SoSt 200  Introduction to Social Studies

Asking Questions:  Bloom’s Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom, in Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (1956), describes an ordered relationship between levels of cognitive structuring.  These levels can also be used to structure the order in which questions are posed:  If your students are confused or unresponsive when you pose a question, it may indicate that you are posing the question at too-high a level of organization; try asking more basic questions and building up to the question you initially wanted to pose.

 

The six cognitive levels are:

 

Knowledge

Learning and repeating of information from memory.  It involves recall and recognition of information, such as “What is the name for the form of local government in which the council hires its chief executive?”  It lends itself to questions like:

·        Label

·        List

·        Repeat

·        Recall

·        Recognize

·        Define

·        Who, what, when, where

 

Comprehension

 Based on some knowledge, restate the information in one’s own way.  It involves questions such as “What was the main issue at the council meeting?”  It lends itself to questions like:

 

Application

Solve a real world problem by identifying the issues and selecting/using appropriate rules for solving the issues.  It involves questions such as “Demonstrate the steps in running a meeting of the city council.”  It lends itself to questions like:

·        Solve

·        Choose

·        Use

·        Select

·        Schedule

·        Employ

·        Classify

·        Operate

 

Analysis

Solve a problem by focally applying rules of critical thinking (breaking information into parts, offering evidence to support conclusions, logically structuring an argument).  It involves questions such as, “What is the argument for separating policy from administration in local government affairs?”  It lends itself to questions like:

 

Synthesis

Solve a problem by producing an original product or idea of one’s own.  It involves questions such as, “Construct a chart that shows how a development proposal gets approved.”  It lends itself to questions like:

 

Evaluation

Judge the value of information collected or of a solution provided.  It involves questions such as, “What do you think about the Council’s decision to provide tax incentives for a new shopping mall?”  It lends itself to questions like:

 

MSU

© 2004 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 8 January 2005