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BLOOM'S TAXONOMY Critical Thinking
Critical thinking theory finds its roots primarily in the works of Benjamin Bloom as he classified learning behaviors in the cognitive domain. Bloom (1956) developed a taxonomy of learning objectives for teachers which he clarified and expounded upon over the course of approximately two decades. His ideas continue to be widely accepted and taught in teacher education programs throughout the United States.
Bloom classifies learning behaviors according to six levels ranging from Knowledge, which focuses upon recitation of facts, to Evaluation, which requires complex valuing and weighing of information. Each level relates to a higher level of cognitive ability.
Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives
Knowledge Focuses upon the remembering and reciting of information. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: identify, list, label, name, recall, define, locate, recognize, match, and reproduce.
Example: The student will list the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives in ascending order.Comprehension Focuses upon relating and organizing previously learned information. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: explain, relate, generalize, predict, summarize, paraphrase, restate, convert, and demonstrate.
Example: The student will explain Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives in his or her own words.Application Focuses upon applying information according to a rule or principle in a specific situation. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: Solve, choose, interpret, make, put together, change, apply, produce, translate, and construct.
Example: The student will construct six learning objectives, one from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives.Analysis Critical thinking which focuses upon parts and their functionality in the whole. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: Analyze, compare, categorize, take apart, differentiate, examine, subdivide, distinguish and contrast.
Example: The student will distinguish which level of Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives is implied in a list of ten learning objectives.Synthesis Critical thinking which focuses upon putting parts together to form a new and original whole. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: Invent, create, combine, hypothesize, plan, originate, add to, imagine, and forecast.
Example: The student will create a lesson plan in which Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives are taught.Evaluation Critical thinking which focuses upon valuing and making judgements based upon information. Behavioral verbs often linked with this level are: Assess, recommend, critique, evaluate, criticize, weigh, and value.
Example: The student will critique a classroom teacher's questioning behavior for critical thinking elements.Critical thinking may be thought of in terms of convergent and divergent questioning (Guilford 1956, Gallegher and Aschner 1963, and Wilen 1985). Convergent questions seek to ascertain basic knowledge and understanding. Divergent questions require students to process information creatively. Convergent questions tend to align with the first three levels of Blooms Taxonomy of Learning Objectives while divergent questions relate to the latter three levels. Kindsvatter, Wilen, and Ishler (1992) suggest four levels of questioning:
Level I - Low Order Convergent Questions requiring students to engage in reproducing information. Emphasis is upon memorization and recitation. Examples: "yes" or "no", name, quote, identify, list, and recall (Bloom's knowledge level). Level II - High Order Convergent Questions requiring students to do productive thinking. Student understand and mentally organize information. Examples: summarize, explain, translate, paraphrase, and compare (Bloom's comprehension and application levels). Level III - Low Order Divergent Questions requiring students to supply a reason or cause, citing evidence to support their answers. Implies: give evidence, provide reasons for, infer, deduce, draw conclusions, and analyze causes (Bloom's analysis level). Level IV - High Order Divergent Questions requiring students to respond creatively and originally to problems or scenarios. Examples: speculate, give an opinion, pose solutions, value, judge, and generate possibilities (Bloom's synthesis and evaluation levels). Critical thinking takes place when students are required to perform in the analysis - evaluation range. Kindsvatter (1991) suggests that learning consistently takes place when critical thinking is combined with relevance. Students need to find personal meaning in the curriculum for it to "sink deep" and last long. Long-term storage criteria for "learned" information: survival, enjoyment, or pain. The remainder of the curriculum is mentally jettisoned after the final assessment. Simon and Harmin (1968) suggest hierarchy of four levels at which student learns:
Facts Acquiring information; a 90% loss occurs over time; little opportunity for motivation Concepts Processing information; development of relationships and understanding; more opportunity for motivation Personal Meanings Integrating and internalizing learning; likely to endure; most opportunity for motivation Comprehensive Learning Significant lasting change in attitudes and/or capabilities Bloom suggested feedback as the most important teaching behavior related to student achievement. Feedback is the teacher's response to the student's results. Bloom stressed that students need to know how to correct themselves as they learn (Bloom 1976). Levin and Long (1981) suggest feedback contains three elements:
1. A standard or definition of performance 2. Indication of whether the standard has been met or not 3. Procedures for correcting sub-standard attempts
The following table relates Bloom's Taxonomy with materials and situations calling for that particular level of thinking. The final column lists measurable behaviors learners may exhibit for assessment purposes. Well-built lessons target a behavioral verb (objective), introduce the desired behavior and begin practice (activity), and end with the learner's exhibition of the behavior (assessment). Well-framed questions accelerate a learner's movement into critical thinking.
Bloom's Level Materials / Situations Measurable Behaviors Knowledge Events, people, newspapers, magazine articles, definitions, videos, dramas, textbooks, films, television programs, recordings, media presentations Define, describe memorize, label, recognize, name, draw, state, identify, select, write,, locate, recite Comprehension Speech, story, drama, cartoon, diagram, graph, summary, outline, analogy, poster, bulletin board Summarize, restate, paraphrase, illustrate, match, explain, defend, relate, infer, compare, contrast, generalize Application Diagram, sculpture, illustration, dramatization, forecast, problem, puzzle, organizations, classifications, rules, systems, routines Apply, change, put together, construct, discover, produce, make, report, sketch, solve, show, collect, prepare Analysis Survey, questionnaire, an argument, a model, displays, demonstrations, diagrams, systems, conclusions, report, graphed information Examine, classify, categorize, research, contrast, compare, disassemble, differentiate, separate, investigate, subdivide Synthesis Experiment, game, song, report, poem, prose, speculation, creation, art, invention, drama, rules Combine, hypothesize, construct, originate, create, design, formulate, role-play, develop Evaluation Recommendations, self-evaluations, group discussions, debate, court trial, standards, editorials, values Compare, recommend, assess, value, apprise, solve, criticize, weigh, consider, debate Moving from Knowledge to Evaluation
Robert Gagné (1967) outlines events of learning that illustrate a learner's pilgrimage from knowledge to critical thinking.
1. Motivation phase The learner must have a sense of expectancy that a need will be met or that their curiosity will be satisfied. 2. Apprehending phase The learner pays attention and focuses upon the task (Teacher: "Look at the diagram in your textbook.") 3. Acquisition phase The learner forms cognitive associations and integrates or assimilates the new material. 4. Retention phase The learner files the new information into long-term memory through rehearsal, practice, or recitation. 5. Recall phase The learner links the new information to other concepts to accommodate recall. 6. Generalization phase The learner applies the information outside the "classroom" context. Circumstances are presented for the learner to use the new information in a relevant way. 7. Performance phase Learners demonstrate their mastery of new information through exhibitions/performances. 8. Feedback phase Learners receive corrective feedback on their exhibitions/performances. Avoid "Yes" and "No" Questions
Questions eliciting thoughtful wording and construction are most likely to produce higher level thinking on the part of the student to the benefit of the classroom. Scenarios and questions calling for the learner to construct meaning and establish mental connections tend to insure critical thinking. Because critical thinking takes time, teachers should allow learners a few moments to formulate their answers.
From the 4th Century, B.C. Socrates engendered critical thinking through thoughtful questioning. Socrates was adept at posing questions that challenged his learners' statements. Socratic questions stimulate interaction between the teacher and learner and challenge the learner to defend his or her cognitive position. Example: "You believe one should always be truthful. What if telling a falsehood would save another person's life? Is truth nobler than life?"
Hilda Taba (1966) suggested inductive reasoning (arranging information according to inherent classes or principles) comprises the fundamental building blocks of higher thinking involve. Students should be led to infer the organization and significance of the information they are handling. To see this process in action, give students numerous pieces of information and suggest they meaningfully organize it. Strong students know how to organize and value information. Ask your students: "What is most important?", "What is least important?", and "Should you bother learning this? Why?"
David Ausubel's (1968) research on deductive reasoning (inferring details from generalizations or the "big picture") led him to suggest teachers introduce a topic on a general basis then slowly focus on details, linking new information with known information. Ausubel recommended: 1) Present an advanced organizer (something already known) under which the new information may be "filed", 2) Present the new material in context, and 3) Strengthen the cognitive organization of the new material relating to the old. Ask questions like: "If this is true about A, B, and C, what might we conclude about D?" or "Knowing the cause(s) in these cases, what would you guess about the cause(s) in this case?"
Gordon and Pose (1971) suggested metaphorical thinking stretches the mind and forces the learner to think critically. Analogies and metaphors require the learner to enter the land of synthesis and evaluation. Critical thinking in these creative terms may be the ultimate information-processing skill. Forced metaphors or analogies are particularly effective in instigating higher level thinking. A "forced" metaphor requires a learner to associate two ideas that are not commonly linked. For example: "How are schools like gardens?", "Personally devise and explain democracy in the context of a metaphor.", or "What do math equations and language sentences have in common?"
Give up One-at-a-time Questioning
Teachers who neglect cooperative engagement miss a valuable accountability tool and waste time. The average teacher tends to teach a concept, ask various individuals assessment type questions, and then provides corrective feedback to the individuals supposedly for the benefit of the class. Those not directly engaged in the discussion have a tendency to disengage. In a class of 20 learners this inevitably leads to the probable engagement of 1/20th of the class at one time. If learners are asked to share responses with one or more learners and then report, engagement reaches one-hundred percent! The table below contrasts individual and group questioning techniques:
Individual Questioning
- one student held accountable at a time
- 20 accountable students = 20 questions = approximately 20 minutes
- no peer feedback
- possible humiliation while in the "hot seat"
- no social enhancement or diversity situations
- teacher guesses at students' area of need
Cooperative Questioning
(Learners respond to one or more classmates)
- all students are accountable (in couples)
- 20 accountable students = 1 question = 2 minutes
- peer feedback supports and proceeds teacher feedback
- "safe" engagement
- class social structure and learners' exposure to diversity increased
- teacher responds to students' questions of need
- "Yes" and "No" questions eliminated
Direct Instruction with Cooperative Questioning
Consistently effective accountability and engagement after instruction come when students work in couple configurations with various partners over time. When groups have more than two members, all members have an assigned responsibility. Current brain research suggests that "mental breaks" every 20 minutes keep learners alert and on task.
1. Introduction of general teaching/learning goals 2. Teaching (10-20 minutes) 3. Students work together to answer questions (limit response time to 30-60 seconds per answer; teacher monitors and answers questions) 4. X number of couples merge to discuss their answers (elect reporter/spokesperson; teacher monitors and answers questions) 5. Reporters from merged groups report to class 6. Teacher repeats the process
Looking for Evidence of Critical Thinking
You may be a critical thinking teacher if...
- Learners are active and in a continuous dialogue with teacher
- Learning is constructing, not feeding
- Truth is discovered, not delivered
- Teacher "leads from behind"
- Teacher functions as a facilitator/mentor instead of lecturer
- Questions are answered with explanations or questions, not simply "yes" or "no"
- Questions rarely have one right answer
- Pertinent discussions on related issues often break out
- Debate is common
- Peers exchange ideas
- Learner and teacher satisfaction increases
- "Rabbit chasing" becomes an art - explore related issues, yet remain on task
- Teachers often face questions for which they have no answers
- Social interaction and acceptance in the class is generally high
Answer the following questions.
1. Are your teaching objectives, activities, and assessments are tied to higher level behavioral verbs?
2. Do all learners have the opportunity to interact with you and others?
3. Do you allow time in your course for debating?
4. Do your learners have to use inductive and deductive strategies?
5. Do you find yourself using "shock" statements and questions to get learners' minds running?
If you could say "yes" to most of these questions, critical thinking is probably happening in your classroom.
Ausubel, D., 1968. Educational psychology: A cognitive view. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Bloom, B., Editor, 1956. A taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: McKay.
Bloom, B., 1976. Human characteristics and student learning. Ney York: McGraw Hill.
Gagné, R., 1967. Instruction in the conditions of learning. In Laurence Siegel (Ed.), Instruction: Some contemporary viewpoints. New York: Harper and Row.
Gallegher, J. J. and J. M. Aschner, 1963. A preliminary report on analyses of classroom interaction, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 9, 183-194.
Gordon, W., 1961. and T. Pose, 1971. The metaphorical way of learning and knowing. Cambridge: Porpoise Books.
Guilford, J. P., 1956. The structure of intellect, Psychological Bulletin, 53, 267-293.
Levin, T. and R. Long, 1981. Effective instruction. Washington, DC: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Kindsvatter, R., W. Wilen, and M. Ishler, 1992. Dynamics of effective teaching. New York: Longman.
Simon, S. B. and M. Harmin, 1968. Subject matter with a focus on values, Educational leadership, 26 (1), 34-39.
Taba, H., 1966. Teaching strategies and cognitive functioning in elementary school children. (Cooperative Research Project 2404.) San Francisco: San Francisco State College.
Wilen, W. W., 1985. Questioning, thinking and effective citizenship. Social science record, 22, 4-6.
From a paper presented by D.V.Wakefield to the Governor's Teaching Fellows, Athens Georgia, November 19, 1998.This page reproduced by permission of Dara Wakefield
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