Module II: Lesson Organization (Cont.)

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10

Getting Students to THINK: Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom's Taxonomy

Most instructors would agree that getting students to use higher order thinking skills -- using information instead of just repeating it back to us -- is a desirable educational outcome. How do we reconcile this goal with the task of creating observable learning objectives?

You'll notice on the previous chart that not every verb listed requires the same level of thinking. For example, locating something (on a map or diagram) requires a different (lower) level of thought than evaluating or predicting.

One way to create learning objectives that are observable but still require higher levels of thinking is to consider Bloom's Taxonomy. Named after Benjamin Bloom, a University of Chicago education professor, Blooms' Taxonomy lists a hierarchy of intellectual abilities in order of complexity.

While scholars have created similar taxonomies of abilities for the psychomotor (physical) and affective (emotional) domains, Bloom's taxonomy for the cognitive domain makes the most sense to explore when discussing teaching and learning strategies for adult students in an academic setting.

Using Bloom's Taxonomy can be useful to instructors when formulating their objectives.

• Bloom's Taxonomy helps instructors identify the abilities involved in a teaching-learning situation. Consequently, instructors can target higher order thinking skills in their instruction and assessment.
• Since objectives formed using Bloom's Taxonomy are behavioral and observable, instructors can easily assess whether students have met the instructional objectives.
• Bloom's Taxonomy also benefits learners. It communicates the instructor's expectations to learners (to recall facts, apply facts, or analyze a problem situation).

Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10