Writing Lesson Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

EDSU533

Benjamin Bloom• Taxonomy of Educational

Objectives (1956)• Various types of learning

outcomes within the cognitive domain – Objectives could be

classified according to type of learner behavior described

– A hierarchical relationship exists among the various types of outcomes

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge

Bloom’s Learning Domains

• Affective - feelings, emotions and behavior, ie., attitude, or 'feel'– How emotions affect learning– Emotions, feelings, values, likes, desires

• Behavioral - Psychomotor and Multisensory - manual and physical skills, ie., skills, or 'do'– How the movement of the body is involved in

learning– Actions, physical, doing

• Cognitive - intellectual capability, ie., knowledge, or 'think'– Learning factual information– Developing higher-level thinking and analytical

skills– Thoughts, understanding, conceptual knowledge

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Cognitive Domain in Action

• KNOWLEDGE: define, list, name, memorize• COMPREHENSION: identify, describe, explain• APPLICATION: demonstrate, use, show, teach• ANALYSIS: categorize, compare, calculate• SYNTHESIS: design, create, prepare, predict• EVALUATION: judge, assess, rate, revise

Thinking LevelsAsk students to demonstrate:• Knowledge - recall information in

original form• Comprehension - show

understanding • Application - use learning in a new

situation• Analysis - show s/he can see

relationships• Synthesis - combine and integrate

parts of prior knowledge into a product, plan, or proposal that is new

• Evaluation - assess and criticize on basis of standards and criteria

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

Creating• Creating – designing, constructing,

planning, producing, inventing, devising, making

• Evaluating – checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing, detecting, monitoring

• Analyzing – comparing, organizing, deconstructing, attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating

• Applying – implementing, carrying out, using, executing

• Understanding – interpreting, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying

• Remembering – recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding http://

uwf.edu/cutla/assessstudent.cfm

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy

Blooming Questions

• Knowledge or Remembering – Recalling Information– Where – What – Who – How many –

• Comprehension or Understanding – – Tell me in your own words – What

does it mean?– Give me an example, describe,

illustrate• Application – Using learning in a

new situation– What would happen if…? Would you

have done the same…? How would you solve this problem?

– In the library, locate and report information about….

Framing Essential Questions

Essential Questions at the top of Bloom’s Taxonomy– Create - innovate– Evaluate – make a thoughtful

choice between options, with the choice based on a clearly stated criteria

– Synthesize – invent a new or different version

– Analyze – develop a thorough and complex understanding through skillful questioning.

Highest Levels of Questioning

• Evaluation and Synthesis• Judgment based on Criteria• Literature

– Would you recommend this book – WHY or WHY not?

– Select the best – WHY?– Which person in history would you

most like to meet – and WHY?– Is the quality good or bad? WHY?– Could this story have happened?

WHY?• Creating at top of revised Bloom’s

Taxonomy - Innovation

More Blooming Questions

• Analysis – Ability to see parts/relationships– What other ways…? Similar/Different

(Venn)– Interpretation – What kind of person…?

What caused the person to react in this way…? What part was most exciting, sad…?

• Synthesis – Parts of information to create original whole– What would it be like if…? Design,

pretend, use your imagination, write a new ending…

Writing Lesson Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

The ideal learning objective has 3 parts:

1.A measurable action verb2.The important condition (if

any) under which the performance is to occur

3.The criterion of acceptable performance

Components of a Lesson Objective

• Avoid terms that cannot be clearly understood by the reader.

• Communicate an objective as clearly as possible.

• Describe intended instructional result by describing the purpose of the instruction.

• Exclude the greatest number of possible meanings other than the one intended.

ABCD's of Learning Objectives

• Audience– The learners:– Identify who it is that will be doing the performance (not the

instructor)

• Behavior (Performance):– What the learner will be able to do– Make sure it is something that can be seen or heard

• Condition– The conditions under which the learners must

demonstrate their mastery of the objective:– What will the learners be allowed to use? What won't the

learners be allowed to use?• Degree (or criterion)

– HOW WELL the behavior must be done

What do you want your students to learn as a result of this lesson?

Three-step process below for creating defining learning objectives.    

1. Create a stem– After completing the lesson, the student will be able to . . . – After this unit, the student will have . . .– By completing the activities, the student will . . . – At the conclusion of the course/unit/study the student will . . .

2. After you create the stem, add an action verb:   analyze, recognize, compare, provide, list, etc.

3. One you have a stem and a verb, determine the actual product, process, or outcome:   After completing these lesson, the student will be able to…….– create Venn Diagrams which compare and contrast . . .– demonstrate learning by producing a ……– solve a numerical expression using…..(the standard order of

operations, etc.) http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/LP/LP_resources/lesson_objectives.htm

• Refer to explicit rather than vague behaviors – Asking students to "grasp the significance," or

"appreciate" something will only lead to confusion. Using more explicit behaviors such as "identify," or "sort," will clarify the performance expected of students.

• Table on next slide lists: – explicit behaviors representative of different

levels of cognition or thinking– common products or outcomes of those

behaviors

How to Write Goals for Specific Behaviors

Virginia Tech - http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/behavior.html

KnowRemember

ComprehendUnderstand

UseApply

AnalyzeTake Apart

SynthesizeCreate New

EvaluateJudge

Behaviors:Action Verbs

namememorize

recordlist

matchwritestate

repeat

describediscuss

give exampleslocate

tellfind

reportpredictreview

recognizeestimate

translatepracticeillustratesketchsolveshow

employ

sortclassify

distinguishexperimentcomparecontrastdiagramdebatesolve

examineinventory

designplan

proposearrange

assembledevelopproduceorganizemanagerevise

ratevalue

appraisedecidechoosescoreselectassessdebate

recommend

Products: Outcomes

AssignmentsAssessmentsPresentationsExperiments

Performances

factseventsmodels

filmstripsbooks

puzzlesstoriesgamesjournals

illustrationsdrawings

mapssculpturesdiorama

scrapbookmobile

collectionsdiagrams

graphssurveys

questionnairesreportsobjects

newsarticlespoems

machinessongsplays

hypotheses

pollspanels

recommendationsdiscussionssimulationsevaluations

surveys

Bloom’s Original Taxonomy with Action Verbs and Products

Virginia Tech - http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/assess/behavior.html

How will you measure learning outcomes?

• What will students say or do to show you objectives were met?

• What will you collect to show student’s learning (portfolios, observations, work samples, photographs, etc.)

• How will you evaluate student work?

• How will you grade the student?

Understanding by Design:Theory of Backwards Design

• Desired Results: What will the student learn?

• Acceptable Evidence: How will you design an assessment that accurately determines if the student learned what he/she was supposed to learn?

• Lesson Planning: How do you design a lesson that results in student learning?

Identify desired results

Determine acceptable evidence

Plan learning experiences

and instruction

Theory of Backwards Design• Understanding by

Design: Wiggins & McTighe

• What are the big ideas?• Core concepts• Focusing themes• On-going debates/issues• Insightful perspectives• Illuminating

paradox/problem• Organizing theory• Overarching principle• Underlying assumption

• What’s the evidence?• How do we get there?

Enduring Understand

ing

Will this lesson lead to enduring understanding?

Worth being familiar with

Important to know and do

EnduringUnderstanding

Assessment: How do you measure what students have learned?

• Traditional quizzes and tests– Paper/pencil

• Selected response• Constructed response

• Performance tasks and projects– Open-ended– Complex– Authentic

Worth being familiar with

Important to know and do

EnduringUnderstanding

Understanding by Design

Rubrics and Checklists forAlternative Performance Assessment

• Rubric - a scoring guide for evaluating student performance

• Allows for a variety of criteria or categories to be evaluated on a sliding rating scale (not subject to one final percentage score as in testing)

• A way to measure real-life, authentic learning experiences in the classroom

• Provides a guide for students in determining expectations of assignments

• Shows students and parents how the teacher is judging student performance

How will you use the results of your assessment to plan your next lesson?• How will your assessment guide your teaching

practice?• What needs to be "re-taught" and how can

you teach it differently when assessment demonstrates that some students did not learn the material? Is there a better way to teach this material?

• What will you do differently next time?• How could you extend this activity for another

lesson?• Was your instruction effective in promoting

student learning?Reflective Practitioner