Bloom's Taxonomy
While not intended as a model for gifted education programmes, Bloom's Taxonomy has been adapted as a suitable framework for such programmes. The taxonomy is "designed with the purpose of providing a set of criteria that can be used to classify educational objectives at various levels of complexity" (Maker and Nielson, 1995, cited in Riley, 1996, page 194).
Suitable for any subject area or age level, the taxonomy focuses on intellectual behaviours within the six areas shown in this diagram (Bloom, 1956).
Bloom's TaxonomyTHEORY |
|||
| Level | Behaviours | Activities | Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Requires no transformation of information and may be referred to as rote recall | Locate, match, identify, listen, observe | Tapes, diagrams, models |
| Comprehension | Low level of understanding, making use of information and enabling student to restate ideas | Research, ask, discover | Books, magazines, videos, newspapers |
| Application | Using previously learned ideas, procedures or theories in a new context | List, construct, teach, paint, report, sketch, experiment, manipulate, interview, stimulate | Diary, puzzle, map, diorama, scrapbook, collection, sculpture, model, illustration |
| Analysis | Breaking down a whole into its elements or parts | Classify, categorise, separate, compare, contrast, advertise, survey, dissect | Graph, questionnaire, chart, commercial, diagram, report |
| Synthesis | Putting together parts to form a whole | Combine, invent, compose, hypothesise, role-play, create, write, imagine, infer | Cartoon, poem, story, play, song, pantomime, recipe, invention, article, video, web page |
| Evaluation | Making judgments or placing values upon something for a given purpose | Judge, evaluate, discuss, debate, decide, recommend, choose | Self-evaluation, group discussion, mock court trial, conclusion, review |
PRACTICEWhile some contend that all students are capable of each of these processes, educators often advocate that for gifted and talented students, more time and greater attention should be spent at the higher levels, effectively inverting the triangle, as illustrated in the following diagram.
Diagram 4: Adaptation of Bloom's Taxonomy
