The Learning Process of Bloom's Taxonomy

Each person has a different way of learning. The process they consciously go through to learn information can be more affective for one person, than another, this should be remembered when teaching.

Bloom (1956, cited in Clark, 2010) came up with a theory that looks at the unconscious and conscious thought processes that take place, when recalling learnt information, to then gain new knowledge.

 Blooms (1956, cited in Clark, 2010) Taxonomy of Learning Domains can be related to my group navigating, on the recent trip to Snowdonia. When climbing Pen yr Ole Wen, a member of the group needed to be walked down due to injury. Whilst this was taking place, I asked the rest to locate where we were, as it was a slightly challenging place to find.

To start with the group were on the knowledge aspect of the taxonomy, recalling what they had already learnt (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010), such as how to use a map and compass. The group members then moved onto comprehension, where they understood what was being asked and changed it into their own words to better understand (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010). Application of the information was then used (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010) to apply it to the location and situation.

The group then analysed my description of where we had been (the information) and the sight of what was around them (the context) and related them to each other. Where initially it may not have corresponded, through logic they relooked at the information and the context to solve problems (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010). Before the group could finalise where they were, they would have synthesised by putting the information given by me and the information there sight was telling them together, to create a new meaning, or location in this instance (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010). Having discovered there location, the group then evaluated the information’s usefulness and how it then related to the location that was being headed for (Bloom, 1956, cited in Clark, 2010).

Anderson (no date supplied, cited in Clark, 2010) however later disagreed with Bloom stating that the terminology needed to be revised and that the order needed to also be different. Anderson (no date supplied, cited in Clark, 2010) stated that evaluating information came before synthesis (creating). This new revised order of learning domains can also be easily transferred to locating on Pen yr Ole Wen, as the information’s usefulness could have been considered, before a location was found.

On reflection Bloom’s theory explains the process that group members would have gone to come to a conclusion. In the future with this theory in mind, I could use words and phrases to prompt the process, to be more consciously thought about, resulting in the process speeding up. For instance saying, “think about what is around and where we’ve been. Compare them, to how they are on the map”, may speed up the analysis and synthesis process.

References:

Clark, D. (2010) Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Domains [online]. Available: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html [date accessed: 6th. December 2011]