Analysis and Synthesis Levels

The first three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Knowledge, Comprehension, Application) work with information the teacher gave the student. The student stores it, paraphrases it, and uses it in new situations. The teacher controlled the inputs.

The higher levels are different. The student goes beyond the inputs. They reason about causes. They build new things. They judge value.

Analysis: taking things apart

Analysis is the fourth level. The student takes a topic, idea, or situation and examines its parts. They look for causes, draw conclusions, and analyze relationships.

Form 1: identifying causes. Given a result, find the causes. Examples:

1. What factors influenced Quaid-e-Azam to formulate the 14 Points?
2. Why do we need a balanced diet?
3. The footprints left by Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the Moon in 1969 are still there. Why?

For each, the student must reason backward from a result to its causes. The teacher does not list the causes in advance. The student finds them.

Form 2: drawing conclusions. Given evidence, what conclusion follows? Examples:

1. After studying about developments in Malaysia, what can you conclude about the various causes of developments in a country?
2. After reading this story, how would you characterize the hero’s background?
3. What lesson does this fable teach?

The student gathers evidence from the input, weighs it, and arrives at a conclusion the teacher did not state.

Form 3: analyzing given conclusions. A conclusion is presented as fact. The student analyzes why it holds. Examples:

1. Why does vaccination protect the body against various diseases?
2. Why do fish survive better in cool water?
3. Human beings are polluting the air. How?

The conclusion is given. The student must analyze the underlying reasoning.

What ties all three forms together: the student is reasoning, not recalling. The output is the student’s own analysis, built from the given information.

Verbs that signal Analysis

These verbs in an objective or question signal Analysis level:

1. Identify motives, examine
2. Compare and contrast
3. Investigate, ask questions
4. Deduce, analyze
5. Support (with evidence)
6. Summarize (when the student must distill key points themselves)

One debate about “summarize”. A summary that copies key sentences from the text is at Comprehension level. A summary that requires the student to identify key points themselves and reorganize them is at Analysis level. The same word can sit at different levels depending on what is asked.

A subtle distinction in Analysis

Makes a useful distinction within Analysis. Take the question “what are the commonalities between the human eye and a camera?”.

If the teacher first explained the commonalities and now asks the student to repeat them, the question is at Comprehension level. The student is paraphrasing what was taught.

If the teacher did not explain the commonalities in advance and the student must figure them out from the rest of their knowledge, the question is at Analysis level. The student is reasoning about parts of the human eye and parts of a camera and finding what aligns.

The same question can sit at Comprehension or Analysis depending on what the student knows coming in. The teacher’s lesson plan determines which level the question is actually at for that class.

Synthesis: putting things together

Synthesis is the fifth level. Where Analysis takes things apart, Synthesis puts them together. The student combines ideas, knowledge, and judgment into something new.

Form 1: creating something new. Examples:

1. Write an appropriate title for the text you just read.
2. Draw a painting to show that pollution is a burning issue.
3. Compose a short poem about your favorite season.

A class of 30 students might produce 30 different titles, 30 different paintings, 30 different poems. None is uniquely correct. All are valid as long as they reflect the input.

Form 2: predicting future outcomes. Examples:

1. What would happen to our city in the next five years if steps are not taken to stop air pollution?
2. What will happen to raw milk if it is kept in iron containers for a long time?
3. What will happen if the stomach does not produce hydrochloric acid?

The student combines knowledge and reasoning to project forward into a situation that does not yet exist.

Form 3: solving open-ended problems. Examples:

1. How can a government solve the problem of narcotics?
2. How can we solve the problem of indoor and outdoor air pollution?
3. How can we remove the energy crisis in Pakistan?
4. Design an experiment to prove that light travels in a straight line.

These are real problems. They have many possible solutions. The student must propose a solution, justify it, and explain how it would work.

What ties Synthesis together: the student is creating, predicting, or designing. The output is something new in the world.

Flashcard

What is the difference between Analysis and Synthesis in Bloom's Taxonomy?

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Answer

Direction of the work

Analysis: taking apart. The student examines parts, finds causes, and draws conclusions from input.

Synthesis: putting together. The student combines ideas to create, predict, or design something new.

Analysis goes inward into a topic. Synthesis builds outward from it.

Verbs that signal Synthesis

These verbs in an objective or question signal Synthesis level:

1. Predict, forecast
2. Construct, produce
3. Invent, imagine, design
4. Synthesize, create, compose
5. Devise, formulate
6. How can we solve, how can we improve

The phrasing “how can we” is a strong signal of Synthesis. So is “design”, “predict what would happen”, and “create your own”.

Synthesis problem-solving versus Math problem-solving

Flags an important distinction. Mathematics problem-solving is at Application level. The problem has a single right answer. The student applies a formula to find it.

Synthesis problem-solving is different. The problem is open-ended. Multiple solutions are possible. The student is judged on the quality of their proposed solution, not on whether it matches a fixed answer key.

A 9th-class problem like “find the area of this rectangle” is Application. A 9th-class problem like “propose a plan to reduce traffic congestion in our city” is Synthesis.

A teacher who wants to develop higher-order thinking should include both types of problem-solving in their teaching. Mathematics builds Application. Open-ended civic, scientific, and creative problems build Synthesis.

Why both levels matter

Analysis and Synthesis are higher-order thinking. They produce students who can reason and create, not just recall and apply. A school that takes students into these levels produces graduates ready for problems that have not been solved before.

The path up is not optional. A teacher cannot skip from Knowledge to Synthesis. Each higher level rests on the lower ones. A student who cannot apply (level 3) will not be able to analyze (level 4) or synthesize (level 5) effectively.

But a teacher who never takes students above Application leaves them stuck. Real-world problems are not Application problems. They are Analysis and Synthesis problems. A student trained only at Application will be unprepared.

A teacher’s question to themselves over the term: have I taken my students into Analysis and Synthesis enough? If the answer is no, the planning needs to change.

Flashcard

Why are Analysis and Synthesis called higher-order thinking?

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Answer

The student goes beyond what the teacher provided

At lower levels (Knowledge, Comprehension, Application), the student works with the inputs they were given.

At Analysis, the student reasons about causes and conclusions the teacher did not state.

At Synthesis, the student creates, predicts, or designs something the teacher did not produce.

The student is generating new thinking, not just processing given information.