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Using Bloom's Taxonomy in Assignment Design

A great deal of the writing that students are asked to do invites them simply to demonstrate knowledge. On exams and quizzes and in many out-of-class writing assignments, they are asked merely to recall and report what they know or have collected in research. In Bloom's Taxonomy, the acts of recalling and reporting knowledge are seen as less sophisticated than the alternatives of translating information into new forms, applying it to new contexts, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating it.

The chart below arranges Bloom's levels of cognitive activity in a grid moving (left to right) from simple to complex, and it lists a number of verbs describing its activities for each mode of thinking. The chart may thus offer suggestions to teachers for varying the level of sophistication in what they ask students to do in writing assignments.

Bloom's Ranking of Thinking Skills
Knowledge	Comprehension	Application	Analysis	Synthesis	Evaluation
List Name Identify Show Define Recognize Recall State Visualize	Summarize Explain Interpret Describe Compare Paraphrase Differentiate Demonstrate Classify	Solve Illustrate Calculate Use Interpret Relate Manipulate Apply Modify	Analyze Organize Deduce Contrast Compare Distinguish Discuss Plan Devise	Design Hypothesize Support Schematize Write Report Justify	Evaluate Choose Estimate Judge Defend Criticize

Note that in designing writing assignments, it is probably not a good idea to think of Bloom's succeeding levels of complexity as a sequence of objectives. Although evaluating may be more complex than the act of recalling, even very young children can express preferences and can be taught to explain and justify them. Students just embarking in a new discipline ought to be encouraged to practice the full array of higher-order thinking skills even while their subject-matter knowledge is fairly limited.

Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, Vol.1: The cognitive domain. New York: McKay.