Critical Thinking Skills Using Bloom's Taxonomy

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #30 – September 27, 2009

Bloom’s Taxonomy, created by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950’s, presents a way to categorize reasoning skills into six levels students can use for problem solving in the classroom. As the levels progress, each requires a higher level of abstract thinking from the students. In order to create thinkers, teachers shouldn’t be satisfied with students simply able to recall information; they must purposely incorporate the higher levels of questioning into their lesson plans. The six levels, from lowest to highest in Bloom’s Taxonomy are:
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation..

Knowledge: Questions in this level are asked solely to test whether a student has gained specific information from the lesson. For example, do they know the dates for a particular war or do they know the presidents that served during specific eras in American History. These questions use words like: tell, list, label, name, etc.

Comprehension: This level of questioning has students go past simply recalling facts and instead has them understanding the information. Here, they are able to interpret the facts. Instead of simply being able to name the various types of clouds, students would be able to understand why each cloud has formed in that manner. Questions for this category use words like: describe, contrast, discuss, predict, etc.

Application: These questions require students to actually apply, or use the knowledge they have learned. They might be asked to solve a problem with the information they have gained in class. For example, a student might be asked to solve a legal question in American Government class using the Constitution and its Amendments. As a teacher, you are probably writing application questions when you use words like: complete, solve, examine, illustrate, show, etc.

Analysis: Here, Bloom’s Taxonomy requires students to go beyond knowledge and application and actually see patterns that they can use to analyze a problem. For example, an English teacher might ask what the motives were behind the protagonist’s actions in the novel being read. This requires students to analyze the character and come to a conclusion based on critical thinking and analysis. Such questions use words like: analyze, explain, investigate, infer, etc.

Synthesis: In this category, students must use the given facts to create new theories or make predictions. They may be required to pull in knowledge from multiple subjects and synthesize all the information before coming to a conclusion. For example, if a student is asked to invent a new product or game they are being asked to synthesize. Synthesis questions use words like: invent, imagine, create, compose, etc.

Evaluation: The highest level in Bloom’s Taxonomy is evaluation. At this level students are expected to assess information and come to a conclusion such as its value or the bias behind it. For example, if a student is completing a DBQ (Document Based Question) for an AP US History course, they are expected to evaluate the bias behind any primary or secondary sources in order to see how that affects the points the speaker is making. These questions use words like: select, judge, debate, recommend, etc.

How To Implement Bloom’s Taxonomy

There are many reasons some teachers never move students up the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Inexperienced teachers might have low expectations regarding their students’ abilities. Sadly, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Another reason is the process can become difficult and time consuming for the teacher. Do you know of anything that results in a high quality product that doesn’t take a lot of hard work? The well-planned course curriculum is no different. And yes, it’s much easier to grade true/false and multiple choice tests based on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy than it is to grade students on work at the upper levels. However, as you move up the levels, you will discover how much more meaningful, and fair it is to the student to evaluate their work using rubrics. Truth be told, it’s more enjoyable for the teacher as well.

Would you like your students to use higher order thinking skills? If so, following Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you pinpoint what you will teach and how you will go about teaching it. Ultimately, it is our mission as teachers to give our students the tools they need to become critical thinkers. Growing their knowledge base and helping children learn to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate will enable them to succeed in school and beyond. It is truly a gift that will last a lifetime.