In 1956, educational psychologist Dr. Benjamin Bloom created a system to classify learning objectives into a series of learning domains that encourage teachers to think holistically about education. His system came to be known as Bloom’s Taxonomy. Much has been written about it, and it has been widely applied, including here at Davenport.
Bloom identified three domains, or categories, of educational activities:
- Cognitive Knowledge or Mental Skills
- Affective Attitude or Emotions
- Psychomotor Skills or Physical Skills
When these learning domain ideas are applied to learning environments, active verbs are used to describe the kind of knowledge and intellectual engagement we want our students to demonstrate.
Cognitive Knowledge
The Cognitive Domain develops six areas of intellectual skills that build sequentially from simple to complex behaviors.
Bloom arranged them this way:
- Knowledge (recall of information)
- Comprehension (understanding of meaning)
- Application (use of concept)
- Analysis (deconstruction of concept)
- Synthesis (combination of information to create meaning)
- Evaluation (judgment of concept)
In time, this arrangement evolved into what we now call Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. Category names were changed from nouns to verbs, but are still ordered from simple to complex:
- Remembering
- Understanding
- Applying
- Analyzing
- Evaluating
- Creating
Affective Attitude
The Affective Domain includes five areas of emotional response, categorized as simple to complex ways of processing feelings and attitude. Bloom arranged them this way:
- Receiving (passively paying attention)
- Responding (actively learning and reacting)
- Valuing (attaching worth to information)
- Organizing (arranging and elaborating on information)
- Characterizing (valuing belief that influences behavior)
Psychomotor Skills
The Psychomotor Domain, which focuses on physical skills, was identified, but not defined, by Dr. Bloom. His original ideas were expanded by 1970s educators, including Dr. Elizabeth Simpson, who developed them in this simple-to-complex order:
- Perception (sensory guiding of motor activity)
- Set (feeling ready to act)
- Guided Response (beginning to learn complex skills)
- Mechanism (developing basic proficiency)
- Complex Overt Response (performing with advanced skill)
- Adaptation (modifying movement to meet special circumstances)
- Origination (creating situation-specific movements)
To learn more
- Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
- Clark, D. (2013). Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains. Big Dog & Little Dog’s Performance Juxtaposition. Retrieved from //www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html
- Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1973). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Co., Inc.
- Simpson E. J. (1972). The Classification of Educational Objectives in the Psychomotor Domain. Washington, DC: Gryphon House.
Learning is not an event—it is a process
Learning is not an event. It is a process. It is the continual growth and change in the brain's architecture that results from the many ways we take in information, process it, connect it, catalogue it, and use it (and sometimes get rid of it).
Learning can generally be categorized into three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Within each domain are multiple levels of learning that progress from more basic, surface-level learning to more complex, deeper-level learning. The level of learning we strive to impact will vary across learning experiences depending on 1) the nature of the experience, 2) the developmental levels of the participating students, and 3) the duration and intensity of the experience.
When writing learning objectives, it is important to think about which domain(s) is relevant to the learning experience you are designing. The tables below provide further information about each domain.
Cognitive Domain
The cognitive domain deals with how we acquire, process, and use knowledge. It is the "thinking" domain. The table below outlines the six levels in this domain and verbs that can be used to write learning objectives.
Domain Levels (0-5 Complexity with 5 being the most complex)
(0) Remember: Retrieve relevant knowledge from long-term memory.
- Arrange
- Cite
- Choose
- Count
- Define
- Describe
- Duplicate
- Identify
- Label
- List
- Locate
- Match
- Name
- Outline
- Recall
- Recite
- Recognize
- Record
- Repeat
- Restate
- Review
- Select
- State
(1) Understand: Construct meaning from instructional messages, including oral, written, and graphic communication.
- Abstract
- Associate
- Categorize
- Clarify
- Classify
- Compare
- Conclude
- Contrast
- Exemplify
- Explain
- Extrapolate
- Generalize
- Illustrate
- Infer
- Interpret
- Map
- Match
- Paraphrase
- Predict
- Represent
- Summarize
- Translate
(2) Apply: Carry out or use a procedure in a given situation.
- Apply
- Carry out
- Demonstrate
- Determine
- Develop
- Employ
- Execute
- Implement
- Operate
- Show
- Sketch
- Solve
- Use
(3) Analyze: Break material into its constituent parts and determine how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose.
- Analyze
- Attribute
- Deconstruct
- Differentiate
- Discriminate
- Distinguish
- Focus
- Organize
- Outline
- Parse
- Select
- Structure
(4) Evaluate: Make judgments based on criteria and standards.
- Argue
- Assess
- Check
- Conclude
- Coordinate
- Criticize
- Critique
- Detect
- Evaluate
- Judge
- Justify
- Monitor
- Prioritize
- Rank
- Rate
- Recommend
- Test
(5) Create: Put elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganize elements into a new pattern or structure.
- Assemble
- Build
- Combine
- Compose
- Construct
- Create
- Design
- Draft
- Formulate
- Generate
- Hypothesize
- Integrate
- Plan
- Produce
Affective Domain
The affective domain deals with our attitudes, values, and emotions. It is the "valuing" domain. The table below outlines the five levels in this domain and verbs that can be used to write learning objectives.
Domain Levels (1-5 Complexity with 5 being the most complex)
(1) Receiving: Openness to new information or experiences.
- Ask
- Choose
- Describe
- Follow
- Give
- Hold
- Identify
- Locate
- Name
- Select
- Reply
- Use
(2) Responding: Active participation in, interaction with, or response to new information or experiences.
- Answer
- Assist
- Aid
- Compile
- Conform
- Discuss
- Greet
- Help
- Label
- Perform
- Practice
- Present
- Read
- Recite
- Report
- Select
- Tell
- Write
(3) Valuing: Attaching value or worth to new information or experiences.
- Complete
- Demonstrate
- Differentiate
- Explain
- Follow
- Form
- Initiate
- Join
- Justify
- Propose
- Read
- Share
- Study
- Work
(4) Organization: Incorporating new information or experiences into existing value system.
- Adhere
- Alter
- Arrange
- Combine
- Compare
- Complete
- Defend
- Formulate
- Generalize
- Identify
- Integrate
- Modify
- Order
- Organize
- Prepare
- Relate
- Synthesize
(5) Characterization: Full integration/ internalization resulting in new and consistent attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors.
- Act
- Discriminate
- Display
- Influence
- Listen
- Modify
- Perform
- Practice
- Propose
- Qualify
- Question
- Revise
- Serve
- Solve
- Verify
- Use
Psychomotor Domain
The psychomotor domain deals with manual or physical skills. It is the "doing" domain. The table below outlines the five levels in this domain and verbs that can be used to write learning objectives.
Domain Levels (1-5 Complexity with 5 being the most complex)
(1) Imitation: Observing and copying another's action/skill.
- Adhere
- Copy
- Follow
- Repeat
- Replicate
(2) Manipulation: Reproducing action/skill through instruction.
- Build
- Execute
- Implement
- Perform
- Recreate
(3) Precision: Accurately executing action/skill on own.
- Calibrate
- Complete
- Control
- Demonstrate
- Perfect
- Show
(4) Articulation: Integrating multiple actions/skills and performing consistently.
- Adapt
- Combine
- Construct
- Coordinate
- Develop
- Formulate
- Integrate
- Master
- Modify
(5) Naturalization: Naturally and automatically performing actions/skills at high level.
- Design
- Invent
- Manage
- Project
- Specify
Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl, D.R. (eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching and assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman.
Dave, R.H. (1975). Developing and writing behavioral objectives. (R J Armstrong, ed.) Educational Innovators Press.
Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom, B.S., & Masia, B.B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook II: Affective domain. New York: David McKay Co.