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Bloom's Taxonomy

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Applying the New Bloom's Taxonomy 

The New Bloom's Taxonomy is a way to define the type of knowledge or skill that is to be learned.   Ideally, our students will be learning at the higher levels of the taxonomy, that is, in application, analysis, evaluation, and creation.   Use the table below to guide you when you develop objectives.   If you want students to perform a particular type of thing (e.g., remember) make sure your learning objectives use the appropriate verbs.  In this table, the higher order learning objectives are listed higher in the table.   Notice that these types of objectives most closely match the kinds of things physicians will be doing in practice.     

 

Category

Examples

Use These Verbs in Your Objectives...
Creating: Build a cohesive structure from various elements. Synthesize parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure, or adding value.
  • Design a process for effectively screening for Alzheimer's,
  • Summarize the key factors leading to Alzheimers and explain the most effective treatments,
  • Reconstruct a broken bone,
  • Organize a patient's history from disjointed data and verbal accounts,
  • Generate a 3 part differential diagnosis and a 5 part treatment plan.
 categorize, combine, compile, compose, create, devise, design, explain, generate, modify, organize, plan, rearrange, reconstruct, relate, reorganize, revise, rewrite, summarize, tell, write.
Evaluating: Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
  • Assess the severity of the condition,
  • Critique the clinical process and conclusions presented in a vignette,
  • Interpret the various data and make a diagnosis,
  • Support your top three diagnoses.
 appraise, compare, conclude, contrast, criticize, critique, defend, describe, discriminate, evaluate, explain, interpret, justifie, relate, summarize, support.
Analyzing: Separate material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguish between facts and inferences.
  • Map the key components of the patient's health ecosystem,
  • Discriminate between three similar skin rashes,
  • Illustrate the brain stem,
  • Compare the functions of the key parts of the community health infrastructure.
 analyze, break down, compare, contrast, diagram, map, deconstruct, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, identify, illustrate, infer, outline, relate, select, separate.
Applying: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.
  • Predict probability that patient will present diabetes,
  • Operate an ultrasound machine,
  • Relate the various factors in a differential diagnosis
  • Perform the steps of a procedure.
 apply, change compute, construct, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate, predict, prepare, produce, relate, show, solve, use.
Understanding: Comprehending the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions or problems. State a problem in one's own words.
  • Summarize medical condition,
  • Interpret x-ray film,
  • Paraphrase medical text,
  • Explain contributing factors.
 convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize, give an example, infer, interpret, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize, translate.
Remembering: Recall previously learned information.
  • State the steps of a procedure,
  • Identify an organ,
  • Recognize a disease,
  • Select an instrument.  
 define, describe, identify, label, list, match, name, outline, recall, recognize, reproduce, select, state.

 

  

 

 

Reference

Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives: Complete edition, New York : Longman.