Category Archives: Bloom’s taxonomy

Using Bloom’s taxonomy in course posts

Posted on February 26, 2021 | Leave a comment

The first time I took an online graduate course, I was required to respond in a blog to journal readings and responses of other students.  Some student comments were truly insightful, and I learned from them. But others were trite.  Lately these student responses have me considering how to write appropriate entries.

One good approach to this kind of writing is to use Bloom’s taxonomy.  Briefly, the taxonomy ranks thinking from easiest to most difficult:

  • Remembering (repeating word-for-word or by using synonyms),
  • Understanding (defining or explaining the meaning),
  • Applying (showing how a concept has been used elsewhere or can be used in different circumstances),
  • Analyzing (breaking a concept into its components)
  • Evaluating (determining values of competing concepts or components), and
  • Synthesizing (creating new concepts by fusing existing concepts or using an existing concept as a starting point).

Let’s take a well-known piece of writing, Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and apply Bloom’s taxonomy to responses we might write about it.

  • Unacceptable (personal comments, off-topic comments, liking or not liking with no explanation)
  • Remembering (repeating a line or two, naming an idea previously stated by the teacher, but adding no new information)
  • Understanding (summarizing the poem, paraphrasing it, but adding no new information)
  • Applying (discussing rhythm, rhyme, figures of speech and other poetic elements that Frost used in the poem)
  • Analyzing (discussing patterns of rhyme or diction, discussing published critiques of the poem)
  • Evaluating (discussing where this poem ranks among Frost’s poems, how it rates compared to the work of other poets, discussing criterion used to rank the poem), and
  • Synthesizing (writing a poem or other artistic expression using the style or content of the poem, such as the illustration for this blog; writing a sequel to the poem; writing a poem in a completely different style to express the ideas of the poem).

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Why are “how” questions harder than “why” questions?

Posted on March 24, 2019 | Leave a comment

A sixth grade student I was tutoring this past week commented that he would much rather answer questions that asked “why” than “how.”

“And why is that?” I asked.

“Because you can start a ‘why’ answer with the word ‘because,” but I don’t know how to start a ‘how’ answer,” he said.

I looked through a 2016 New York State sixth grade exam to find out which kinds of questions comply with the Common Core State Standards, and here are some of the questions I found:

  • “Why are the results of the survey important?”
  • “How does Trina’s mood change?”
  • “Why does the relationship between Julianna and her father change?”
  • How does the father’s idea that Juliana needed to start looking at the whole landscape relate to his description of a painting?”

Then I thought of my students’ written answers to these questions, and sure enough, the “why” questions were responded to better than the “how” questions.

Both “why” and “how” questions require students to analyze a text, a harder task than recalling knowledge or proving understanding, according to Bloom’s taxonomy.  So in that sense, they begin at about the same difficulty level.

A “why” question usually requires one reason although two or three reasons might contribute to a more complete answer.  For example, the question, “Why was George W. Bush elected US President in 2000?” can be answered with one idea:  He gained enough electoral college votes to win.  More could be said about the popular vote and the Florida debacle, but it is not required.  The electoral college information suffices.

But the question, “How did George W. Bush win the election in 2000?” requires more information, especially about the Florida recount and the involvement of the US Supreme Court.

Usually “how” questions require a sequence of information—more than one idea—or a comparison of information.  A “why” question requires one idea only.

For example, in the “how” exam questions listed above, to describe how Trina’s mood changes, the student must describe three things:  her mood at the beginning, the event which changes that mood, and her mood at the end.

To describe how a father’s advice that Julianna must look at the whole picture relates to his painting, the student must first describe the fragmented way Julianna is talking about her boyfriend’s eyes, hair and cheek color, and then relate the fragmented way her father talks about painting a cow, a meadow or sunshine, and then relate both conversations to the father’s statement that putting it all together is when the magic happens.

My student’s insight taught me that I need to discuss with my students what kinds of information are required to answer “how” questions.  To prepare them better for their exams, together we need to respond to more “how” questions, first discussing the kinds of information needed to supply a complete answer.  In this case, it is the thinking through of the answer rather than the actual writing which is difficult for students.

 

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Posted in analysis, answering questions in writing, Bloom's taxonomy, Common Core Standards, how questions, how to teach writing, why questions, writing problems

Webb’s Depth of Knowledge—Writing examples

Posted on June 3, 2018 | Leave a comment

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) is one way in which teachers can develop deeper thinking skills in students.  Bloom’s six cognitive skills start with easier thinking skills and move to more difficult, “higher order” thinking skills.

Bloom’s Level objective
knowing remembering facts
understanding showing understanding of facts
applying apply knowledge to new situations
analyzing examining information for component parts
synthesizing* creating something new from diverse elements
evaluating making judgments based on evidence or criteria

*Synthesizing is now called “creating,” and it has become the sixth, not fifth, level.

About 40 years after Bloom’s Taxonomy became known, a refinement of Bloom’s taxonomy called Webb’s Depth of Knowledge was developed (1997).  It has four levels.

DOK Level title of Level
1 recall and reproduction
2 skills and concepts
3 short-term strategic thinking
4 extended thinking

 

For teachers wanting to demand deeper thinking of their students, both Bloom’s Taxonomy and Webb’s DOK Levels can be used to design lesson plans.  Below are some writing assignments based on Webb’s Levels.

 

Literature

 

Level 1  Identify a list of important characters from the first Harry Potter novel.  Explain their relationship to Harry.

Level 2  Compare Harry’s, Ron’s and Hermione’s personalities.

Level 3  Explain how the opening scene in the first Harry Potter book lures readers into that book.

Level 4  Show how the authors of the first Harry Potter book and the first Percy Jackson book used a similar plot sequence to begin those books.

 

Social Studies

 

Level 1  Match famous quotes with 20th century American leaders.

Level 2  Create a set of ten cards with a quote by a famous 20th century leader on one side and the leader’s name on the other side.

Level 3  Using the set of cards created for Level 2, create a set of three clues for each quote, one easy, one difficult and one in between.

Level 4  Describe how specific references such as Stone Mountain and MLK, Jr.’s little children can be understood as metaphors for other concepts in MLK, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

 

Math

 

Level 1  Define given vocabulary words relating to circles (radius, diameter, circumference, ray, arc, pi, center point).

Level 2   Explain why pi is approximately and not exactly 3.14.

Level 3  Describe three real life situations in which understanding pi can be useful to solve problems.

Level 4  Write an essay on the history of pi, citing sources.

 

Science

 

Level 1  Define a fossil.

Level 2  Identify the sequence of events in the forming of a fossil.

Level 3  Explain why a fossil from an earlier time is found in a lower layer of rock than a fossil from a later time.

Level 4  From the school library take three books about fossils appropriate for a certain grade level.  Critique each book, explaining its strengths and weaknesses for that grade level.

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Posted in Bloom's taxonomy, creativity, critical thinking, teaching writing, Webb's Depth of Knowledge Levels