Name: Celine Cheah

Matric Number: MC220516921

Question

By referring to Bloom’s Taxonomy, compare the following two examples and decide which one of
those assesses higher-order or critical thinking skills.

Example A

What are the major advantages and limitations of essay questions?

Example B

Given their advantages and limitations, should an essay question be used to access students'
abilities to create a solution to a problem? In answering this question provide a brief explanation
of the major advantages and limitations of essay questions. Clearly state whether or not you think
and essay question should be used and explain the reasoning for your judgement.

Justify your answers in NOT more than 300 words for each of the examples.

Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework that categorizes learning objectives into six levels of
cognitive complexity, ranging from lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) to higher-order thinking skills
(HOTS). The six levels are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. Like other
taxonomies, Bloom’s is hierarchical, meaning that learning at the higher levels is dependent on
having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels. The higher-order thinking skills,
such as analyzing, evaluating, and creating, are considered to be more complex and require more
cognitive effort than the lower-order thinking skills, such as remembering and understanding. The
use of Bloom's Taxonomy can be helpful in designing and evaluating assessment tasks to ensure that
they align with the intended learning outcomes and assess the appropriate level of thinking.
Name: Celine Cheah
Matric Number: MC220516921

Example A requires students to identify the major advantages and limitations of essay questions,
which falls under the "understand" and "analyze" levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. The task only requires
students to remember and comprehend the information they have learned about essay questions.
Students are required to recall the characteristics of essay questions and analyze their strengths and
weaknesses. This task primarily assesses lower-order thinking skills. Example A is focused on the
understanding and analysis of a concept, namely the advantages and limitations of essay questions.
While these are important skills, they are primarily focused on comprehending and explaining pre-
existing information. Students are not required to make judgments or decisions based on their
analysis, which are higher-order thinking skills.

Example B requires students to evaluate and create a solution to a problem. Students not only need
to recall the advantages and limitations of essay questions, but also need to analyze the advantages
and limitations of essay questions and use that knowledge to make a judgment about whether or not
essay questions should be used to assess students' abilities to create a solution to a problem. This
task requires students to use critical thinking skills to evaluate the usefulness of essay questions and
create an argument to support their stance. This task requires students to apply their knowledge of
essay questions to a new situation, analyze the situation, and make a decision based on their
analysis. Thus, this task assesses higher-order thinking skills. First, Students must understand the
advantages and limitations of essay questions (lower levels of Bloom's). They must then analyze this
knowledge to evaluate if an essay question suits the purpose of assessing problem solving abilities.
Finally, they must create a justified position on whether an essay question should be used. This
requires higher-order thinking skills of applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating according to
Bloom's Taxonomy. Additionally, Example B requires students to create an argument to support their
stance on whether or not to use essay questions. This requires students to use their critical thinking
skills to analyze the situation and make a judgment based on their analysis. Creating an argument is a
higher-order thinking skill that requires students to synthesize and evaluate information.

Example B assesses higher-order thinking skills because it requires students to evaluate and create a
solution to a problem using critical thinking skills. Example A, on the other hand, assesses lower-
order thinking skills because it only requires students to identify and analyze the advantages and
limitations of essay questions. While Example A requires some analysis and understanding of a
concept, it does not require students to apply their knowledge to a new situation or make a
judgment based on their analysis. Example B requires students to evaluate the advantages and
limitations of essay questions in a new context and make a decision based on their analysis, which
requires higher-order thinking skills.

(600 words)

Reference

Jessica, S. (2022). Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Outcomes. Retrieved from
https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/#:~:text=Bloom's%20Taxonomy%20is%20a
%20classification%20of%20the%20different%20outcomes%20and,at%20the%20University%20of
%20Chicago.