BloomsTaxonomyofCriticalThinking

andWritingEffectiveLearningObjectives/Outcomes
In1956BenjaminS.Bloomandhiscolleaguesoutlinedsixlevelsofcriticalthinking
intowhichanycognitivelearningexperiencemaybecategorized.Beginningwith
basicknowledgeofthesubject,thistaxonomyprogressestowardmorecomplexor
higherlevelsofcriticalthought,culminatingwithsophisticatedthinkingprocesses
usingconceptsunderstudy.ThesixlevelsofBloomstaxonomyareasfollows:
1.Knowledge:Basicrecalloffactsanddata:times,dates,names,formulas,etc.
2.Comprehension:Notjustknowingthesalientdataassociatedwithaconcept,but
alsoarticulatingrelationshipsamongdatatograspthechiefmeaningofa
concept.
3.Application:Takingaconceptunderstudyandusingitinaneworhypothetical
situationtoarriveatacorrectanswer.
4.Analysis:Breakingsomethingintocomponentpartslookingatindividualitems
fortrendsorevidenceforgeneralization.
5.Synthesis:Presentingitemsorthoughtstogetherinnewways,basedona
presentedcriteria.
6.Evaluation:Arguingforthevalidityorrelativeworthofaviewpointorprocess,
basedonestablishedcriteria.
Usingthesesixcategories,instructorscanproceedtodevelopfocusedlearning
objectives,asdetailedbelow.

EffectiveLearningObjectives/Outcomes
Simplyput,alearningobjectiveisawrittenstatementofwhatastudentshouldget
outofagivenlearningexperience.Iftheexperienceisgeneraltotheentirecourse
(e.g.tobeabletodescribethefundamentalprinciplesofquantummechanics),itis
termedacoursegoalif,ontheotherhand,theexperienceisspecifictoagiven
week,chapter,orotherdiscreteunitoflearning,itiscalledaunitlearning
objective.Apartfromthescopeoflearningtowhichtheyeachrefer,coursegoals
andunitlearningobjectivesareconstructedandusedinanidenticalfashion.
Gooddesignbeginsandendswithsolidlywrittenlearningobjectives.These
objectivesserveasguideposts,bothforstudentstakingthecourseandthe
instructor(s)facilitatingtheonlinecourse.Towriteaneffectiveobjective,an
instructormustkeepinmindthefollowing:
Unlikeinstructionalorteachinggoals,objectivesoroutcomesfocusonwhatthe
learnerneedstoknow,nottheinstructor.Theyarelearnercentric.

Objectivesshouldalwaysbestatedintermsofwhatthelearnerwillbeableto
think,do,orfeelasaresultoftheinstruction.
Objectivesaremeasurable.Theconditionsofperformanceandtheminimum
degreeofacceptableperformanceshouldalsobeincludedwheneverpossibleina
wellwrittenlearningobjective.
Objectivesusuallyappearinbulletlistform,andareprecededbyastem
sentencethatcommunicatestheendpointbywhichtheobjectiveswillbeachieved.
Itcouldbetheendofthecourse,ortheendofthemoduleorunit,dependingon
whetheritwasacoursegoaloraunitlearningobjective.Atypicalstemsentence
mightbe:Bytheendofthisunit,studentswillbeableto:.Thebulletlistof
objectivesimmediatelyfollows.
Objectivesarephrasedinsuccinct,simple(notcompound)sentences,eachof
whichbeginswithaspecificactionverb.Thisverbshouldsuggesttheformof
assessmenttobeusedtodeterminewhethertheobjectivehasbeenmet.Avoid
usingvaguewordslikeunderstand,know,orappreciate,astheyinvariably
denotearangeofmeaningssobroadastobeuselessincommunicating
expectationstostudents.DecidingwheretheobjectivefitsintoBloomstaxonomy
ofcriticalthinkingoftencanhelp.Ausefulcharthasbeenprovidedattheendof
thisdocumentwithacategorizedselectionofstrongactionverbs.
Outcomesguideallsubsequentteachingactivities,includingchoosingwhatisto
belearned(content),howitcanbestbelearned(teachingstrategiesandtools),
andwhetherornotitwaslearned(evaluationofoutcomes).
Exampleofcoursegoal:
Atthecompletionofthiscourse,studentswillbeableto:
Comparevariousmethodsofindustriallightingindetail.
Arguefortheadoptionofoneformofindustriallightingoverothers,basedon
providedcriteria,inawrittenproposal.
Exampleoflearningobjective:
Bytheendofthismodule,studentswillbeableto:
Describethefundamentalelementsofahalogenlightbulb.

Learningobjective/outcomeverbsareimportantandhelpful
Theverbsusedinlearningobjectivesandoutcomesoftenindicatethelevelof
thoughtatwhichstudentsarefunctioning.Unfortunately,manyverbsoftenutilized
inlearningobjectivesareopentomisinterpretation.Thefollowingverbsshouldbe
avoidedbecauseitisdifficulttomeasurewhethertheyhavebeenachieved.
Know
Appreciate
Believe

Learn
Enjoy
Havefaith

Understand
Graspsignificance
Realize

Thefollowinglistsareprovidedtohelprecognizelevelsofthoughtandtowrite
objectivesthataddressthevariouslevelsofskillyourstudentshouldattain.Some
verbsmaybefoundinmorethanonelist.Whendeterminingthelearningoutcomes
orobjectivesforyourcourse,considerusingaverbfromtheappropriatecognitive
domainbelow.
KnowledgeLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitivedomain
are:
Count
Define
Distinguish
Draw
Indicate
List
Name
Observe

Point
Provide
Quote
Read
Recall
Recite
Recognize
Record

Relate
Repeat
Review
State
Tabulate
Trace
Underline
Write

ComprehensionLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitive
domainare:
Associate
Classify
Compare
Compute
Conclude
Contrast
Describe
Differentiate

Distinguish
Edit
Estimate
Extrapolate
Rewrite
Infer
Interpret

Locate
Predict
Rephrase
Restate
Giveinownterms
Summarize
Translate

ApplicationLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitivedomain
are:
Apply
Calculate
Choose
Complete
Conduct
Demonstrate
Discover
Employ

Illustrate
Implement
Increase
Install
Modify
Order
Practice
Prepare

Produce
Purchase
Relate
Repair
Show
Solve
Transfer
Utilize

AnalysisLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitivedomain
are:
Analyze
Classify
Compare
Construct
Deduce
Detect
Diagram
Differentiate

Distinguish
Divide
Examine
Explain
Group
Identify
Illustrate
Infer

Investigate
Outline
Pointout
Reduce
Relate
Separate
Summarize
Transform

SynthesisLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitivedomain
are:
Arrange
Assemble
Build
Combine
Construct
Create

Develop
Formulate
Generalize
Integrate
Originate
Organize

Plan
Prepare
Prescribe
Produce
Puttogether
Synthesize

EvaluationLearningobjective/outcomeverbexamplesforthiscognitivedomain
are:
Appraise
Argue
Assess
Compare
Contrast

Determine
Estimate
Evaluate
Grade
Judge

Rate
Recommend
Regulate
Select
Test