Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a classification system for educational goals, originally developed by Benjamin Bloom in the 1950s. It is used to categorize educational objectives into levels of complexity and specificity, with the ultimate goal of creating a hierarchy of learning goals that can be used to design curriculum and assessments.
There are three main categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor.
The Cognitive domain deals with the development of intellectual skills, such as knowledge, comprehension, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This includes objectives related to memorization, understanding, application, and problem-solving.
The Affective domain focuses on the development of attitudes and emotions, such as receiving, responding, valuing, organizing, and characterizing. This includes objectives related to awareness, interest, attitude, and self-motivation.
The Psychomotor domain deals with the development of physical skills, such as perception, set, guided response, mechanism, and complex overt response. This includes objectives related to coordination, control, and precision.
Each of these domains is further divided into levels of complexity, with Level 1 being the lowest and Level 6 being the highest. For example, in the Cognitive domain, Level 1 is knowledge, Level 2 is comprehension, Level 3 is application, Level 4 is analysis, Level 5 is synthesis, and Level 6 is evaluation.
The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a useful tool for educators because it helps them to clearly define and communicate the learning goals for a particular lesson or curriculum. By breaking down learning goals into specific categories and levels of complexity, educators can ensure that their teaching is aligned with their desired outcomes and that students are challenged at the appropriate level.
In addition, the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives can be used to design assessments that accurately measure student learning. By aligning assessments with specific learning goals, educators can more accurately gauge student progress and identify areas where additional support may be needed.
Overall, the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is an important framework for guiding the design and assessment of educational programs. By using this taxonomy, educators can create a clear and structured approach to teaching and learning, leading to improved student outcomes.