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Spotlight 1. Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
Spotlight 1
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy Writing learning objectives is one of the most powerful steps you can take to maximize the educational experience for both you and your students. The language around learning objectives can be complicated, with the lines among learning goals, objectives, and outcomes blurry and indistinct, but the concept is simple. Learning objectives put the endpoint of a lesson front and center, helping both instructors and students sharpen their focus. They help instructors identify what they want their students to be able to do, helping them determine what to assess, what to do in class, and what to have students practice. They allow students to understand better what it means to “know” something in the class, helping them move beyond memorization and toward other skills that allow them to use the facts they’ve learned. In short, learning objectives are a tool to marry the content of a class to the ways of thinking and communicating that characterize our disciplines; they are a means to convert a class from a list of topics into a series of lessons on how to think scientifically about those topics. Topic-level learning objectives can serve as sort of roadmap for both students and instructors, illustrating what students will do to reach the large learning goals that are shaping the course. Table S1 gives an example of three sets of topic-level learning objectives by which students in a statistics course build toward the overarching course goals. Learning objectives have two key parts: a verb that describes what student should be able to do, and a description of the content they’ll be working with. Bloom’s taxonomy, described by Bloom et al. (1956) and revised by Anderson et al., (2001), can serve as a valuable tool in helping instructors think through their choices for both parts of the learning objective. Bloom’s taxonomy describes three types of learning (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) and four knowledge categories. Considering Bloom’s description of cognitive processes can help instructors consider what they want students to be able to do—the verb in the learning objective—and considering the knowledge categories can clarify the type of content they want to be the focus of students’ work.
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SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
TABLE S1 Course-Level Learning Goals May Be Reached Through Multiple Sets of Learning Objectives During a Course’s Trajectory Course-Level Learning Goal
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 1
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 2
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 3
Students will be able to use statistics to analyze the results of a study.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate Student’s t-test for a comparison of two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate statistical test to compare the effect of a single independent variable on more than two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate statistical test to compare the effect of two variables on more than two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to apply the appropriate Student’s t-test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to apply the chosen test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to apply the chosen test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the t-test.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the test.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the test.
The example shown here focuses on statistical methods.
COGNITIVE PROCESSES: WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO BE DOING? Within the cognitive learning domain, Bloom’s revised taxonomy describes six categories of cognitive processes, building from simple to complex: G
G
G
Remembering: Retrieving knowledge from memory through recognizing or recalling information. Understanding: Constructing meaning. Can be demonstrated by interpreting and paraphrasing, generating examples, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, or explaining. Applying: Executing or implementing a procedure.
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy SPOTLIGHT | 1
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FIGURE S1 Bloom’s revised taxonomy describes six levels of cognitive processes. Figure from Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. G
G
G
Analyzing: Determining how parts of a whole relate to each other and to an overall structure or purpose by differentiating, organizing, or attributing. Evaluating: Making judgements based on criteria and standards by checking or critiquing. Creating: Synthesizing elements into a coherent whole, such as generating hypotheses or research plans.
The categories are summarized in Fig. S1, where they are shown in the triangle that we often associate with Bloom’s taxonomy. Generally, remembering and understanding are considered lower-order cognitive processes, whereas applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating (or synthesizing) are considered higher order. While we want our students to remember and understand content from our discipline, we typically also want them to be able to do more, and these categories can help us recognize the forms that the “more” can take. Instructors often find Bloom’s cognitive processes to be helpful particularly when the basic six categories are illustrated by a rich set of verbs such as those shown in Fig. S1; a quick google of “Bloom’s verbs” will lead to even more extensive lists. When writing learning objectives, it’s critical to recognize that not every level will be represented for every topic and that higher level cognitive activities are not necessarily better. Bloom’s categories are useful tools for thinking about the learning we want our students to do, but it’s important for instructors to use their understanding of the topic and the discipline as a whole to identify goals for their students.
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SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN: WHAT TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE DO WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO LEARN? Blooms’ taxonomy is most well-known for characterizing cognitive processes, but the revised taxonomy also describes four knowledge categories. G
G
G
G
Factual: The basic pieces of information students need to be familiar with a discipline and the approaches it uses to solve problems, such as key facts and terminology. Conceptual: Understanding relationships between basic pieces of factual knowledge to create a more complex knowledge structure that functions together. Conceptual knowledge includes knowledge of classifications and categories; principles and generalizations that describe those categories; and theories and models that a discipline uses to describe, explain, and predict phenomena. Procedural: Procedural knowledge involves an understanding of how processes work (e.g., skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods, and the criteria for using them). Metacognitive: Knowledge of different strategies for learning, their relative effectiveness, and conditions under which they might be used, as well as an understanding of personal knowledge and learning processes.
These knowledge categories can be used to prompt our thinking about the kinds of things we want our students to know. We certainly want them to know factual information from our classes, but we also want them to organize this factual organization in a conceptual framework and to understand the processes we use to ask and answer questions in our discipline. These distinctions are often not apparent to students. Experts tend to organize their knowledge in richly connected networks based on essential features, whereas novices tend to have more fragmented knowledge networks and tend to base their networks on surface features (Ambrose et al., 2010). If we are not careful, therefore, our students will have a tendency to memorize a great number of facts from our classes but not necessarily organize them into meaningful conceptual networks. By using Bloom’s knowledge categories to help us write our learning objectives, we can be intentional about prioritizing the types of conceptual understanding that can help our students develop transferable knowledge. Table S2 illustrates learning objectives that vary both across the type of thinking students are doing and the type of knowledge that is their focus. In brief, writing learning objectives is one of the most powerful steps you can take to maximize the educational experience for both you and your students. Bloom’s taxonomy can serve as a tool to help instructors identify the cognitive processes they want their students to be able to do—the verb in the learning objective—as well as the type of content they want to be the focus of students’ work.
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy SPOTLIGHT | 1
TABLE S2 Learning Objectives Can Vary in Both Level of Cognitive Process and Type of Knowledge Cognitive Process
Topic: Michaelis Menten Kinetics
Topic: Mechanisms of Enzyme Regulation
Knowledge Category
Associated Learning Objectives Could Be:
Associated Learning Objectives Could Be:
Remember
Students should be able to write the Michaelis Menten equation and a typical Michaelis Menten plot.
Students should be able to cite examples of enzymes regulated by posttranslational modification, allosteric regulators, and genetic control.
Factual
Understand
Students should be able to explain the meaning of the variables in the Michaelis Menten equation and conditions under which it applies.
Students should be able to explain how different types of enzyme regulation lead to changes in enzyme activity.
Conceptual
Apply
Students should be able to produce the Michaelis Menten plot from experimental data.
Students should be able to predict the impact of a particular inhibitor on enzyme Km and Vmax.
Procedural
Analyze
Students should be able to interpret changes in reaction conditions from different Michaelis Menten plots.
Students should be able to analyze the impact of a given mutation on regulation of that enzyme.
Conceptual
Evaluate
Students should be able to determine whether the Michaelis Menten relationship can be used to identify parameters for a particular enzyme, justifying the reasons.
Given an unfamiliar metabolic pathway and the ΔG for each enzyme, students should be able to select the most likely major point of control for the pathway, justifying their answers.
Conceptual
Create
Students should be able to design an experiment to generate data for a Michaelis Menten plot.
Students should be able to design an experiment to test the role of allosteric regulation on the activity of a given enzyme.
Conceptual and procedural
The two examples shown illustrate multiple levels of understanding for two topics from a biochemistry class.
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SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
REFERENCES Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., Norman, M.K., 2010. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom, B.S., 2001. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete ed.). Longman, New York, NY. Bloom, B.S., Krathwohl, D.R., Masia, B.B., 1956. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. D. McKay, New York, NY.
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy Writing learning objectives is one of the most powerful steps you can take to maximize the educational experience for both you and your students. The language around learning objectives can be complicated, with the lines among learning goals, objectives, and outcomes blurry and indistinct, but the concept is simple. Learning objectives put the endpoint of a lesson front and center, helping both instructors and students sharpen their focus. They help instructors identify what they want their students to be able to do, helping them determine what to assess, what to do in class, and what to have students practice. They allow students to understand better what it means to “know” something in the class, helping them move beyond memorization and toward other skills that allow them to use the facts they’ve learned. In short, learning objectives are a tool to marry the content of a class to the ways of thinking and communicating that characterize our disciplines; they are a means to convert a class from a list of topics into a series of lessons on how to think scientifically about those topics. Topic-level learning objectives can serve as sort of roadmap for both students and instructors, illustrating what students will do to reach the large learning goals that are shaping the course. Table S1 gives an example of three sets of topic-level learning objectives by which students in a statistics course build toward the overarching course goals. Learning objectives have two key parts: a verb that describes what student should be able to do, and a description of the content they’ll be working with. Bloom’s taxonomy, described by Bloom et al. (1956) and revised by Anderson et al., (2001), can serve as a valuable tool in helping instructors think through their choices for both parts of the learning objective. Bloom’s taxonomy describes three types of learning (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) and four knowledge categories. Considering Bloom’s description of cognitive processes can help instructors consider what they want students to be able to do—the verb in the learning objective—and considering the knowledge categories can clarify the type of content they want to be the focus of students’ work.
29
30
SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
TABLE S1 Course-Level Learning Goals May Be Reached Through Multiple Sets of Learning Objectives During a Course’s Trajectory Course-Level Learning Goal
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 1
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 2
Associated Learning Objectives: Set 3
Students will be able to use statistics to analyze the results of a study.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate Student’s t-test for a comparison of two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate statistical test to compare the effect of a single independent variable on more than two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to choose the appropriate statistical test to compare the effect of two variables on more than two populations, identifying key assumptions.
Students will be able to apply the appropriate Student’s t-test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to apply the chosen test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to apply the chosen test to a given dataset.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the t-test.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the test.
Students will be able to interpret and explain the results of the test.
The example shown here focuses on statistical methods.
COGNITIVE PROCESSES: WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR STUDENTS TO BE DOING? Within the cognitive learning domain, Bloom’s revised taxonomy describes six categories of cognitive processes, building from simple to complex: G
G
G
Remembering: Retrieving knowledge from memory through recognizing or recalling information. Understanding: Constructing meaning. Can be demonstrated by interpreting and paraphrasing, generating examples, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, or explaining. Applying: Executing or implementing a procedure.
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy SPOTLIGHT | 1
31
FIGURE S1 Bloom’s revised taxonomy describes six levels of cognitive processes. Figure from Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. G
G
G
Analyzing: Determining how parts of a whole relate to each other and to an overall structure or purpose by differentiating, organizing, or attributing. Evaluating: Making judgements based on criteria and standards by checking or critiquing. Creating: Synthesizing elements into a coherent whole, such as generating hypotheses or research plans.
The categories are summarized in Fig. S1, where they are shown in the triangle that we often associate with Bloom’s taxonomy. Generally, remembering and understanding are considered lower-order cognitive processes, whereas applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating (or synthesizing) are considered higher order. While we want our students to remember and understand content from our discipline, we typically also want them to be able to do more, and these categories can help us recognize the forms that the “more” can take. Instructors often find Bloom’s cognitive processes to be helpful particularly when the basic six categories are illustrated by a rich set of verbs such as those shown in Fig. S1; a quick google of “Bloom’s verbs” will lead to even more extensive lists. When writing learning objectives, it’s critical to recognize that not every level will be represented for every topic and that higher level cognitive activities are not necessarily better. Bloom’s categories are useful tools for thinking about the learning we want our students to do, but it’s important for instructors to use their understanding of the topic and the discipline as a whole to identify goals for their students.
32
SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
THE KNOWLEDGE DOMAIN: WHAT TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE DO WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO LEARN? Blooms’ taxonomy is most well-known for characterizing cognitive processes, but the revised taxonomy also describes four knowledge categories. G
G
G
G
Factual: The basic pieces of information students need to be familiar with a discipline and the approaches it uses to solve problems, such as key facts and terminology. Conceptual: Understanding relationships between basic pieces of factual knowledge to create a more complex knowledge structure that functions together. Conceptual knowledge includes knowledge of classifications and categories; principles and generalizations that describe those categories; and theories and models that a discipline uses to describe, explain, and predict phenomena. Procedural: Procedural knowledge involves an understanding of how processes work (e.g., skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods, and the criteria for using them). Metacognitive: Knowledge of different strategies for learning, their relative effectiveness, and conditions under which they might be used, as well as an understanding of personal knowledge and learning processes.
These knowledge categories can be used to prompt our thinking about the kinds of things we want our students to know. We certainly want them to know factual information from our classes, but we also want them to organize this factual organization in a conceptual framework and to understand the processes we use to ask and answer questions in our discipline. These distinctions are often not apparent to students. Experts tend to organize their knowledge in richly connected networks based on essential features, whereas novices tend to have more fragmented knowledge networks and tend to base their networks on surface features (Ambrose et al., 2010). If we are not careful, therefore, our students will have a tendency to memorize a great number of facts from our classes but not necessarily organize them into meaningful conceptual networks. By using Bloom’s knowledge categories to help us write our learning objectives, we can be intentional about prioritizing the types of conceptual understanding that can help our students develop transferable knowledge. Table S2 illustrates learning objectives that vary both across the type of thinking students are doing and the type of knowledge that is their focus. In brief, writing learning objectives is one of the most powerful steps you can take to maximize the educational experience for both you and your students. Bloom’s taxonomy can serve as a tool to help instructors identify the cognitive processes they want their students to be able to do—the verb in the learning objective—as well as the type of content they want to be the focus of students’ work.
Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy SPOTLIGHT | 1
TABLE S2 Learning Objectives Can Vary in Both Level of Cognitive Process and Type of Knowledge Cognitive Process
Topic: Michaelis Menten Kinetics
Topic: Mechanisms of Enzyme Regulation
Knowledge Category
Associated Learning Objectives Could Be:
Associated Learning Objectives Could Be:
Remember
Students should be able to write the Michaelis Menten equation and a typical Michaelis Menten plot.
Students should be able to cite examples of enzymes regulated by posttranslational modification, allosteric regulators, and genetic control.
Factual
Understand
Students should be able to explain the meaning of the variables in the Michaelis Menten equation and conditions under which it applies.
Students should be able to explain how different types of enzyme regulation lead to changes in enzyme activity.
Conceptual
Apply
Students should be able to produce the Michaelis Menten plot from experimental data.
Students should be able to predict the impact of a particular inhibitor on enzyme Km and Vmax.
Procedural
Analyze
Students should be able to interpret changes in reaction conditions from different Michaelis Menten plots.
Students should be able to analyze the impact of a given mutation on regulation of that enzyme.
Conceptual
Evaluate
Students should be able to determine whether the Michaelis Menten relationship can be used to identify parameters for a particular enzyme, justifying the reasons.
Given an unfamiliar metabolic pathway and the ΔG for each enzyme, students should be able to select the most likely major point of control for the pathway, justifying their answers.
Conceptual
Create
Students should be able to design an experiment to generate data for a Michaelis Menten plot.
Students should be able to design an experiment to test the role of allosteric regulation on the activity of a given enzyme.
Conceptual and procedural
The two examples shown illustrate multiple levels of understanding for two topics from a biochemistry class.
33
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SPOTLIGHT | 1 Writing Learning Objectives Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
REFERENCES Ambrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., Norman, M.K., 2010. How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., Bloom, B.S., 2001. A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Complete ed.). Longman, New York, NY. Bloom, B.S., Krathwohl, D.R., Masia, B.B., 1956. Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. D. McKay, New York, NY.