Learner Outcome Guidelines

Bloom's Taxonomy*

Benjamin Bloom created this taxonomy for categorizing level of abstraction of questions that commonly occur in educational settings. The taxonomy provides a useful structure in which to write learning outcomes, structure teaching methodology, and ask questions of learners.

Competence Area to Evaluate Teaching Methodology and Learner Outcome Examples
Knowledge

Teaching Methodology: Observe and recall information; knowledge of dates, events, places; knowledge of major ideas; mastery of subject matter

Skill Demonstration: Create opportunities that assess knowledge. Examples include:

  • List
  • Define
  • Tell
  • Describe
  • Identify
  • Show

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity the participant will be able to list..."

Comprehension

Teaching Methodology: Understanding information; grasp meaning; translate knowledge into new context; interpret facts, compare, contrast; order, group, infer causes; predict consequences

Skill Demonstration: Create opportunities that assess comprehension. Examples include:

  • Summarize
  • Describe
  • Interpret
  • Contrast
  • Predict
  • Associate

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to summarize..."

Application

Teaching Methodology: Use information; use methods, concepts, theories in new situations; solve problems using required skills or knowledge

Skill Demonstration: Create opportunities that assess application. Examples include:

  • Apply
  • Demonstrate
  • Calculate
  • Complete
  • Illustrate
  • Show
  • Experiment

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to apply..."

Analysis

Teaching Methodology: See patterns; organize parts; recognize hidden meanings; identify components

Skill Demonstration: Create opportunities that assess analysis. Examples include:

  • Analyze
  • Order
  • Explain
  • Connect
  • Classify
  • Arrange

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to analyze..."

Synthesis

Teaching Methodology: Use old ideas to create new ones; generalize from given facts; relate knowledge from several areas; predict; drawn conclusions

Skill Demonstration:Create opportunities that assess synthesis. Examples include:

  • Combine
  • Integrate
  • Modify
  • Rearrange
  • Substitute
  • Formulate
  • Generalize

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to combine.."

Evaluation

Teaching Methodology: Compare and discriminate between ideas; assess value of theories; presentations; make choices based on reasoned argument; verify value of evidence; recognize subjectivity

Skill Demonstration: Create opportunities that assess evaluation. Examples include:

  • Assess
  • Decide
  • Rank
  • Grade
  • Test
  • Measure
  • Compare

Learner Outcome Example: "As a result of this activity, the participant will be able to assess...'

*Adapted from: Bloom, B.S. (Ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals: Handbook I, cognitive domain. New York; Toronto: Longmans, Green.

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