How to Use Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning in Your Classroom

How do you measure the depth and breadth of your students’ learning?

You only have so much time with your students, and it’s up to you to figure out how to use it effectively. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning provides a framework that educators can use to:

1. Guide student learning
2. Develop research-backed teaching plans
3. Assess the effectiveness of teaching

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning, 1956 and Revised

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning, published in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom and a team of cognitive psychologists, outlines a taxonomy of educational objectives intended to guide learning and assessment from recall to critical thinking.¹ 

Like scientific taxonomies, Bloom designed the framework to emphasize linear movement, with each stage building on the one before it. Once a student has mastered the previous objective, they can move on to the next one.

Bloom’s original taxonomy was broken down into six domains:

1. Knowledge — Recall of key facts, patterns, or ideas
2. Comprehension — Understanding, summarizing, and explaining the information
3. Application — Using knowledge in certain settings and situations
4. Analysis — Applying judgements to the knowledge learned
5. Synthesis — Using knowledge to create something new and thinking critically
6. Evaluation — Making judgements about the value of what they’ve learned

Scholars understand this original taxonomy primarily as a measurement tool that helps teachers identify the level of learning students have achieved.² 

In 2001, David Krathwohl — one of the original cognitive scientists who worked on the project in 1956 — and Lorin Anderson published a revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy that looked to guide not only assessments but also curriculum and classroom planning.³ 

Instead of nouns, the revised taxonomy moved to verbs and emphasized the importance of active learning for students:

1. Remember
2. Understand
3. Apply
4. Analyze
5. Evaluate
6. Create

The revised taxonomy also broke down the knowledge domain into four separate categories:

1. Factual knowledge — Recall and memorization
2. Conceptual knowledge — Models, categories, and theories
3. Procedural knowledge — Methods and processes
4. Metacognitive knowledge — Student self-awareness and self-assessment

Why is Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Important for my Classroom?

At its core, both iterations of the taxonomy are intended to guide teaching and assessment. They can help you create actionable learning outcomes, make sure students have mastered the required skills, and ensure that once they graduate, they are prepared for the workforce. Especially in online learning settings, Bloom’s Taxonomy can give instructors confidence to guide effective learning in an unfamiliar environment.

Most post-secondary educators use Bloom’s Taxonomy to promote higher-order thinking (Knowledge, Analysis and Evaluation; or Analyze, Evaluate and Create). While these are generally the skills post-secondary students need to master, it’s important to make sure students have the necessary background knowledge and understanding they need to do higher-level activities.

You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to make sure your curriculum is progressing appropriately, assess students accurately on individual assignments, and try new teaching methods in the classroom.

Let’s dive into a few ways you can use Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning in the classroom.

Examples of Bloom’s Taxonomy your Classroom

Every lesson plan has a learning objective that can be aligned to one of the ideas in either the original or the revised Taxonomy of Learning.

In particular, the Revised Taxonomy can be used to brainstorm and write learning goals — just substitute the verb with another that accurately represents what you’re trying to do in the classroom:

1. Remember — Define, describe, identify, name, memorize, outline, trace, write
2. Understand — Classify, compare, defend, discuss, elaborate, estimate, infer, paraphrase
3. Apply — Adapt, back up, calculate, examine, modify, practice, solve, use
4. Analyze — Break down, contrast, diagnose, illustrate, prioritize, transform
5. Evaluate — Assess, critique, explain, interpret, predict, validate, verify
6. Create — Budget, categorize, compose, develop, formulate, integrate, plan

Use the learning objective to assess whether students have reached the appropriate level of learning, or if you need to review fundamental concepts in lower-level domains.

In one study, 64% of teachers said using Bloom’s Taxonomy in their classroom helped them cognitively challenge their students and promote new ways of thinking at all levels of learning.⁴ 

When used with techniques like project-based learning or inquiry-based learning, Bloom’s Taxonomy can help you structure activities for maximum effectiveness and boost your chances of success.

Should I use Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning in my Classroom?

Bloom’s Taxonomy is an important framework that’s been used by educators for over fifty years and has helped many teachers deliver effective instruction.

But critics of the taxonomy say it assumes learning is always linear and clear-cut, while in real life student understanding can fall back and forth between the domains.

Some educators also say Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning places too much emphasis on creativity as an end goal and doesn’t recognize its importance throughout the rest of the learning process as a tool for learning.

Overall, Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning is a helpful framework for understanding curricula, student learning, and assessment. It’s best used together with other teaching methods for a well-rounded picture, but don’t be afraid to leverage it as an important support for your teaching!

^{[1] Bloom et al., Taxonomy of Educational Objective: The Classification of Educational Goals, Longmans, Green, and Co. Ltd, 1956, https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/china2018/texts/Bloom%20et%20al%20-Taxonomy%20of%20Educational%20Objectives.pdf}

^{[2] David R. Krathwohl, “A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An Overview,” Theory into Practice, Volume 41, Number 4, 2002, https://cmapspublic2.ihmc.us/rid=1Q2PTM7HL-26LTFBX-9YN8/Krathwohl%202002.pdf}

^{[3] Lorin W. Anderson and David R. Krathwohl, A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing, 2001, https://www.uky.edu/~rsand1/china2018/texts/Anderson-Krathwohl%20-%20A%20taxonomy%20for%20learning%20teaching%20and%20assessing.pdf}

^{[4] Toni Noble, “Integrating the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy with Multiple Intelligences: A Planning Tool for Curriculum Differentiation,” Teachers College Record, 2004, p. 193-211 https://www.tcrecord.org/books/Content.asp?ContentID=11520}