 Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. In 1956 he proposed a classification of learning objectives known as Bloom's Taxonomy. (What is a taxonomy?)
Bloom's Taxonomy divides learning objectives into three domains: Affective, Psychomotor, and Cognitive. (Refer to the Learning Objectives Wikipedia entry for more details.)
Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive learning objectives provides teachers with a framework in which they can develop a learning environment that recognises and makes provision for a range of feasible and measurable cognitive activities, as per the diagram on the right. (Click for larger version).
This Taxonomy of Cognitive Learning is hierarchical, and helps to provide an understanding of the learning process:
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Before we can Understand a concept we have to Remember it; |
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Before we can Apply a concept we have to Understand it; |
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Before we can Analyse an idea we must be able to Apply it; |
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Before we can Evaluate a concept we must have Analysed it; |
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Before we can Create new information or ideas, we must have Remembered, Understood, Applied, Analysed, and Evaluated existing information and ideas. |
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