“It’s the Question that Guides
Us”
(Morpheus & Socrates)
Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Craft
Critical Thinking Questions
My purpose in assigning weekly question submissions over the reading is to help students learn how to probe and analyze information rather than simple parrot memorized material. My goal is to to
rekindle curiosity by teaching the art of asking questions. My life experience has demonstrated that those who ask thoughtful and thought provoking
questions are ultimately more curious and insightful than the know-it-alls who
profess to know all the answers.
Unfortunately,
public education’s widespread embrace of standardized testing (and teaching to
standardized tests) has given students the wrong impression about what their
education is meant to accomplish. Whereas
in elementary and secondary schooling, students may have been taught predominantly through
fact-based lecture, scantron assessment, convergent
thinking, and formulaic five paragraph essay writing; in college (a.k.a. higher
learning), students are expected to transcend this rudimentary, quantitative
approach by learning to ask critical and creative thinking questions
that broaden and deepen engagement with topics. Until students can do this, they will not be
operating on a college level. In higher
education, students are held to higher standards than in their previous studies.
As a means
of helping students acquire and refine quantitative as well as qualitative questioning
skills, we will be applying Bloom’s taxonomy and revised taxonomy to material
covered in assigned reading, online lectures, world events, and class discussions.
Overview:
In
the early 1970s Benjamin Bloom developed a taxonomy of
cognitive domains that we educators still use in developing our own questioning
strategies. Notice that Bloom's taxonomy moves from simple fact-based questions
to more complex interpretive analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
In learning to pose meaningful and fruitful questions,
it is often helpful to forge a path from factual
to more complex, interpretive forms of knowledge. The goal of this practice is to wonder and
wander through the various aspects of this course and puzzle your way out. If I
do my job right, you will leave this class with more questions than you started with.
Instructions:
Drawing upon the information presented to and retrieved by you, you will create
thoughtful and thought provoking questions each week. In drafting your questions, take into consideration the various levels of Bloom’s taxonomy and frame your questions so that they reflect the depth and breadth of the topics you cover. By
exploring a variety of subjects from multiple viewpoints and by applying
Bloom’s taxonomy to guide discussion, I hope that you will learn to ask
penetrating questions that will help structure higher cognitive processes and
elicit intriguing ideas in response.
Familiarize
yourself with the taxonomy and when asked to construct discussion questions,
use the following taxonomy to help you sculpt interesting, engaging, and
compelling questions for your classmates to respond to. Note that lower level
questions deal with facts and information whereas higher level questions use
information to create insights and ideas.
KNOWLEDGE-REMEMBERING
Examples:
* Recite a poem. Identify the key characteristics of the Medieval
period in Europe.
* Recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Question: Who was the last pharaoh
of Egypt, and what key factors led to her demise?
Key Words: define, describe, identify,
know, label, list, match, name, outline, recall, recognize,
select, state.
Prompts: arrange,
define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate,
recall, repeat, reproduce, state.
COMPREHENSION-UNDERSTANDING
Examples:
* In your own words, explain a particular process or a complicated task.
Question: In what ways does your own creative process
mirror a natural process, event, or phenomenon?
* Paraphrase the core beliefs of world religions and explain how religious practices
reflect and reinforce those beliefs.
Question: What do you consider to be the core beliefs
of Islam, and how does Muslim culture reflect and reinforce these central
tenets?
* Distinguish the characteristics of European Medieval and Renaissance
painting.
Question: What similarities and differences do you see
between Hieronymous Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly
Delights” triptych and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper”?
Key words: comprehend, convert, defend,
distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize, give examples, infer,
interpret, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize.
Prompts: classify, describe, discuss, explain,
express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review,
select, translate.
APPLICATION-APPLYING
Examples:
*Take a series of photographs to demonstrate the elements and principles of art
and the fundamental concepts used in abstraction.
Question: What is the essential element or principle
expressed in each of your photographs and what physical and associative
qualities did you utilize to express each?
What is gained and what is lost from your subject matter in the process
of abstracting a concrete object or visually articulating an abstract idea?
* Modify the hierarchy of Dante’s nine circles of hell to reflect contemporary
American cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors.
Question: What do the differences between
contemporary American ideas of the nature and hierarchy of sin indicate about
our culture and how do these ideas compare and contrast Dante’s taxonomy of
sin?
Key Words: apply, change, compute,
construct, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate, predict,
prepare, produce, relate, show, solve.
Prompts: choose,
demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule,
sketch, write.
ANALYSIS-ANALYZING
Analysis is the process of
breaking a complex
topic
or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The
technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), though analysis
as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.[1] The word is a
transcription of the ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (analusis,
"a breaking up", from ana-
"up, throughout" and lysis "a
loosening").[2] (Wikipedia)
Examples:
* Using the film codes handout, analyze the means by which filmmakers create a
scene to produce a desired response in the audience.
Question: In which genres of film are smash cuts
typically used and to what effect? (horror, suspense, screwball comedy, etc.)
* In his “Allegory of the Cave, ” Plato states
outright that it is an allegory of education.
Illustrate the ways in which his philosophical treatise compares and
contrasts with your own education thus far.
Question: What do you believe is the artist’s
intention in leaving a work untitled?
What effect does the absence of a title have on the viewer’s
interpretation of an artwork?
Keywords:
analyze, break down, compare, contrast, diagram,
deconstruct, differentiate, distinguish, identify, illustrate, infer, outline,
relate, select, separate.
Prompts: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare,
contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, explore,
experiment, question, test.
SYNTHESIS-EVALUATING
In
general, the noun synthesis (from the ancient Greek σύνθεσις,
σύν "with" and θέσις "placing")
refers to a combination of two or more entities that together form something
new. The corresponding verb, to synthesize (or synthesise), means to make or form a synthesis.
(Wikipedia)
Examples:
* Use Edward de Bono’s six thinking hats to solve a problem.
* Gather information on different heroes from various time periods and create a
hero pattern that expresses the traits and approaches they share.
* Relate culture-epoch theory to a shift in cultural eras, i.e., the shift from
the Enlightenment to the Romantic Period or the shift from the McCarthy Era to
the Sixties.
Keywords: categorize, combine, compile, compose, create, devise,
design, explain, generate, modify, organize, plan, relate, reorganize, revise,
rewrite, summarize, tells, write.
Prompts: arrange, assemble,
collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage,
organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write.
EVALUATION-CREATING
Examples:
*Select a song that you consider to be the epitome of good music, and, using
the elements of music, critique the means by which the musician effectively
communicated the emotion in the piece.
*Assess a work of art by discussing the use of color and texture in the
work.
*Compare and contrast the moral tenets of Aristotle and Confucius.
*Appraise the importance of the study of humanities and explore the reasons why
it is considered a core course in many college degree plans.
*Defend your contention that you deserve an A in the class.
Keywords: appraise, compare, conclude,
contrast, criticize, critique, defend, describe, discriminate, evaluate,
explain, interpret, justify, relate, summarize, support.
Prompts: appraise,
argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, defend, estimate, judge, predict, rate,
core, select, support, value, evaluate
The above material originated at the
following website: http://www.bu.edu/ceit/teaching-resources/course-design/ I have revised and edited much of it to
tailor it to this particular course requirement.
The material included below originated with Andrew Churches
at the following website:
http://edorigami.wikispaces.com
Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS)
● Remembering- Recognizing,
listing, describing, identifying,
retrieving,
naming, locating, finding
● Understanding - Interpreting,
Summarizing, inferring,
paraphrasing,
classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying
● Applying- Implementing, carrying out, using,
executing
● Analysing- Comparing, organising,
deconstructing, Attributing,
outlining,
finding, structuring, integrating
● Evaluating- Checking, hypothesising,
critiquing, Experimenting,
judging,
testing, Detecting, Monitoring
● Creating - designing,
constructing, planning, producing, inventing,
devising,
making
Higher
Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
These verbs describe
many of the activities, actions, processes and objectives we
Epilogue: My thoughts…
In order to
really teach students HOW to learn, we must focus on what we know about
cognitive processes and brain function.
For students to learn how to think and process ideas critically and
creatively, we need teachers and school systems to do the following:
1)
Give
students exposure to lots of different kinds of activities and subjects so that
they can learn the material in a variety of ways.
2)
Provide
students with ample skills practice to sharpen their cognitive abilities
(critical and creative).
a.
Purpose
and Passion: Memory is born of emotion—if you don’t care, the memory won’t
stick, so people need to do things that are fun and that they care about.
b.
Collaboration
and team building are important skills for healthy relationships.
c.
Music
and art have been tied to increased cognitive acuity in all areas of knowledge
because they link to many brain regions simultaneously, which, in turn, results
in better long-term memory retention as well as more fluid access to stored
knowledge.