SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE

NAME: HAMUSONDE BRIGHT

KNU: 20230005

COMBINATION: BBSED

ASSIGNMENT: THREE (3)

COURSE CODE: BSS 3300

LECTURER: MS CHIKUMBE

DUE DATE: 26 TH NOVEMBER, 2024

QUESTION: Analyze the impact of Bloom’s Taxonomy on questioning techniques in the

classroom. Describe how a teacher might use Bloom's Taxonomy to develop a range of
questions that promote lower-order and higher-order thinking.
1.0 INTRODUCTION

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, created by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom

in 1956, is a classification system designed to help students understand and engage with their learning
more effectively. The primary aim of Bloom’s Taxonomy was to encourage learners to progress
through increasingly sophisticated levels of cognitive development. Each category represents a higher
level of cognitive skill, guiding students towards deeper understanding and mastery of more complex
concepts. Therefore, this assignment will discuss Analyze the impact of Bloom’s Taxonomy on
questioning techniques in the classroom and also describe how a teacher might use Bloom's
Taxonomy to develop a range of questions that promote lower-order and higher-order thinking.

2.0 Impact of Bloom’s Taxonomy on questioning techniques in the classroom

The Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives has been regarded for a long time as an important
tool for cognitive development. It has influenced many teaching philosophies around the globe
especially in promoting rational thinking, often focusing on higher-order thinking skills. Bloom’s
taxonomy as a theory of teaching is often used to justify reduced expectations of students’ capacity to
Think. Bloom’s Taxonomy has had a significant impact on questioning techniques used in the
classroom. It focuses on developing thinking ability which involves simple information acquisition to
more complex processes (Bloom,1956).

According to Anderson & Krathwohl (2001), Bloom’s Taxonomy classifies cognitive skills into
different levels, ranging from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills. This
classification has guided teachers in designing questions that not only assess students' understanding
but also challenge them to think critically and analytically.

Adams (2015) summarizes the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives as
Firstly Knowledge, which entails foundational cognitive skill that require students to retain of
specific, discrete pieces of information, Comprehension, which requires students to paraphrase the
content of knowledge in their own words, classify items in groups, compare and contrast items with
other similar entities, or explain a principle to others, Application, entailing students to use
knowledge, skills, or techniques in new situations, Analysis, which requires students to distinguish
between fact and opinion and identify the claims upon which an argument is built, Synthesis, which
entails the need to create a novel product in a specific situation, and lastly Evaluation, which requires
students to critically appraise the validity of a study and judge the relevance of its results for
application.

Bloom’s Taxonomy can help instructors craft clear, actionable learning objectives. Clear, actionable
learning objectives help students understand the skills and knowledge they will gain during the
course. Bloom’s Taxonomy can help instructors appropriately align instruction to the learning
objectives, including the planning of learning activities and the delivery of instructional materials
(Raths 2002).

Bloom’s taxonomy helps instructors create valid and reliable assessments by aligning course learning
objectives to any given level of student understanding or proficiency. Crooks (1998) suggests that
much of college assessment involves recalling memorized facts, which only addresses the first level
of learning. However, Bloom’s Taxonomy aids instructors in creating assessments that address all six
levels of the cognitive domain.

Bloom’s Taxonomy has been shown to enhance students’ higher-order thinking skills, such as critical
thinking. Bissell and Lemons (2006) used Bloom’s Taxonomy to assess critical-thinking skills in an
introductory biology course. They developed a process by which they prepared questions with both
content and critical-thinking skills in mind, and prepared grading rubrics that specified how to
evaluate both the content and critical-thinking aspects of an answer. Using this methodology helped
Bissell and Lemons clarify the course goals (for instructors and students), improve student
metacognition, and expose student misconceptions about the course content.

Questions are channels for thoughts and teacher questioning promotes students’ level of learning
(Walsh & Sattes, 2005). This implies that questioning is an indispensable and compact learning
mechanism for educators-even for the most qualified and skilled, need to acquire this ability. As
Pagiaro (2011) asserts, combining this complexity, it is recognized that various types of questions are
appropriate for different types of instructional approaches. Therefore, skillful questioning techniques
are considered to be one of the important indications of a successful teacher and what more these
teachers need to do is to match the questions to students’ ability and the adopted pedagogy.

Effective questioning possesses distinctive characteristics that serve multiple purposes and stimulate
various types of cognitive processes. Educators employ a range of question types, spanning from
basic factual inquiries to more complex cognitive engagements, in order to elicit diverse modes of
thinking in students. While factual questions are commonly utilized by teachers, they do not
necessarily foster an optimal learning environment (Cooper, 2013). Mastering the art of posing
questions at different cognitive levels is thus an invaluable skill for educators to cultivate.

4.0.1 How a teacher might use Bloom's Taxonomy to develop a range of questions that promote
lower-order and higher-order thinking.

Bloom (1956) purported that students develop their cognition when practicing high cognitive
questions and making connections between their previous knowledge and new unfamiliar
information. So, in essence, Bloom's idea is that by challenging students with complex questions and
encouraging them to connect new information with what they already know, they can enhance their
cognitive abilities and improve their learning. teachers should be cautious with the aim of curriculum
which stresses on the attainment of Higher Order of Thinking Skills in the Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Cognitive Learning objectives.

According to Kagan (2005), one’s loss of ability to remember does not affect his or her own
intelligent quotient, as he was able to think rationally even though his episodic memory was
damaged. He argues that the case proves higher-order thinking skills do not demand lower-order
thinking skills. In this relation, Richard (1985) argues that Bloom has mistaken the concept of recall
for the concept of knowledge. Recalling can be defined as a process of remembering information
stored in one’s long-term memory, and is not another method of critical thinking but a mere process
of memory retrieval from the past (Klemm, 2007). A further study by Richard saying in actuality,
knowledge is defined as a processed information which students have achieved in the past through the
process of understanding the information.

UNESCO (2004) stated that individuals use different cognitive processes at the same time without
limiting it to one process only. This however requires teachers to set and ask questions which elicit
responses that necessitate them to demonstrate their creative and critical thinking. In other words, the
tasks and questions given by teachers must not be for the purpose of recalling information but to
synthesize or analyses it.

It short, it is skeptical on the extent of students’ engagement in the complex thinking processes as
many of them have to dwell with simple information acquisition, reflective of their engagement in
low order thinking activities as opposed to the higher order thinking which should be substantiated by
their critical and creative thinking abilities.

Therefore, the construction of knowledge takes place through the cognitive processes involved in
learning (Dumteeb, 2009). Moreover, the findings revealed a notable superiority of students in the
experimental group in terms of their critical thinking skills and listening comprehension. In other
words, individuals with enhanced listening comprehension abilities have the potential to cultivate
their critical thinking capacities. Additionally, the results obtained can substantiate the findings of
various previous studies that delved into the correlation between critical thinking and the attainment
of language learning.

As Browne and Keeley (2007) pointed out, critical questions asked by the teacher provide motivation
and direction for critical thinking; they make students advance toward a persistent, continuing
progress for better opinions, decisions, or conclusions. Consequently, this study confirmed the role of
teacher's questions to promote students' critical thinking.

Asking high level questions possibly help students to have a better understanding of speakers'
intentions as they can have more successful communication in the target language. In other words,
this will also prepare them to be life-long critical thinkers in their society. The purpose of modern
education is teaching the elements of critical thinking since it enables the students to deal quickly and
effectively with changes of the new world.

5.0 CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Bloom’s Taxonomy serves as an essential framework for enhancing questioning
techniques in the classroom, thereby promoting both lower-order and higher-order thinking skills
among students. The taxonomy encourages a shift from mere memorization to deeper cognitive
processes, fostering a learning environment that encourages inquiry, creativity, and reflection.
Furthermore, effective questioning, aligned with Bloom’s levels, enables teachers to stimulate diverse
cognitive processes and adapt their teaching strategies to meet students' capabilities. The application
of higher-order questioning not only deepens students’ understanding of content but also prepares
them to navigate complex situations in the real world.
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