BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can help teachers educate and students
learn, among many other things. In other words, Bloom's Taxonomy is a system for categorizing the many
goals and skills that teachers set for their students (learning objectives).

Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist from the University of Chicago, proposed the taxonomy in 1956.
The following six degrees of learning have recently been added to the nomenclature. These six levels can be
used to organize your course's learning objectives, lessons, and assessments:

a) Remembering is the process of retrieving, recognizing, and recalling information from long-term
memory.
b) Understanding is the process of Interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring,
comparing, and explaining are all ways to construct meaning from oral, written, and graphic signals.
c) Applying is the process of performing or employing a technique for executing or implementing
anything.
d) Analyzing: Differentiating, arranging, and assigning material into constituent parts and deciding how
the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or goal.
e) Evaluating: Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.
f) Creating: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into
a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.

The Emotional Domain (1964) – Concerned with emotions and feelings.

The affective model was published as a follow-up to Bloom's initial study (the first being the cognitive model)
(Krathwol et al., 1964). This domain is concerned with how we deal with sentiments, values, admiration,
enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes, among other things (Clark, 2015). From lowest to highest, with
examples included, the five levels are:

1) Receiving: basic awareness

→ Example: Listening and remembering the names of your classmates when you meet them on the first
day of school.
2) Responding: active participation and reacting to stimuli, with a focus on responding
→ Example: Participating in a class discussion.
3) Valuing: the value that is associated with a particular object or piece of information, ranging from basic
acceptance to complex commitment; values are somehow related to prior knowledge and experience
→ Example: Valuing diversity and being sensitive to other people’s backgrounds and beliefs.
4) Organizing: sorting values into priorities and creating a unique value system with an emphasis on
comparing and relating previously identified values
→ Example: Accepting professional ethical standards.
5) Characterizing: building abstract knowledge based on knowledge acquired from the four previous tiers;
value system is now in full effect and controls the way you behave
→ Example: Displaying a professional commitment to ethical standards in the workplace.

The Psychomotor Domain (1972) – Concerned with skilled behavior

The psychomotor domain is Bloom's Taxonomy's third and final domain. The psychomotor model is concerned
with physical movement, coordination, and motor abilities in general. Speed, precision, and distance are all
indicators of mastery of these specialized skills. These psychomotor skills might range from simple jobs like car
washing to more advanced tasks like controlling complicated technological equipment. The psychomotor
model, like the cognitive domain, has its own set of variations. Robert Armstrong and colleagues first presented
this model in 1970, and it consisted of five levels: 1) imitation; 2) manipulation; 3) precision; 4) articulation;
and 5) naturalization. These tiers represent different degrees of performing a skill from exposure to mastery.

The Revised Taxonomy (2001)

In 2001, a consortium of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists and instructional researchers, and
testing and assessment specialists produced A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, a version of
Bloom's Taxonomy. This term shifts the focus away from Bloom's original title's fairly static notion of
"educational aims" and toward a more dynamic view of classification.

The authors of the updated taxonomy emphasize this dynamic by labeling their divisions and subcategories
with verbs and gerunds (rather than the nouns of the original taxonomy). The cognitive processes through
which intellectuals encounter and deal with knowledge are described by these "action words":

Bloom’s Level Key Verbs (keywords) Example Learning Objective

design, formulate, build, invent, create, By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
Create compose, generate, derive, modify, to design an original homework problem dealing
develop. with the principle of conservation of energy.
choose, support, relate, determine, By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
defend, judge, grade, compare, to determine whether using conservation of energy
Evaluate
contrast, argue, justify, support, or conservation of momentum would be more
convince, select, evaluate. appropriate for solving a dynamics problem.
classify, break down, categorize, By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
Analyze analyze, diagram, illustrate, criticize, to differentiate between potential and kinetic
simplify, associate. energy.
calculate, predict, apply, solve,
By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
Apply illustrate, use, demonstrate,
to calculate the kinetic energy of a projectile.
determine, model, perform, present.
describe, explain, paraphrase, restate, By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
Understand give original examples of, summarize, to describe Newton’s three laws of motion to in
contrast, interpret, discuss. her/his own words
list, recite, outline, define, name,
By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
Remember match, quote, recall, identify, label,
to recite Newton’s three laws of motion.
recognize.

The new version emphasizes the necessity of adding measurable verbs in the objectives, reminding teachers
that learning is an active process. The taxonomy's simple structure highlights the significance of making
learning objectives plain and succinct rather than unclear and abstract.

Bloom's Taxonomy can be used at the course level as well. That is, Bloom's Taxonomy can be used to a whole
course to establish what the course's learning goals should be, in addition to single classroom units.

Lower-level introductory courses, which are often oriented for freshmen, will specifically target Bloom's lower-
order skills as students gain foundational knowledge.
Connectionism (Edward L. Thorndike – 1898)

Edward L. Thorndike (1898) coined the term "connectionism." The work of Edward L. Thorndike, the
recognized inventor of a "learning theory [that] dominated all others in America" for "almost half a century,"
may have played a significant impact in the prominence of Aristotle's rules of association in the 1900s (Bower
& Hilgard, 1981, p. 21). Thorndike's theory was based on a series of puzzle box studies in which he plotted
animal learning curves. Learning was measured as a function of the time it took the animal to get out of the box
in these tests. Animal intelligence contains a complete explanation of his research, including detailed
descriptions of the puzzle boxes he employed and instances of learning curves plotted (Thorndike, 1898).

Although his original experimental subjects were cats, dogs, and chicks, Thorndike stated clearly that "the main
purpose of the study of the animal mind is to learn the development of mental life down through the phylum, to
trace in particular the origin of human faculty" when he said, "the main purpose of the study of the animal
mind is to learn the development of mental life down through the phylum, to trace in particular the origin of
human faculty." He extrapolated "a great increase in the number of associations as required steps in the
evolution of human faculty" from his studies with animals. He elaborated on the issue of human learning in a
three-volume set titled Educational psychology, with volume titles such as The original nature of man, The
psychology of learning, and Mental work and exhaustion, as well as individual differences and their causes,
published a decade and a half later.

In a single, shorter textbook titled Educational psychology: briefer course, he covered the basic subject matter
of the three volumes (Thorndike, 1914a). Thorndike gave a formative climax of his learning theory in the form
of three laws of learning in these volumes:

1) Law of Readiness – The law of readiness was intended to account for the motivational aspects of
learning and was tightly coupled to the language of the science of neurology. It was defined in terms of
the conduction unit, which term Thorndike used to refer to “the neuron, neurons, synapse, synapses,
part of a neuron, part of a synapse, parts of neurons or parts of synapses—whatever makes up the path
which is ready for conduction”.
2) Law of Exercise – The law of exercise had two parts: (a) the law of use and (b) the law of disuse. This
law stated that connections grow stronger when used—where strength is defined as “vigor and duration
as well as the frequency of its making” — and grow weaker when not used.
3) Law of Effect – The law of effect added to the law of exercise the notion that connections are
strengthened only when the making of the connection results in a satisfying state of affairs and that they
are weakened when the result is an annoying state of affairs.

These three laws were augmented by five learning characteristics that were "only second in extent and
importance to the rules of readiness, exercise, and effect" in terms of scope and importance.

a) Multiple response or varied reaction

b) Set or attitude
c) Partial activity or prepotency of elements
d) Assimilation
e) Associative shifting

To sum up this theory, Connectionism was intended to be a broad learning philosophy for both animals and
humans. Thorndike was particularly interested in how his theory may be applied to education, particularly
mathematics, spelling, and reading, as well as intelligence evaluation and adult learning.
FAMILY LITERACY PRACTICES Framework by WASIK, B. H., & HENDRICKSON, J. S.

“The domain of the family has therefore gained the attention of scholars seeking ways to strengthen
children’s opportunities for literacy development”

The family's influence on their children's literacy acquisition has been supported by studies for decades. Family
literacy theories have been developed and questioned, and research on the family's application of literacy
interactions, experiences, methods, resources, influencing variables, and programs in a number of contexts,
both inside and outside the home, have been done. The majority of studies imply that parental literacy aids in
the development of young children's literacy.

Our curiosity about how literacy and language skills develop, as well as our concern when children and adults
struggle to acquire these skills, has led to extensive research on the origins of literacy. This investigation has led
us to families, where practically everyone learns the fundamental abilities that serve as the foundation for
further learning. To better understand how families assist literacy development, writers and researchers looked
at family behaviors, beliefs, and resources. Simultaneously, they've looked at these habits, beliefs, and
resources to see how literacy skills might best be developed in families.

KENNETH GOODMAN’S WHOLE LANGUAGE

This conundrum has long perplexed parents, teachers, and academics: learning a language can seem
outrageously easy at times and impossibly difficult at other times. And the easy days are outside of school,
while the difficult times are within.

Without any official instruction, almost all human neonates learn to speak their native language exceptionally
effectively in a short period of time. When they go to school, however, many of them appear to struggle,
particularly with written language, despite the fact that they are taught by dedicated teachers using expensive
and well produced materials.

The representation of a whole language is common, especially in popular culture. In contrast to phonics, which
is sometimes depicted as a way of teaching reading, press is a method of teaching reading. It has additionally
been associated with literature-based reading teaching and a relaxed attitude approach to the formation of
written language It's neither of those things, and it's a lot more. A great deal more than any of them Whole
language has become popular with teachers.

A word for an inclusive pedagogy, a curriculum and teaching philosophy this places language at the core of
education. It is complete in the sense that language is viewed as a whole unit, and it is complete in the sense
that language is only seen as existing in the context of its intended use as well as practical application -
integrated in literacy events and speech acts that are authentic within cultural practices.

In connection to the Goodman’s theory of whole language, according to him, whole language approach has in
recent times been a very popular and important trend in early childhood education. Researchers of the whole
language philosophy hold the view that language should not be broken down into letters or combinations of
letters and ordinary understandable message decoded. Instead, they believe that language is a complete system
of making meaning, with words functioned in relation to each other in context.

 Whole Language Approach

The whole language proponents claimed that language should not be broken down into letters and
combinations of letters and decoded (Stahl & Miller, 1989). Instead, they believe that language is a
complete system of making meaning, with words functioning in relation to each other in context
 (Moats, 2007). Froses (1991, p. 2) defines “whole language” as a: child centered, literature-based
approach to language teaching that immerses students in real communication situations whenever
possible.

 Top-Down Reading Approach to Whole Language Approach

The whole language method is a top-down model that is based on constructivist learning theory. The
concept of complete language is closely linked to Goodman's work (1967). In that it views the process of
learning to read as a behavioural and developmental process, Goodman's conception differs from an
older perspective on reading acquisition. Children are involved in reading and writing, according to
Goodman (1986)  learning in any social situation allows kids to build literacy before beginning formal
reading and writing instruction in school.
 Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Approaches
Arguments between what are known as bottom-up and top-down approaches to reading instruction
have long been a focal point in the discussion over reading instruction in the West. The reading wars,
according to Stanovich, have "generated acrimony, sapped the field's energies, and most importantly,
confused and demoralized educators" over the last decade, as the whole language versus phonics
emphasis debate has "generated acrimony, sapped the field's energies, and most importantly, confused
and demoralized educators." It may be helpful to teach some of the core ideas of the bottom-up
paradigm before beginning the entire linguistic approach (top-down model).
Briefly, the bottom-up model assumes that the process of learning to read starts with the recognition of
letters then clusters of letters, then words and so on progressively until finally a whole text can be
processed. Taken at its most extreme, the assumption can be that the concepts and skills are acquired in
a step-by-step process, requiring a careful and cumulative introduction to the elements of written
language: fist letters, then words, then phrase or sentences and then stories and books in a linear
fashion (Gough, 1972).

ORAL LANGUAGE AND CODE-RELATED PRECURSORS TO READING: EVIDENCE

FROM A LONGITUDINAL STRUCTURAL MODEL.
by Stacey Storch Bracken & Grover J Whitehurst

In a longitudinal study of 626 children from preschool to fourth grade, researchers looked at code-
related and oral language precursors to reading. In preschool and kindergarten, code-related
antecedents such as print conceptions and phonological awareness, as well as oral language, were
tested. In the first through fourth grades, students' reading accuracy and comprehension skills were
tested. The findings revealed that (a) during preschool, there is a strong relationship between code-
related precursors and oral language; (b) both code-related and oral language abilities have a high
degree of continuity over time; (c) during early elementary school, reading ability is primarily
determined by the level of print knowledge and phonological awareness a child brings from
kindergarten; and (d) in later elementary school, reading accuracy and reading comprehensibility are
more important. Meaning, Children's phonological awareness abilities are strongly indicative of their
eventual ability to read.