In simple terms
Bloom’s taxonomy sorts learning goals by how much thinking they demand, from recalling a fact up to producing something new. It gives teachers a shared vocabulary for saying what they actually want students to be able to do.
The practical consequence is that a course can state its aims as verbs. Remembering the stages of the water cycle and evaluating two competing explanations of it are different targets, and they need different teaching and different exam questions.
How it works
The scheme came out of a 1948 meeting of university educators chaired by Benjamin Bloom, who wanted a common framework for writing test items. The cognitive domain was published in 1956. [1][2]
It covers three domains: cognitive, meaning thinking and knowledge; affective, meaning attitudes and values; and psychomotor, meaning physical skill. The cognitive domain is so dominant that people usually mean it when they say Bloom’s taxonomy. [1]
Anderson and Krathwohl revised the scheme in 2001 and turned the levels from nouns into verbs. The six are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. [1] The same revision added a second dimension for types of knowledge: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive, the last meaning awareness of how your own learning works. [1]
Why it matters
Course design and exam blueprinting around the world now borrow this vocabulary, so the taxonomy quietly shapes what gets assessed, and therefore what gets taught.
One caution about how it is used. The split into higher-order and lower-order skills came later; Bloom himself did not use those terms. [2] Reading the six levels as a strict ladder that must be climbed in order is an interpretation of the scheme, not a finding from the original work.
Where you will see it
- Learning objectives on a syllabus, phrased as what students will be able to do
- Exam blueprints that balance recall questions against analysis questions
- Teacher training and university teaching center guidance [1]
- Professional and clinical training design [2]
Example
The exam had been rebalanced using Bloom’s taxonomy, so only a third of the marks now came from remembering definitions.
Often confused with
A learning objective is a single statement of what a student should be able to do. Bloom’s taxonomy is the classification scheme used to write and sort those objectives.
Key facts
- The taxonomy grew out of a 1948 meeting of university educators chaired by Benjamin Bloom, and the cognitive domain was published in 1956.12
- It covers three domains: cognitive for thinking and knowledge, affective for attitudes and values, and psychomotor for physical skills.1
- The Anderson and Krathwohl revision of 2001 changed the cognitive levels from nouns to verbs: remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create.1
- The 2001 revision also added a knowledge dimension with four types: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.1
- The division into higher-order and lower-order skills came later; Bloom himself did not use those terms.2
Related concepts
In the news
Quick checkWhat are the six levels of the revised cognitive taxonomy?Show answer
Remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create.
Sources
- University of Illinois Chicago, Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence. Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, by Erin Stapleton-Corcoran. 25 January 2023 (accessed 28 September 2026)
- Journal of the Medical Library Association. Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives, by Nancy E. Adams, volume 103, issue 3, pages 152 to 153. July 2015 (accessed 28 September 2026)
Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed September 28, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue