What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information.

Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts, as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest order, which is classified as evaluation. Verb examples that represent intellectual activity on each level are listed here.

1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Analysis
5. Synthesis
6. Evaluation

Bloom’s Taxonomy can be a useful resource in developing learning outcomes. The following are action verbs that can be used for various levels of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning.  Below are additional action verbs utilizing Bloom’s cognitive learning.

1. Knowledge - to recall or remember facts without necessarily understanding them
   
- Action Verbs: arrange, define, duplicate, label list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, reproduce, list, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect, examine, tabulate, quote


2. Comprehension – to understand and interpret learned information
   - Action Verbs: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, interpret, contrast, predict, associate, distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend, translate, review, restate, locate, recognize, report
   
   
3. Application – to put ideas and concepts to work in solving problems
   - Action Verbs: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, calculate, complete, show, examine, modify, relate, change, experiment, discover
   
   
4. Analysis – to break information into its components to see interrelationships and ideas
   - Action Verbs: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test, separate, order, connect, classify, arrange, divide, infer
   
   
5. Synthesis – to use creativity to compose and design something original
   - Action Verbs: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, rewrite, integrate, create, design, generalize
   
   
6. Evaluation – to judge the value of information based on established criteria
   - Action Verbs: appraise, argue, assess, attach, defend, judge, predict, rate, support, evaluate, recommend, convince, judge, conclude, compare, summarize