REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
Benjamin Samuel Bloom
born in Pennsylvania in 1913, became one of the
most influential theorists to promote mastery
learning and higher level thinking. 

Bloom’s work was intentionally focused on

organizing educational objectives according to the
learner’s cognitive complexity.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom with collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter
Hill, and David Krathwohl published a framework for categorizing educational
goals: Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Familiarly known as Bloom’s
Taxonomy.

His classification of educational objectives, addresses cognitive domain versus the

psychomotor and affective domains of knowledge.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

• It was designed to provide a more reliable procedure

for assessing students and the outcomes of
educational practice. 

• His taxonomy was designed to help teachers and

Instructional Designers to classify instructional
objectives and goals.

• The foundation of his taxonomy was based on the

idea that not all learning objectives and outcomes are
equal. For example, memorization of facts, while
important, is not the same as the learned ability to
analyze or evaluate.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
Bloom divided educational objectives into three "domains:"
Affective, Psychomotor, and Cognitive (Handbook 1: Cognitive
Domain).

Bloom intended that the Taxonomy motivate educators to focus on

all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education.

This taxonomy is hierarchical, meaning that learning at the higher

levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and
skills at lower.
He discovered that the higher order thinking was dependent on the
level that preceded it. In other words, students needed to be able to
recall information to then comprehend, to analyze, then to apply it,
and so on.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Bloom discovered that the goal of teaching

needed to be geared toward the designing of
tasks so students were led to the realization of
the objectives vs. given the objectives for
recall.
REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy)

In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists,

curriculum theorists and instructional researchers,
and testing and assessment specialists published a
revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy with the title: A
Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and
Assessment.

This was led by Lorin. W. Anderson, a former

student of Bloom and David. R. Krathwohl, one of
the co-authors of Bloom’s book.

Bloom’s taxonomy was revised reflecting relevance to 21 st century work for both students and teachers.
The revision was made to make it more adaptive to our current age.
REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy)

Categories are changes from noun to verbs.

These “action words” describe the cognitive processes by
which thinkers encounter and work with knowledge

Anderson renamed the knowledge category into

remember, comprehension into understanding and
synthesis into create categories.

Anderson also changed the order of synthesis and placed it

at the top of the triangle under the name of Create as they
realize that creating requires complex thinking than
evaluating
REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy)
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) REMEMBERING
Definition:

• learner’s ability to recall information

• retrieve, recall, or recognize relevant knowledge from long-
term memory
• Example: recall dates of important events in Philippine History.
Remember the formula of quadratic equation.
• At the end of this course, students be able to recite Newton’s
three laws of motion
Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

cite, define, describe, identify, label, list, match, name, outline,

quote, recall, report, reproduce, retrieve, show, state, tabulate, and
tell.

 
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) Understand
Definition:

• Learner’s ability to understand information

• demonstrate comprehension through one or more forms of
explanation
• Example: compare the types of mixtures.
• History: By the end of this course, students will be able to
explain the causes of certain illness.
Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

abstract, arrange, articulate, associate, categorize, clarify,

classify, compare, compute, conclude, contrast, defend, diagram,
differentiate, discuss, distinguish, estimate, exemplify, explain,
extend, extrapolate, generalize, give examples of, illustrate, infer,
interpolate, interpret, match, outline, paraphrase, predict,
rearrange, reorder, rephrase, represent, restate, summarize,
transform, and translate. 
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) Apply
Definition:

• Learner’s ability to use information in a new way

• use information or a skill in a new situation
• Example: Engineering: By the end of this course, students will
be able to calculate the volume of a given object.

Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

apply, calculate, carry out, classify, complete, compute,

demonstrate, dramatize, employ, examine, execute, experiment,
generalize, illustrate, implement, infer, interpret, manipulate,
modify, operate, organize, outline, predict, solve, transfer,
translate, and use.
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) Analyze
Definition:

• Learner’s ability to break down information into its essential

parts
• break material into its constituent parts and determine how
the parts relate to one another and/or to an overall structure
or purpose
• Example: analyze the relationship between different flora and
fauna in an ecological setting. (Mutualism between bees and
flowers)
Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

analyze, arrange, break down, categorize, classify, compare,

connect, contrast, deconstruct, detect, diagram, differentiate,
discriminate, distinguish, divide, explain, identify, integrate,
inventory, order, organize, relate, separate, and structure.
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) Evaluate
Definition:

• Learner’s ability to judge or criticize information

• make judgments based on criteria and standards
• Example: detect inconsistencies or fallacies within a process or
product.
• judge which of two methods is the best way to solve a given
problem

Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

appraise, apprise, argue, assess, compare, conclude, consider,

contrast, convince, criticize, critique, decide, determine,
discriminate, evaluate, grade, judge, justify, measure, rank, rate,
recommend, review, score, select, standardize, support, test, and
validate.
 REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY
(Anderson/Krathwohl’s Taxonomy) Create
Definition:

• Learner’s ability to create something new from different

elements of information
• put elements together to form a new coherent or functional
whole; reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure
• Example: design a new set for a theater production, write a
thesis, invent a product, compose a piece of music, write a play

Appropriate learning outcome verbs for this level:

arrange, assemble, build, collect, combine, compile, compose,

constitute, construct, create, design, develop, devise, formulate,
generate, hypothesize, integrate, invent, make, manage, modify,
organize, perform, plan, prepare, produce, propose, rearrange,
reconstruct, reorganize, revise, rewrite, specify, synthesize, and
write.
REMEMBERING: List different types of fruits.

UNDERSTANDING: Explain why they are classified as fruits.

APPLYING: Diagram the parts of your favorite fruit.

ANALYZING: Compare each fruit finding the characteristics that make it different
from the others

EVALUATING: Determine and justify which fruits are the healthiest

CREATING: Create a drink combining different fruits that would be healthy and
delicious
Bloom's Taxonomy is essential because it helps educators identify achievable learning
goals and develop plans to meet them.

The Bloom's Taxonomy framework allows educators to assess learning on an ongoing

basis, encouraging students to reflect on their progress.

At the heart of Bloom’s taxonomy framework is the ability to create achievable learning
goals that teachers and students understand, and build a definitive plan to meet them.
Instructors are encouraged to view learning objectives in behavioral terms, such that they
can see what students are capable of as a direct result of the instruction they have
received at each level, without the need for class-wide generalizations.
Using the categorization, educators can more effectively organize objectives and create
lesson plans with appropriate content and instruction to lead students up the pyramid of
learning.
Educators can also design valid assessment tools and strategies to ensure each category is
met in turn, and that each part of the course material is in line with the level’s objectives,
whether it’s basic knowledge at the beginning of a course (e.g. remembering and recalling
basic concepts), or applying that knowledge towards the middle of a school year (e.g.
using the learned information in specific settings by solving problems.) For students,
Bloom’s levels bridge the gap between what they know now, and what they need to learn
to attain a higher level of knowledge.

At the end of the learning process, the goal with Bloom’s taxonomy is that a student has
honed a new skill, level of knowledge, and/or developed a different attitude towards the
subject. And that teachers can effectively assess this learning on an ongoing basis, as the
course moves through each stage of the framework.