Thought Provoking Questioning … Bloom’s Hierarchy

 About Benjamin Bloom and the Taxonomy of Learning

The Taxonomy of Dr. Benjamin Bloom (1956) is the framework used to develop questions that progress from concrete to abstract levels of thinking.  The following is the hierarchy:

Remembering - Identifying and recalling information

            Who, what, when, where, how, describe, list

Understanding - Organizing and selecting facts and ideas

            Retell (in your own words)

            What is the main idea of _____

Applying - Using facts, rules, principles

            How is _____ an example of _____           

How is _____ related to _____                   

Analyzing - Separating a whole into component parts

            What are the parts of features of _____

            Classify _____ according to _____

            Outline/diagram/web

            How does _____compare/contrast with _____

            What evidence can you present for _____

Evaluating - Developing opinions, judgments or decisions

            Do you agree or disagree and why

            What do you think about _____

What is the most important____ and why

Prioritize _____ according to _____

How would you decide about _____

What criteria would you use to assess _____

Creating - Combining ideas to form a new whole

What would you predict/infer from _____

How would you create/design a new _____

What might happen if you combined _____ with _____

What solutions would you suggest for _____

What if _____

What could I substitute for _____

How could I adapt?

How could I modify?

How could I put to other uses?

What if I eliminated a part?

What if I reversed or rearranged?

                    Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives, Assessble Verbs

1. Remembering: arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize,
name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce, and state.

2. Understanding: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express,
identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review,
select, and translate.

3. Applying: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ,
illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve,
use, write.

4. Analyzing:  analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare,
contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish,
examine, experiment, question, and test.

5. Evaluating: appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose compare,
defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value,
evaluate.

6. Creating: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct,
create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare,
propose, set up, and write.