Bloom’s Taxonomy is a useful tool for writing clear outcomes for your course or pinpointing what you want to measure with your assessments of student learning. The original taxonomy (1956) was published by Benjamin Bloom and colleagues with the aim of guiding the development of learning outcomes and assessments. It included measurable verbs to describe observable knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors and abilities across six areas: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.
The revised taxonomy from 2001 updates Bloom's original categories to the following: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. By planning your outcomes and assessments using measurable verbs for these categories, you can identify and clearly communicate what students must do to demonstrate their learning.
Consider the action verbs in the chart below next time you plan outcomes or assignments for your course.
|
Remember Recall content and information. |
Cite • Define • Give • Label • List • Match • Name • Recall • Record • Relate Remember • Select • State • Tell • Underline • Write |
|
Understand Explain ideas and concepts. |
Describe • Discuss • Explain • Express • Identify • Locate • Recognize • Report Restate • Review • Translate • Understand |
|
Apply Use information in other situations and contexts. |
Apply • Assign • Demonstrate • Dramatize • Employ • Illustrate • Interpret • Operate Practice • Schedule • Shop • Sketch • Use |
|
Analyze Break information into parts and explore relationships between ideas. |
Analyze • Appraise • Calculate • Categorize • Compare • Contrast • Criticize Debate • Diagram • Differentiate • Distinguish • Examine • Experiment • Inspect Inventory • Question • Relate • Solve • Test |
|
Evaluate Justify perspectives, decisions or courses of action. |
Appraise • Assess • Check • Choose • Critique • Decide • Discriminate Estimate • Evaluate • Grade • Inspect • Judge • Measure • Monitor Rank/Rate • Review • Revise • Score • Select • Value |
|
Create Generate new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things. |
Adapt • Build • Change • Choose • Combine • Compile • Compose Construct • Create • Design • Develop • Discuss • Elaborate • Estimate Formulate • Imagine • Improve • Invent • Make up • Modify • Originate Plan • Predict • Propose • Solve • Suppose • Test • Theorize |