http://www.ibe.unesco.org/International/Publications/Thinkers/ThinkersPdf/bloome.pdf
in construction
The question is how do we get the right kids, the ones with character and service, to get the cognitive progression going early and often!
Bloom's Model of Cognitive Goals from http://www.stormwind.com/bloom.html
Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives, first published in 1956 by a team of educational psychologists headed by Benjamin Bloom, models the progressive levels at which an individual learns new material. From the "lowest" or "simplest" cognitive level, to the "highest" or "most difficult" level, these are: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. The descriptions of these levels presented here is based on Bloom's work and on classroom research carried out by Tapestry staff.
A student who learns material at the Knowledge level can recognize and identify it, if it is presented again in essentially the original form in which it was learned.
Example: A student who has learned about key 20th century philosophers at the Knowledge level can pick the name of one of them out of a list of names that contains those of musicians, artists, and politicians as well as the philosopher in question, or can match the name of the philosopher to his or her main idea.
Material learned at the Comprehension level can be recited, listed, or recreated, often in the student's own words.
Example: A student who has learned about key 20th century philosophers at the Comprehension level can write out the names of five of them on an exam question that asks them to do so, or can write out a description (in their own words) of the basic philosophical tenets of one of them.
Note on evaluation of student difficulty: A student who has learned about these philosophers only at the Knowledge level will be unable to write out many (or any) names on his/her own, or to write out a clear description of their basic tenets; once the student is provided with a cue, however, the information floods back into his or her mind. This student often thinks "I know the answer but have temporarily forgotten it; it is on the tip of my tongue," when in fact it is really not accessible to free recall because of the level at which it has been learned.
Students who learn material at the Application level can apply what they have learned to a new situation they have not seen before.
Example: A student who has learned about philosophers at an application level can look at a short passage that expresses key tenets (and that has been selected for that purpose) and identify it as belonging to the work of a particular philosopher. Such a student could also use what they have learned about a philosopher's key tenets to predict how that person would explain a particular behavior or situation.
Students who learn material at the Analysis level can take apart the elements of a complex topic, breaking it into components that can be manipulated independently of the other parts.
Example: A common analysis level question is "compare and contrast," which requires students to take apart what they know about two different concepts and then reassemble the component parts into new groupings that permit comparisons of like elements across the two concepts.
Students who learn material at a Synthesis level can carry out analyses between categories that are not alike, and reassemble component parts of them in new and creative ways.
Example: A student who is asked to compare the work of a particular philosopher and a particular artist who lived at the same time could realize -- for the first time, for this student -- that both had been deeply affected by political and social movements of the time that strongly informed their respective works. Notice that if the topic has been dealt with directly, in class (as an organizational premise, for example), then such a question becomes merely comprehension or knowledge level, depending on its formulation. Synthesis requires a student to do creative thinking.
Students who learn material at a level that permits them to Evaluate it can assess the strength of the material by placing it in a larger context of other knowledge. This is generally the level at which graduate students are asked to write thesis papers and dissertations. Because of the flood of information on every subject that assails anyone trying to make a decision, It is also the level at which people must learn to function if they are to develop empowered internal authority.
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain. Benjamin S. Bloom and David R. Krathwohl. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. 1984. (An updated exposition of the 1956 model.)
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