BLOOM’S TAXONOMY AND THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF QUESTIONS

THE TAXONOMY OF BLOOM

As teachers and as people part of the world, we ask questions to our learners and people every
day. Not all questions are on the same level. Some questions are easy to answer where other
questions may require a great deal of thinking.

Bloom (1956) has provided us with his taxonomy to assist us to compose questions on different
levels of thinking. This taxonomy ranges from lower to higher levels of cognitive thinking.
These levels are (I will shortly provide more detail of each level):
(1) Knowledge
(2) Comprehension
(3) Application
(4) Analysis
(5) Synthesis
(6) Evaluation

EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS IN THE TAXONOMY

Dalton and Smith[1] (1986) provide us with the following examples:
KNOWLEDGE

POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES AND

USEFUL VERBS SAMPLE QUESTIONS
PRODUCTS

· What happened after...?

· Tell · How many...?
Make a list of the main events..
· List · Who was it that...?
· Make a timeline of events.
· Describe · Can you name the...?
· Make a facts chart.
· Relate · Describe what happened
· Write a list of any pieces of
· Locate at...?
information you can remember.
· Write · Who spoke to...?
· List all the .... in the
· Find · Can you tell why...?
story/article/reading piece.
· State · Find the meaning of...?
· Make a chart showing...
· Name · What is...?
· Which is true or false...?

COMPREHENSION

POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES AND

USEFUL VERBS SAMPLE QUESTIONS
PRODUCTS

· Explain · Can you write in your · Cut out or draw pictures to show
· Interpret own words...? a particular event.
· Outline · Can you write a brief · Illustrate what you think the main
· Discuss outline...? idea was.
· Distinguish · What do you think could · Make a cartoon strip showing the
· Predict of happened next...? sequence of events.
· Restate · Who do you think...? · Write and perform a play based
· Translate · What was the main on the story.
· Compare idea...? · Retell the story in your words.
· Describe · Who was the key Paint a picture of some aspect you
character...? like.
· Can you distinguish · Write a summary report of an
between...? event.
· What differences exist · Prepare a flow chart to illustrate
between...? the sequence of events.
· Can you provide an · Make a colouring book.
example of what you
mean...?
· Can you provide a
definition for...?