl earnersar emeantto
takeaway.Lear ningout comescommuni catethegoal soft heinst
ructi
on
toteacher s and learners,al l
owing t hem tof ocus t heirat
tenti
on and
energyaccor di
nglyascanbeseenf rom thefoll
owi ng:

 Lear
ningoutcomesarebenefi
cialt
oteacher
sbecauset
hey:
 Helpteacher
splanalesson.
  Giveacl earideaofwhatand how much t
oteach and pl
an
accor
dingly.

 Helpteachersdesi
gntheirt
eachi ngmateri
almoreeff
ecti
vel
y.
 Helpteacherstosel
ectappropriatest
rat
egiesfort
eachi
ng.
 Helpt eacher
s avoid ext
rat eaching which ul
ti
matel
y hel
pin
savi
ngt i
me.

 Lear
ningout comesar ebeneficialtolearnersbecause:
 Welldefinedlearni
ngout comesr emovet heriskwast
ingtime.
 Reduceunnecessar yst r
essont helearners.
 Givesacl earideatot helearnersofwhatt heyaregoingt olearn
orachieveatt heendoft hecl ass.
 Highli
ghtsexact lywhatl ear nersshoul dknow t oachievet hat
parti
cularcourse.
 Byachi evingLearningout comes,l earnerscandemonst ratethat
he/shehasr eachedt hesummi tofthecour se.

 Lear
ningout comeshelpinwr i
tingassessment s&eval
uationby:
 Makingassessmentmappi ngcl earandeasy.
 Makingmi dwaycorr
ecti
onspossi bl
e.
 Makingl earner
sstudyont heirownandcomet otheclasswell
prepared.
 Helpinginmeasur i
ngtheef f
ectivenessoftheuni
t.
 Playi
ngamaj orrol
einallocati
onofmar kswhil
esetti
ngquesti
on
papers.

Li
mit
ati
onsofLear
ningOut
comes

Eventhoughthel ear
ningoutcomeshavebeenwidelyappl
ied,t
hei
ruse
hasbeencri
ti
cized.Belowar
et hel
imi
tat
ionsofl
ear
ningout
comes:

 Theymaybegi
vengr
eat
erst
atust
hant
heydeser
ve.Despi
tet
hei
r
 name,l ear ni
ngout comesar eanyt hingbut' outcome'i nt hemanner
i
nwhi cht heyar eselectedandwr i
tten,sincebot hpr ocessesar e
usual lyhighl ysubjecti
vei nchar acter.Thus,out comesshoul dnever
bet reatedasi ftheyarei nanywaysacr osanct ;theyar e,afterall,
mer elyt heendr esul
tofaval uejudgmentonsomeone' spar t.
 Outcome- based appr oach may become so pr escribed t hat
spont anei tywithersandi nit
iativeisstifled.
 Also,at otalconcent r
ationont heachi evementofcl early-
defined
outcomesmayl eadtot hepr oducti
onofl earner swhoar ecer tainl
y
well-t
r ai
nedi nspecificar eas,butwhol ackt hebr oadspect r
um of
abil
ities,ski l
ls and desirable attit
udi nalt r
ai t
st hatar e nor mal l
y
associ atedwi t
habal anced, '
rounded' educat ion.

Whenal earneri
sbeingtrai
nedinaskil
lwherestraightfor
wardmasteryis
requi
red,e.
g.lear
ninghow tooperateacomput er,ar i
gidsetofl
earning
outcomesorcompet encedescr
ipt
orsisusual
lyverymuchi norder
.

Al essf undament al,butverypr acti

cal,weaknessoft heobject ives-based
appr oachi st
hatl earningout comesandcompet encedescr iptorscanbe
diff
icultandt i
me- consumi ngt oconst ruct.Manyt eacher smayf eelthat
they simpl y do nothave t he t i
me t o produce wel l
-written learning
outcomesandi fi
nsuf fi
cientti
meandski llar
edevot edtot het ask, t
henet
resultmaywel lbeanyt hingbutbenef ici
altothecour se.Forexampl e,i
tis
usual l
yt hesi
mpl estandper hapst hemostt ri
vialout comest hatar ethe
easiestt owri
tei n'standardfor mat'
;thismayl eadt ol ow-gradeout comes
oft hist ypedomi nati
ng a cour seatt heexpenseofpot ent i
all
ymor e
valuablegoalswhi char enoti ncl
udedsi mplybecauset heyar elesseasy
toencapsul at
ei nunambi guousst atements.

UNI
TSUMMARY

Thisunitdiscussedbloom’
staxonomyandt hr
eedomai nsnamely
cognit
ive,psychomotorandaf f
ecti
ve.Itfurt
herlookedatdi
ffer
entpart
sof
alear
ningout comewhi chbehavior
,cri
terionandconditi
on.Youalso
l
ookedatbenef i
tsandlimi
tat
ionsoflearningoutcomes.