BLOOMS TAXONOMY IN COLLEGE EXAMS What is the instructor looking for - PDF document

BLOOM’S TAXONOMY IN COLLEGE EXAMS What is the instructor looking for on an exam (besides the right answer)? One way of organizing and developing our thinking skills so that we can devise better answers to exam questions is to be familiar with and use Blo om’s Taxonomy . Sound scary? Well, it isn’t. Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues suggested that our thinking abilities can be organized into a step-by-step method of problem solving. These steps , like rungs on a ladder, will range from lower to higher levels of thinking. Instructors will begin asking questions at the lowest (easiest) level and work to the highest (hardest) level on material that they have taught. The value placed on these questions will be based on how easy or hard the question is. These steps or levels of difficulty tell the instructor how well the class understands the material. HOW TO DO BETTER ON TESTS HOW TO DO BETTER ON TESTS HOW TO DO BETTER ON TESTS HOW TO DO BETTER ON TESTS One way to earn better grades on tests, quizzes, and in class participation is to understand the levels of questions that the instructor is asking: ______________________________________________________________________________ Knowledge At the bottom of the ladder is the knowledge level, reflected in the skill of memorizing. Retaining information is an important part of nearly every college course. Unfortunately, we can memorize information incorrectly. We can memorize information without it’s making any sense to us. We don’t necessarily learn what we memorize. Sometimes we can’t use a memorized term because we don’t remember what it means or the context in which to use it. Cramming for an exam is an example of just memorizing information. Your instructor will know that meaningful learning depends on much more than memorized facts—you will be tested on how to use the information, not just what the information is. When instructors ask questions at the knowledge level, they want the student to recall or recognize facts, terminology, problem-solving strategies, or rules. Verbs used to write test questions at the knowledge level include the following: define match select describe name state identify outline what label recall when list recite where, who

_____________________________________________________________________________ Comprehension The next level is comprehension . It emphasizes understanding the material that you are trying to learn. This is the rung on the ladder where you say, “Oh, I get it!” or “I need that explained better.” Once you’ve found the material that you need to read, your challenge is to read, interpret, and paraphrase what the author says, so that you can use the information in your work. We want to understand what the author is thinking and be able to discuss the material, as well as show our understanding of it. Instructors make questions requiring some degree of understanding at this level. Test questions at this level will require a student to translate (change the way the information is communicated), interpret (see relationships and connections) and infer (draw conclusions from the information). Examples of verbs at this level are: compare contrast convert defend derive (main idea) describe differentiate discriminate distinguish estimate explain extend illustrate infer interpret paraphrase predict reorder summarize _____________________________________________________________________________ Application The third level is application , or applying what you have learned in your coursework to different situations. Here you will be more involved in learning as you link your new knowledge to your life (or your previous knowledge). You might be able to identify an experience from your own life with that of a main character in a short story assigned in your English class. Your ability to see a parallel between the character and yourself is an example of application. Learning a new form of note-taking, and then beginning to use it in your classes is another example of application. An instructor hopes to have a student use previously learned information in order to solve a problem. Verbs that an instructor might use are the following: apply change choose classify compute demonstrate employ modify operate organize prepare relate select solve (only 1 is correct) transfer use develop _____________________________________________________________________________ Analysis The fourth step on the ladder, analysis , requires you to take an example or problem and break it apart in meaningful ways. Analysis is a basic requirement for critical thinking in any subject. By breaking apart a case, you narrow it down to symptoms that can be linked to important concepts that you learned in a course. An example might be in history class in which you look at assumptions and inferences in a famous speech. Instructors want their students to identify logical errors to differentiate among facts, opinions, assumptions, hypotheses, or conclusions. Questions at this level often require the student to draw relationships among ideas. Verbs that instructors use at this level are: analyze break down conclude deduce detect diagram determine differentiate distinguish identify cause or infer illustrate outline point out reason relate separate out subdivide tell why

_____________________________________________________________________________ Synthesis The fifth level, synthesis , involves the combination of different ideas or different information in order to create a new concept. Synthesizing requires you to survey your existing knowledge base (which is wider because of your experiences in class) and to now create new combinations of these ideas. You will make creative solutions. Instructors aren’t always looking for “the answer” at the synthesis level, because there can be more than one correct answer. The key word here is often “original.” Verbs instructors writing synthesis questions might use are: categorize compile construct design devise formulate plan produce solve synthesize combine compose create develop draw originate predict propose summarize write ______________________________________________________________________________ Evaluation The sixth step is evaluation , which involves deciding how important or how good your evidence or facts are. In many cases of evaluation, the instructor won’t give you information to make a decision. So part of critical thinking is to make you own standards for making a decision. In evaluation, you must reach a conclusion using appropriate material for judgment based on your own interpretation of evidence. An example might be to evaluate whether a painting is aesthetically pleasing. Another example might be to decide whether a social policy intended to provide adequate aid and assistance to poor people is accomplishing its mission. Instructors want their students to form judgments about the value and worth of methods, ideas, people, or products that have a specific purpose. They are looking for the student to state the basis for their judgments. The verbs that instructors use for evaluation or judgment are: appraise defend argue interpret compare judge conclude justify contrast support criticize validate Each step of the ladder is more challenging than the previous steps. Each step takes the student toward the more difficult types of questions. Being able to anticipate what an instructor is looking for in an answer to his or her question is an important step toward providing a satisfactory answer. Bloomsburg University Student Support Services 1998