Effective Learning with Bloom's Taxonomy

Write about what you learn. It pushes you to understand topics better. Sometimes the gaps in our knowledge only become clear when explaining things to others.

Related to this is Bloom’s Taxonomy shown in the illustration. This a well-known framework for categorizing and organizing learning objectives. Bloom’s Taxonomy organizes learning objectives into six levels, ranging from the most basic level of remembering and understanding, to the most complex level of creating and evaluating.

Creating and writing falls into the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, known as the “creating” level. At this level, learners are expected to generate new ideas, write-ups and be able to evaluate the work of others. This level emphasizes originality and innovation, and requires learners to think critically and independently.

Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised) consists of:

1. Remembering: recall or recognize previously learned information.
2. Understanding: comprehend the meaning of the material, and to be able to explain it in their own words.
3. Applying: use the material in a new context, such as solving a problem or making a decision.
4. Analyzing: breaking the material down into its component parts, and identifying the relationships among them.
5. Evaluating: make judgments about the value or quality of the material, based on a set of criteria.
6. Creating: generate write-ups, new ideas, or methods, and evaluate the work of others. This level emphasizes originality and innovation.

I tend to find that writing about what you learn is a helpful forcing function for understanding how close to #6 you are. Sometimes you may only be able to recall information, but not yet fully understand or apply it. Other times you may be able to apply it, but not yet be able to critically analyze and evaluate it (e.g. critique).

Bloom’s taxonomy can be helpful for evaluating how well you understand topics.

Originally posted to my LinkedIn