Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Bloom's taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. The three lists cover the learning objectives in cognitive, affective and sensory domains. The cognitive domain list has been the primary focus of most traditional education and is frequently used to structure curriculum learning objectives, assessments and activities.

The models were named after Benjamin Bloom, who chaired the committee of educators that devised the taxonomy. He also edited the first volume of the standard text, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals.

Although named after Bloom, the publication of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives followed a series of conferences from 1949 to 1953, which were designed to improve communication between educators on the design of curricula and examinations.

The first volume of the taxonomy, Handbook I: Cognitive was published in 1956, and in 1964 Handbook II: Affective. A revised version of the taxonomy for the cognitive domain was created in 2001.

In the original version of the taxonomy, the cognitive domain is broken into the following six levels of objectives. In the 2001 revised edition of Bloom's taxonomy, the levels are slightly different: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create (rather than Synthesize).

Remembering involves recognizing or remembering facts, terms, basic concepts, or answers without necessarily understanding what they mean. Its characteristics may include:

Example: Name three common varieties of apple.

Comprehension involves demonstrating understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating the main ideas.

Example: Compare the identifying characteristics of a Golden Delicious apple with a Granny Smith apple.

Applying involves using acquired knowledge—solving problems in new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules. Learners should be able to use prior knowledge to solve problems, identify connections and relationships and how they apply in new situations.

Example: Would apples prevent scurvy, a disease caused by a deficiency in vitamin C?

Analyzing involves examining and breaking information into component parts, determining how the parts relate to one another, identifying motives or causes, and making inferences and find evidence to support generalizations. Its characteristics include:

Example: List four ways of serving foods made with apples and explain which ones have the highest health benefits. Provide references to support your statements.

Synthesizing involves building a structure or pattern from diverse elements; it also refers to the act of putting parts together to form a whole. Its characteristics include:

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