B l o o m ' s Ta x o n o m y o f

Learning Domains

Bloom's Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of educational

psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking in
education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures,
and principles , rather than just remembering facts (rote learning). It is most
often used when designing educational, training, and learning processes.

The Three Domains of Learning

The committee identified three domains of educational activities
or learning (Bloom, et al. 1956):
o Cognitive: mental skills (knowledge)
o Affective: growth in feelings or
emotional areas (attitude or self)
o Psychomotor: manual or physical
skills (skills)
Since the work was produced by higher education, the words tend to be a little
bigger than we normally use. Domains may be thought of as categories.
Instructional designers, trainers, and educators often refer to these three
categories as KSA (Knowledge [cognitive], Skills [psychomotor],
and Attitudes [affective]). This taxonomy of learning behaviors may be thought
of as the goals of the learning process. That is, after a learning episode, the
learner should have acquired a new skill, knowledge, and/or attitude.
While the committee produced an elaborate compilation for the cognitive and
affective domains, they omitted the psychomotor domain. Their explanation for
this oversight was that they have little experience in teaching manual skills
within the college level. However, there have been at least three psychomotor
models created by other researchers.
Their compilation divides the three domains into subdivisions, starting from the
simplest cognitive process or behavior to the most complex. The divisions
outlined are not absolutes and there are other systems or hierarchies that have
been devised, such as the Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO).
However, Bloom's taxonomy is easily understood and is probably the most
widely applied one in use today.

Cognitive Domain
The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual
skills (Bloom, 1956). This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts,
procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual
abilities and skills. There are six major categories of cognitive an processes,

starting from the simplest to the most complex (see thetable below for an
in-depth coverage of each category):

o Knowledge
o Comprehension
o Application
o Analysis
o Synthesis
o Evaluation
The categories can be thought of as degrees of difficulties. That is, the first
ones must normally be mastered before the next one can take place.

B l o o m ' s R e v i s e d Ta x o n o m y
Lorin Anderson, a former student of Bloom, and David Krathwohl revisited the
cognitive domain in the mid-nineties and made some changes, with perhaps the
three most prominent ones being (Anderson, Krathwohl, Airasian, Cruikshank,
Mayer, Pintrich, Raths, Wittrock, 2000):

o changing the names in the six

categories from noun to verb
forms
o rearranging them as shown in
the chart below
o creating a processes and levels
of knowledge matrix
The chart shown below compares the original taxonomy with the
revised one:

This new taxonomy reflects a more active form of thinking and is perhaps more
accurate. The new version of Bloom's Taxonomy, with examples and
keywords is shown below, while the old version may be found here

Ta b l e o f t h e R e v i s e d C o g n i t i v e
Domain
Category

Examples, key words (verbs), and technologies for

learning (activities)

Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from

memory to a customer. Recite the safety
rules.
Remembering: Recall or
retrieve previous learned
information.

Key Words: defines, describes, identifies,

knows, labels, lists, matches, names,
outlines, recalls, recognizes, reproduces,
selects, states
Technologies: book marking, flash cards,
rote learning based on repetition, reading

Examples: Rewrite the principles of test

writing. Explain in one's own words the steps
for performing a complex task. Translate an
equation into a computer spreadsheet.
Understanding:
Comprehending the meaning,
translation, interpolation, and
interpretation of instructions
and problems. State a
problem in one's own words.

Key Words: comprehends, converts,

defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains,
extends, generalizes, gives an example,
infers, interprets, paraphrases, predicts,
rewrites, summarizes, translates
Technologies: create an analogy,
participating in cooperative learning , taking
notes, storytelling, Internet search

Applying: Use a concept in a

Examples: Use a manual to calculate an

employee's vacation time. Apply laws of

statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written
test.
new situation or unprompted
use of an abstraction. Applies
what was learned in the
classroom into novel
situations in the work place.

Key Words: applies, changes, computes,

constructs, demonstrates, discovers,
manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts,
prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves,
uses
Technologies: collaborative learning , create
a process, blog, practice

Analyzing: Separates
material or concepts into
component parts so that its
organizational structure may
be understood. Distinguishes
between facts and
inferences.

Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of

equipment by using logical deduction.
Recognize logical fallacies in
reasoning. Gathers information from a
department and selects the required tasks for
training.
Key Words: analyzes, breaks down,
compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs,
differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes,
identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates,
selects, separates
Technologies: Fishbowls , debating,
questioning what happened, run a test

Evaluating: Make judgments

about the value of ideas or
materials.

Examples: Select the most effective solution.

Hire the most qualified candidate. Explain
and justify a new budget.
Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes,
contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends,

describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains,

interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes,
supports
Technologies: survey, blogging

Creating: Builds a structure

or pattern from diverse
elements. Put parts together
to form a whole, with
emphasis on creating a new
meaning or structure.

Examples: Write a company operations or

process manual. Design a machine to
perform a specific task. Integrates training
from several sources to solve a problem.
Revises and process to improve the outcome.
Key Words: categorizes, combines,
compiles, composes, creates, devises,
designs, explains, generates, modifies,
organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs,
relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites,
summarizes, tells, writes
Technologies: Create a new model, write an
essay, network with others

Cognitive Processes and Levels of

Knowledge Matrix
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy not only improved the usability of it by using action
words, but added a cognitive and knowledge matrix.
While Bloom's original cognitive taxonomy did mention three levels of
knowledge or products that could be processed, they were not discussed very
much and remained one-dimensional:

o Factual - The basic elements

students must know to be

acquainted with a discipline or

solve problems.
o Conceptual The
interrelationships among the
basic elements within a larger
structure that enable them to
function together.
o Procedural - How to do
something, methods of inquiry,
and criteria for using skills,
algorithms, techniques, and
methods.
In Krathwohl and Anderson's revised version, the authors combine the cognitive
processes with the above three levels of knowledge to form a matrix. In
addition, they added another level of knowledge - metacognition:

o Metacognitive Knowledge of
cognition in general, as well as
awareness and knowledge of
ones own cognition.
When the cognitive and knowledge dimensions are arranged in a matrix, as
shown below, it makes a nice performance aid for creating performance
objectives:
The Cognitive Dimension
The Knowledge Dimension Remember Under-stand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Factual
Conceptual
Procedural
Metacognitive

However, others have identified five contents or artifacts (Clark, Chopeta, 2004;
Clark, Mayer, 2007):

o Facts - Specific and unique data

or instance.
o Concepts - A class of items,
words, or ideas that are known
by a common name, includes
multiple specific examples,
shares common features. There
are two types of concepts:
concrete and abstract.
o Processes - A flow of events or
activities that describe how
things work rather than how to
do things. There are normally
two types: business processes
that describe work flows and
technical processes that
describe how things work in
equipment or nature. They may
be thought of as the big picture,
of how something works.
o Procedures - A series of stepby-step actions and decisions
that result in the achievement of
a task. There are two types of
actions: linear and branched.
o Principles - Guidelines, rules,
and parameters that govern. It
includes not only what should be
done, but also what should not

be done. Principles allow one to

make predictions and draw
implications. Given an effect,
one can infer the cause of a
phenomena. Principles are the
basic building blocks of causal
models or theoretical models
(theories).
Thus, the new matrix would look similar to this:
The Cognitive Dimension
The Knowledge Dimension Remember Under-stand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create
Facts
Concepts
Processes
Procedures
Principles
Metacognitive
An example matrix that has been filled in might look something like this:
The Knowledge
Dimension
Facts

Remember Under-stand Apply

Analyze

Evaluate

Create

list

para-phrase

classify outline

rank

Concepts

recall

explains

show

criticize modify

Processes

outline

estimate

produce diagram

defend

design

Procedures

reproduce

give an
example

relate

identify

critique

plan

Principles

state

converts

solve

differentiates

conclude revise

Meta-cognitive

proper use interpret

contrast

discover infer

predict

categorize

actualize

Next Steps
o Affective Domain
o Psychomotor Domain
o Original Cognitive Domain (old
version)
o SOLO Taxonomy

Review
o Introduction
o The Three Domains of Learning
o Cognitive Domain
o Revised Taxonomy of the Cognitive
Domain
o Cognitive Process and Levels of
Knowledge Matrix

Useful Links
o Learning Strategies : Using Bloom's
Taxonomy
o Instructional Design Toolkit

References
Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E.,
Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning,
Teaching, and Assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational
Objectives . New York: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon.

Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R.
(1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I : The Cognitive
Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
Clark, R., Chopeta, L. (2004). Graphics for Learning : Proven Guidelines for
Planning, Designing, and Evaluating Visuals in Training Materials . San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

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http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-forteachers/standards/overview/domains-of-teaching

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers

Domains of teaching
The Standards are grouped into three domains of
teaching; Professional Knowledge, Professional
Practice and Professional Engagement. In practice, teaching draws
on aspects of all three domains.

Professional Knowledge
Teachers draw on a body of professional knowledge and research
to respond to the needs of their students within their educational
contexts.
Teachers know their students well, including their diverse linguistic,
cultural and religious backgrounds. They know how the experiences
that students bring to their classroom affect their continued learning.
They know how to structure their lessons to meet the physical,

social and intellectual development and characteristics of their

students.
Teachers know the content of their subjects and curriculum. They
know and understand the fundamental concepts, structure and
enquiry processes relevant to programs they teach. Teachers
understand what constitutes effective, developmentally appropriate
strategies in their learning and teaching programs and use this
knowledge to make the content meaningful to students.
Through their teaching practice, teachers develop students' literacy
and numeracy within their subject areas. They are also able to use
Information and Communication Technology to contextualise and
expand their students' modes and breadth of learning.

Professional Practice
Teachers are able to make learning engaging and valued. They are
able to create and maintain safe, inclusive and challenging learning
environments and implement fair and equitable behaviour
management plans. They use sophisticated communication
techniques.
Teachers have a repertoire of effective teaching strategies and use
them to implement well-designed teaching programs and lessons.
They regularly evaluate all aspects of their teaching practice to
ensure they are meeting the learning needs of their students. They
interpret and use student assessment data to diagnose barriers to
learning and to challenge students to improve their performance.
They operate effectively at all stages of the teaching and learning
cycle, including planning for learning and assessment, developing

learning programs, teaching, assessing, providing feedback on

student learning and reporting to parents/carers.

Professional Engagement
Teachers model effective learning. They identify their own learning
needs and analyse, evaluate and expand their professional
learning, both collegially and individually.
Teachers demonstrate respect and professionalism in all their
interactions with students, colleagues, parents/carers and the
community. They are sensitive to the needs of parents/carers and
can communicate effectively with them about their children's
learning.
Teachers value opportunities to engage with their school
communities within and beyond the classroom to enrich the
educational context for students. They understand the links between
school, home and community in the social and intellectual
development of their students.
............................................................................................................
...........
As professionals, teachers need to engage in reflective practice to
critically think about their skills and knowledge, access professional
development for improvement and become an active member of
learning communities to meet their professional needs.
Teacher Educator, New South Wales. Validation Survey 2, 8
October to 5 November 2010
Chapter 3. The Four Domains of Teaching Responsibility

Although teachers sometimes feel pulled in many different directionsat one moment serving as a
counselor, at another moment as a business managera unifying thread runs through the entire
framework for teaching and provides an organizing structure. That thread consists of engaging students in
learning important content. All the components of the framework serve this primary purpose. And in
pursuit of important learning, a teacher creates, with the students, a community of learners, where all
students feel respected and honored.
Each of the four domains of the framework refers to a distinct aspect of teaching. To some degree, the
components within each domain form a coherent body of knowledge and skill that can be the subject of
focus independent of the other domains. This chapter describes each domain, identifies common themes
that run through the components, and explains the concepts underlying the four levels of performance
that are displayed by teachers with different levels of skill.