Educational Psychology

….Name and define the six levels in

Bloom's Taxonomy for the Cognitive
Domain ....

Developed by W. Huitt (1998)

 Writing Instructional Objectives

Instructional objectives, including behavioral

objectives, can be written for any of the domains
of instruction
• Cognitive
• Affective
• Psychomotor
 The Cognitive Domain

Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain

(started in 1948 and completed in 1956) was one
of the most influential statements about levels of
knowing.
The official title of the book is Taxonomy of
educational objectives: The classification of
educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive
domain with the text having 4 other authors
(M. Englehart, E. Furst, W. Hill, and D
Krathwohl).
 The Cognitive Domain

he major idea of the taxonomy is that what

educators want students to know (and,
therefore, statements of educational objectives)
can be arranged in a hierarchy from less to
more complex.

The taxonomy contains six levels, with

sublevels identified for each.
 The Cognitive Domain

A mnemonic device for remembering the six

levels:

Killing Knowledge
Cats Comprehension
Almost Application
Always Analysis
Seems Synthesis
Evil Evaluation
 The Cognitive Domain

Student recalls or
recognizes information,
Knowledge
ideas, and principles in the
approximate form in which
they were learned.
 The Cognitive Domain

Write
List
Knowledge
Label

Name
State
Define
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will define the 6

Knowledge levels of Bloom's taxonomy
of the cognitive domain.
 The Cognitive Domain

Student translates,
Comprehension comprehends, or interprets
information based on prior
learning.
 The Cognitive Domain

Explain
Summarize
Comprehension Paraphrase
Describe
Illustrate
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will explain

Comprehension the purpose of Bloom's
taxonomy of the cognitive
domain.
 The Cognitive Domain

Student selects, transfers,

Application and uses data and
principles to complete a
problem or task with a
minimum of direction.
 The Cognitive Domain

Use
Compute
Application Solve
Demonstrate
Apply

Construct
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will write an

Application instructional objective for
each level of Bloom's
taxonomy.
 The Cognitive Domain

Student distinguishes,
classifies, and relates the
Analysis assumptions, hypotheses,
evidence, or structure of a
statement or question.
 The Cognitive Domain

Analyze
Categorize
Analysis Compare
Contrast
Separate
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will compare

Analysis and contrast the cognitive
and affective domains.
 The Cognitive Domain

Student originates,
integrates, and combines
Synthesis
ideas into a product, plan
or proposal that is new to
him or her.
 The Cognitive Domain

Create
Design
Synthesis Hypothesize
Invent
Develop
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will design a

classification scheme for
Synthesis writing educational
objectives that combines
the cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor domains.
 The Cognitive Domain

Student appraises,
Evaluation assesses, or critiques on a
basis of specific standards
and criteria.
 The Cognitive Domain

Judge
Evaluation Recommend
Critique
Justify
 The Cognitive Domain

The student will judge the

Evaluation effectiveness of writing
objectives using Bloom's
taxonomy.
 The Cognitive Domain

In general, research over the last 40 years has

confirmed the taxonomy as a hierarchy with the
exception of the last two levels.

It is uncertain at this time whether synthesis

and evaluation should be reversed (i.e.,
evaluation is less difficult to accomplish than
synthesis) or whether synthesis and evaluation
are at the same level of difficulty but use
different cognitive processes.
 The Cognitive Domain

I believe the latter is more likely as it relates to the

differences between creative and critical thinking.

Creative Thinking Critical Thinking

Synthesis Evaluation

Analysis
Application
Comprehension

Knowledge
 The Affective Domain

Being aware of or attending to

Receiving
something in the environment

Showing some new behaviors as

Responding
a result of experience

Showing some definite

Valuing
involvement or commitment

Krathwohl, D., Bloom, B., & Masia, B. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives.
Handbook II: Affective domain. New York: David McKay.
 The Affective Domain

Integrating a new value into

Organization one's general set of values,
giving it some ranking among
one's general priorities.

Characterization Acting consistently with the new

by Value value; person is known by the
value.
 The Psychomotor Domain
Process of becoming aware of
Perception objects, qualities, etc by way of
senses. Basic in situation-
interpretation-action chain
leading to motor activity.

Readiness for a particular kind

Set
of action or experience; may be
mental, physical or emotional.

Simpson, J. S. (1966). The classification of educational objectives, psychomotor

domain. Office of Education Project No. 5-85-104. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.
 The Psychomotor Domain

Overt behavioral act under

Guided guidance of an instructor, or
Response following model or set criteria.

Learned response becomes

Mechanism habitual; learner has achieved
certain confidence and
proficiency or performance.
 The Psychomotor Domain

Complex Performance of motor act

Overt considered complex because of
Response movement pattern required.

Adaptation Altering motor activities to

meet demands of problematic
situations.
 The Psychomotor Domain

Creating new motor acts or

ways of manipulating
Origination materials out of skills, abilities
and understandings developed
in the psychomotor area.
 Writing Instructional Objectives

While it is possible to write instructional

objectives of all types for each of the three
domains, the vast majority are written for
the cognitive domain.

The major exceptions include preschool,

physical education, and perhaps fine arts
courses such as sculpturing and drama.