Professional Education · The School Curriculum
Bloom’s Taxonomy — Part 1 of 3
The Cognitive Domain
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework for classifying educational objectives, developed by Benjamin Bloom and a committee of educators in 1956, and revised by Anderson and Krathwohl in 2001. It organises learning into three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Part 1 covers the most frequently tested domain on the LET: the Cognitive Domain (Bloom et al., 1956; Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001).
The Cognitive Domain: Six Levels
The cognitive domain covers intellectual skills and mental processes — from basic recall to complex critical thinking. The original taxonomy (1956) used six levels ordered from lowest to highest. The Revised Taxonomy (2001) updated the level names to action verbs and rearranged the top two levels.
| Level | Original (1956) | Revised (2001) | Key Action Verbs | Classroom Example |
| 1 | Knowledge | Remembering | define, list, recall, name, identify, state | Define photosynthesis. List the parts of the human digestive system. |
| 2 | Comprehension | Understanding | explain, describe, summarise, paraphrase, classify | Explain in your own words how photosynthesis works. |
| 3 | Application | Applying | solve, use, demonstrate, apply, calculate, construct | Solve a word problem using the formula for area. Construct a simple circuit. |
| 4 | Analysis | Analysing | differentiate, compare, distinguish, examine, break down | Compare the causes of World War I and World War II. Identify the author’s bias in this text. |
| 5 | Synthesis | Evaluating | judge, critique, defend, justify, assess, recommend | Judge which solution to an environmental problem is most effective. Defend your position. |
| 6 | Evaluation | Creating | design, produce, compose, construct, plan, develop | Design an experiment. Write an original essay. Create a multimedia project on climate change. |
Key Change in the 2001 Revision:
The top two levels were swapped. In the original (1956): Level 5 = Synthesis, Level 6 = Evaluation. In the revision (2001): Level 5 = Evaluating, Level 6 = Creating. The LET may use either version, so know both orderings. The safest approach: if asked about the highest level in the Revised Taxonomy, the answer is Creating.
Sample LET Item — No. 1
Teacher Liza asks her Grade 8 students: “Based on the evidence in the two articles, which author’s argument about climate change is more convincing, and why?” Which level of Bloom’s Cognitive Domain is this question targeting?
A. Applying
B. Analysing
C. Evaluating
D. Creating
Answer: C
The key verb is “which is more convincing” — this asks students to make a judgement based on criteria. Judging the relative merit of two arguments using evidence = Evaluating. Choice B (Analysing) would be correct if students were asked to examine the structure of one argument or identify the author’s techniques — but the question is asking for a judgement between two, which goes beyond analysis. Choice D (Creating) would require students to produce a new argument, which is not being asked here. Applying (A) would require using a procedure or formula in a new context.
Sample LET Item — No. 2
In the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001), which level represents the highest cognitive skill?
A. Synthesis
B. Evaluation
C. Creating
D. Analysing
Answer: C
In the Revised Taxonomy (2001), Creating is the highest level — it replaced Evaluation at the top. Choices A (Synthesis) and B (Evaluation) are both from the original 1956 taxonomy: Synthesis was Level 5 and Evaluation was Level 6. The 2001 revision renamed and reordered them: Evaluating (Level 5) and Creating (Level 6). This is one of the most commonly tested “gotcha” questions on the LET — test-takers who only memorised the original taxonomy will select B.
Coming Up in Part 2
Part 2 covers the Affective Domain (Krathwohl et al., 1964) and the Psychomotor Domain (Simpson, 1972; Dave, 1975).
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Longman.
Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive domain. David McKay.