Bloom's Taxonomy and Critical Thinking
Bloom’s six cognitive levels
| Level | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | Specifics, terminology, facts, methods, principles, theories |
| Comprehension | Translation, interpretation, extrapolation |
| Application | Using abstractions in concrete situations |
| Analysis | Of elements, relationships, organisational principles |
| Synthesis | Producing communications, plans, abstract relations |
| Evaluation | Judging the value of material against criteria |
Bloom and critical thinking
Higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) is integrative of basic critical thinking concepts:
- Assumption, fact, concept, value
- Conclusion, premise, evidence
- Relevance, irrelevance
- Consistency, inconsistency
- Implication, fallacy
- Argument, inference, opinion
- Bias, prejudice, hypothesis
Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy has been a working tool in education since the 1950s. It is sometimes treated as a separate idea from critical thinking. The two map onto each other well, and seeing the map helps both. Bloom describes a hierarchy of cognitive domains. Critical thinking lives at the upper levels of the hierarchy.
Bloom’s six cognitive domains
The unrevised Bloom taxonomy describes six cognitive domains, arranged from simpler to more complex.
Knowledge
Knowledge is the recall of specifics. It includes:
- Knowledge of specifics
- Knowledge of terminology
- Knowledge of specific facts
- Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics
- Knowledge of conventions
- Knowledge of trends and sequences
- Knowledge of classifications and categories
- Knowledge of criteria
- Knowledge of methodology
- Knowledge of principles and generalisations
- Knowledge of theories and structures
Knowledge is the foundation. Without it, the higher levels have nothing to operate on.
Comprehension
Comprehension is the ability to understand information. It has three parts:
- Translation. Restating an idea in different words, in a different form.
- Interpretation. Working out what an idea means.
- Extrapolation. Extending an idea to predict what is implied beyond what was stated.
Comprehension goes one step beyond knowledge. The thinker not only recalls information but understands it well enough to work with it.
Application
Application is the use of abstractions in particular and concrete situations. The abstractions may be in the form of general ideas, rules, or methods.
A teacher who knows about a teaching method (knowledge), understands how it works (comprehension), and uses it appropriately in a specific lesson (application) has reached this level.
Analysis
Analysis breaks material into its component parts. It includes:
- Analysis of elements
- Analysis of relationships
- Analysis of organisational principles
This is where critical thinking begins to live in earnest. The thinker is not just using ideas; she is taking them apart to see how they work.
Synthesis
Synthesis builds new wholes from parts. It includes:
- Production of a unique communication
- Production of a plan or proposed set of objectives
- Derivation of a set of abstract relations
A teacher who designs a new lesson plan that combines elements from several sources is synthesising.
Evaluation
Evaluation judges material against criteria. The thinker decides whether something is valid, sound, well-supported, useful, or successful.
Evaluation sits at the top of the taxonomy because it requires all the other levels to have been done first. The thinker cannot evaluate what she has not analysed; she cannot analyse what she has not comprehended; she cannot comprehend what she has not learned.
Where critical thinking lives in the taxonomy
The cognitive processes characterised as essential to higher-order thinking are analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These are integrative of the basic critical thinking concepts.
The basic critical thinking concepts include:
| Concept | What it points to |
|---|---|
| Assumption | What is taken for granted |
| Fact | What is established |
| Concept | A general idea |
| Value | What is held to matter |
| Conclusion | What follows from premises |
| Premise | A starting point in reasoning |
| Evidence | What supports a claim |
| Relevance / irrelevance | Whether something connects to the question |
| Consistency / inconsistency | Whether claims agree |
| Implication | What follows from an idea |
| Fallacy | A mistake in reasoning |
| Argument | A claim with reasons |
| Inference | A conclusion drawn from evidence |
| Opinion | A view held |
| Bias | A systematic distortion |
| Prejudice | A judgement formed in advance |
| Hypothesis | A testable claim |
A teacher working at the analysis, synthesis, or evaluation level of Bloom is working with these concepts whether she names them or not. Naming them sharpens the work.
Why the lower levels matter too
A common misreading of Bloom is that the lower levels (knowledge, comprehension) are less valuable than the higher ones. This reading is wrong.
A teacher cannot evaluate a claim about classroom management if she does not know the relevant facts about her students, has not understood the claim being evaluated, and has not seen the claim applied. The lower levels are the ground on which the higher ones stand.
The point of the taxonomy is not to climb away from the lower levels. The point is to make sure the cognitive work is happening at the level the situation requires. A test question at the knowledge level is fine if the goal is to check basic recall. A test question at the evaluation level is needed if the goal is to check critical judgement. Confusing the two produces poor assessment.
They integrate the basic concepts of critical thinking
Analysis breaks material apart; synthesis builds new wholes; evaluation judges value. Each one works with concepts like assumption, evidence, fallacy, argument, bias, and hypothesis. A teacher operating at these three levels is doing critical thinking, whether she labels it that or not. The lower levels (knowledge, comprehension, application) provide the ground; the higher levels are where critical thinking lives.
Using Bloom for guided reflection
Bloom’s levels can structure questions for reflective practice, with each level asking a different kind of question.
| Level | Reflective question |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | What did I do? What was the lesson? Did it cover the planned content? |
| Comprehension | What was important about what I did? Did I meet my goals? |
| Application | Where else could I use this approach? With which other groups? |
| Analysis | Why did this work? What pattern is showing up? |
| Evaluation | Was this the best use of the time? What were the trade-offs? |
| Synthesis | What new approach could I design from what I have learned? |
A reflective practice that climbs through the levels produces more depth than one that stays at the lower levels. A teacher who only ever asks “what did I do?” is reflecting at the knowledge level. A teacher who reaches synthesis is using reflection to design new practice.
A practical caution
Climbing Bloom is not the same as moving forward in time. A reflective practice does not have to start at knowledge and reach evaluation in a fixed sequence. Sometimes the evaluation question comes first (“did this work?”), and the lower levels are revisited to support it. Sometimes synthesis comes early (“what is a new way I could approach this?”) and the analysis follows.
The taxonomy is a description of cognitive levels, not a prescribed order. A teacher who treats it as a prescribed order finds it stiff. A teacher who treats it as a checklist of available levels finds it useful.