Cognitive Domain Presented by: Rynelle Anne O. Castillo ED106
Objectives: Understand the various levels within the Cognitive Domain as defined by Bloom's Taxonomy Learn and compare the original and revised versions of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Recognize and differentiate the Knowledge and Cognitive Dimensions in the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Analyze the role of Bloom's Taxonomy in educational planning and assessment Apply the principles of the Cognitive Domain and Bloom's Taxonomy to real-world educational scenarios.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Bloom's taxonomy is a set of hierarchical models used for classification of educational learning objectives into levels of complexity and specificity.The model is named after Benjamin Bloom, the man who headed up the original committee of researchers and educators who developed the original taxonomy throughout the 1950s and 60s.
Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of three domains: Cognitive Domain Affective Domain Psychomotor Domain
Cognitive Domain The cognitive domain is focused on intellectual skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creating a knowledge base. It was the first domain created by the original group of Bloom’s researchers. The cognitive hierarchy extends from simple memorization designed to build the knowledge of learners, to creating something new based on previously-learned information.
Higher Order Thinking Skills are used for advanced cognitive processing of information. It occurs when a person engages in deep level of processing and manipulating information in the mind. Example: critical thinking, analytical thinking, problem solving, evaluation, metacognition, and synthesis of knowledge.
Lower Order Thinking Skills memorizing and understanding information. It is often decontextualized and does not lead to deeper knowledge. Example: recall, memorize, know vocabulary and definitions
Each taxonomy consists of different levels of expertise with varying degrees of complexity. The most popular among the three taxonomies is the Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in the Cognitive Domain, also known as Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives for Knowledge Based Goals.
Bloom’s taxonomies of educational objectives provide teachers with a structured guide in formulating more specific learning targets as they provide an exhaustive list of learning objectives. The taxonomies do not only serve as guide for teacher’s instruction but also as guide for their assessment of student learning in the classroom.
The taxonomy describes six level of expertise: 1. Knowledge 2. Comprehension 3. Application 4. Analysis 5. Synthesis 6. Evaluation
Thus, it is imperative that teachers identify the levels of expertise that they expect the learners to achieve and demonstrate. This will then inform the assessment method required to properly assess student learning. It is assumed that a higher level of expertise in a given domain requires more sophisticated assessment methods or strategies.
The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
Lorin Anderson and David Krathwol proposed a revision of the Bloom’s Taxonomy in the cognitive domain by introducing a two-dimensional model for writing learning objectives (Anderson and Krathwol 2001).
The original Bloom’s taxonomy allowed teachers to categorize content and questions at different levels. The new two-dimensional model enabled teachers to see the relationship between and among the objectives for the content being taught and to also examine how that material should be taught and how it might be assessed.
By examining both the knowledge level and the cognitive processes , teachers were better equipped to consider the complex nature of the learning process and also better equipped to assess what the students learn.
The first dimension, knowledge dimension included four types; 1. Factual 2. Conceptual 3. Procedural 4. Metacognitive
Metacognitive
The second dimension, cognitive process dimension, consists of six types; 1. Remember 2. Understand 3. Apply 4. Analyze 5. Evaluate 6. Create
The Knowledge Dimension identifies the kinds of information and ideas that you should be working with: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. The Cognitive Process Dimension identifies the kinds of work that assignments call for: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.
Difference between Bloom’s Taxonomy and Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy The original taxonomy given by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, (in his book,The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals), presents the phenomenon of cognitive learning as a six-level hierarchy, in which each consecutive level requires some extra processing by the mind.
These levels are labeled in the form of uncountable nouns – Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.
The revised taxonomy simplifies the nouns of Bloom’s Taxonomy into verbs and goes – Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Additionally, it also swaps the last two levels.
An educational or learning objective formulated from this two dimensional model contains a noun (type of knowledge) and a verb (type of cognitive process). The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy provides teachers with a more structured and more precise approach in designing and assessing learning objectives. Example of a Learning Objective: Students will be able to differentiate qualitative research and quantitative research.
How is Bloom’s Taxonomy used in curriculum and lesson planning? Educators can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to encourage higher-order thinking in their students; this is achieved by building up from lower-level cognitive levels in curriculum and lesson planning. For instance, students need to (with examples of chemistry concepts):
Remember course material (e.g., water reacts with carbohydrates) Then understand concepts (e.g., water reacts with carbohydrates, because carbohydrates are polar and hydrophilic) Then apply information (e.g., water might react differently with lipids, which are non-polar) Before analyzing and connecting concepts (e.g., water does not react with lipids, who are non-polar molecules whereas it reacts with carbohydrates, which are polar molecules)
Proceeding to evaluating a point of view (e.g., water will not react with non-polar molecules. Thus, all non-polar molecules are hydrophobic). And finally creating original ideas or work based on their understanding (e.g., thinking about other reasons water more readily reacts with polar molecules; a comparison of energies of interaction between polar/polar, nonpolar/nonpolar, and polar/nonpolar molecules might show that the energy balance favors the first two over the third option).
Bloom’s taxonomy enabled teachers to think in a structured way about how they question students and deliver content. The taxonomy, in both its original and revised versions, helped teachers understand how to enhance and improve instructional delivery by aligning learning objectives with student assessments and by enhancing the learning goals for students in terms of cognitive complexity.