Discussion on
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY relative to
Constructing exam/test Questions
January 15, 2025
By: NSENGIMANA Leon
|
• What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a
classification of thinking organized by
levels of complexity. It gives teachers
and students an opportunity to learn
and practice a range of thinking and
provides a simple structure for many
different kinds of questions.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Original taxonomy created in 1956 by B. Bloom
• He categorized educational objectives into three domains:
• Cognitive (knowledge and the development of intellectual skills)
• Affective (values, emotions, or attitudes associated with learning)
• Psychomotor (addressing physical skills and actions)
• Set six major categories in the cognitive domain.
• Evaluation
• Synthesis
• Analysis
• Application
• Comprehension
• Knowledge
• The Taxonomy (cognitive domain ) Revised in 2001
A link between
Assessment and
Bloom’s Taxonomy
REVISED BLOOM’S TAXONOMY:
Pathway to
Improve Thinking
What is REVISED BLOOM’S
TAXONOMY?
The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy provides
the measurement tool for thinking. The
changes in RBT occur in three broad
categories.
• Terminologies
• Structure
• Emphasis
A.Visual Comparison of Two
Taxonomies
(Terminology Changes)
Evaluation Creating
Synthesis Evaluating
Analysis Analyzing
Application Applying
Comprehension Understanding
Knowledge Remembering
1956 2001
(Based on Pohl, 2000, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.8)
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
Changes in Terms
• Noun to Verb
• Thinking is an active process therefore
verbs are more accurate
• Knowledge is a product of thinking and
was inappropriate to describe a category of
thinking and was replaced with the word
remembering.
Changes in Terms
• Comprehension became
understanding and synthesis was
renamed creating in order to better
reflect the nature of the thinking
described by each category.
Level One : Remembering
The learner is able to recall, restate and remember
learned information.
- Recognizing
- Listing
- Describing
- Identifying
- Retrieving
- Naming
- Locating
Can you recall information?
Sample Questions for Remembering
• What is _____________?
• Where is __________?
• How did it happen ____________?
• Why did __________ ?
• When did ___________?
• Who were the main ________ ?
• Which one ________ ?
• How is __________?
Level two : understanding
The learner grasps the meaning of information by interpreting
and translating what has been learned.
- Interpreting
- Exemplifying
- Paraphrasing
- Comparing
- Explaining
Can you explain ideas or concepts?
Sample Questions for Understanding
• State in your own words…
• Which are facts? Opinions?
• What does it mean…?
• Is this the same as …?
• Giving an example …
• Select the right definition
Level three : applying
The learner makes use of information in a context different from
the one in which it was learned.
- Implementing
- Carrying out
- Using
- Executing
Can you use the information in another familiar situation?
Sample Questions for Applying
• How would you organize _______ to show ________?
• How would you show your understanding of _______ ?
• What facts would you select to show what ________?
• What other way would you plan to __________?
• How would you apply what you learned to
develop_________ ?
• How would you solve ___________ using what you
have learned?
Level four : analyzing
The learner breaks learned information into its parts to best
understand that information.
- Comparing
- Organizing
- Deconstructing
- Finding
- Structuring
- Integrating
Can you break information into parts to explore understandings
and relationships?
Sample Questions for Analyzing
• Which statement is relevant?
• What is the conclusion?
• What does the author believe? Assume?
• Make a distinction between _________
• What ideas justify the conclusion?
• Which is the least essential statement?
Level five : evaluating
The learner makes decisions based on in-depth reflection,
criticism and assessment.
- Checking
- Critiquing
- Experimenting
- Judging
- Testing
- Detecting
- Monitoring
Can you justify a decision or course of action?
Sample Questions for Evaluating
• Which is more important ___________ ?
• Do you agree _________ ?
• What information would you use
____________ ?
• Do you agree with the ___________ ?
• How would you evaluate _________ ?
Level six : creating
The learner creates new ideas and information using what has
been previously learned.
- Designing
- Constructing
- Planning
- Producing
- Inventing
- Making
Can you generate new products, ideas, or ways of viewing
things?
Sample Questions for Creating
• Can you design a _____________?
• What possible solution to _________ ?
• How many ways can you __________ ?
• Can you create a proposal which
would_________ ?
BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY Suggested Percentage
Allocation
CREATING
Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
10%
Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing
Higher-order EVALUATING
Justifying a decision or course of action 30%
Thinking 10%
Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging
ANALYZING
Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and
relationships 10%
Comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, finding.
APPLYING
Using information in another familiar situation 20%
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
UNDERSTANDING
Explaining ideas or concepts 20%
Interpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining
REMEMBERING
30%
Recalling information
Recognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding.
How to Construct Table of Specification
1.Determine the desired number of
test items.
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
How to Construct Table of Specification
2. List the Topic/ILOs with the
corresponding allocation of time
• The reference is the curriculum/budgeted
syllabus.
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3
2. 4
3. 1
4. 6
5. 8
6. 5
7. 8
8. 2
9. 4
10. 4
45
How to Construct Table of Specification
3. Determine the total number of items per Topic/ILOs by using the formula:
Time Spent / Frequency per Topic/ILOs divided by the total number of
frequency in the grading period times total number of items.
Time Spent / Frequency per Topic/ILOs Total Number of items
Total Frequency in the grading period
Example:
50 = 3.33
3
45
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33
2. 4 4.44
3. 1 1.11
4. 6 6.66
5. 8 8.88
6. 5 5.55
7. 8 8.88
8. 2 2.22
9. 4 4.44
10. 4 4.44
45 49.95
How to Construct Table of Specification
4. Round off the value to become
whole numbers.
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 49.95 49
How to Construct Table of Specification
5. Adjust or Balance by either adding
or subtracting (any of the Topic/ILOs
totals) so that the sum will amount
to the desired number of test items.
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 49.95 49
How to Construct Table of Specification
6. Scatter the items per Topic/ILOs per domain
• Determine the number of items per
complexity / level of cognitive domain.
In this case, we have already a
pre-computed value of 30-20-20-30
(10-10-10)
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/test items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 6.66 7
5. 8 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
How to Construct Table of Specification
7. On the basis of your experience / analysis start allocating the
items with respect to the total number of items per domain and the
total number of items per Topic/ILOs beginning with the higher-
order thinking domains down to remembering. It is suggested that
the order of complexity from creating to remembering is not
altered.
• Review the Topic/ILOs, reflect on previous experiences, and
imagine the teaching learning processes (TLP) that can go with
the Topic/ILOs. You may use teaching guides and other similar
materials.
• Be mindful of the total points per Topic/ILOs.
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 8.88 9
6. 5 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 3.33 3
2. 4 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 1 4.44 4
10. 4 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 8.88 9
8. 2 2.22 2
9. 4 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 2.22 2
9. 4 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 1 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 2 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 2 5.55 6
7. 8 2 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 2.22 2
9. 4 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 1 4.44 4
45 15 10 10 5 5 5 49.95 49
TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS
_________________ _________________ _________________ _________________
Subject Level Term School Year
DOMAINS
Total Number
Time of exam/paper items
Topic/ILOs Spent/
Frequency Remembering Understanding Applying Analyzing Evaluating Creating
Actual Adjusted
1. 3 1 1 1 3.33 3
2. 4 1 1 1 1 4.44 4
3. 1 2 1.11 1+1
4. 6 2 1 2 1 1 6.66 7
5. 8 3 2 2 2 8.88 9
6. 5 2 2 2 5.55 6
7. 8 3 2 2 2 8.88 9
8. 2 1 1 2.22 2
9. 4 1 2 1 4.44 4
10. 4 1 1 1 1 4.44 4
49.95 49
Item Placement
A. Items 1-15 (Type of Question is to measure remembering
which cut across all Topic/ILOss within the term.)
B. Items 16-25 (Type of Question is to measure
understanding…)
C. Items 26-35 (Type of Question is to measure applying…)
D. Items 36-40 (Type of Question is to measure analyzing..)
E. Items 41-45 (Type of Question is to measure evaluating…)
F. Items 46-50 (Type of Question is to measure creating…)
Benefits
Benefitsof
ofthe
theTable
Tableof
ofSpecification
Specification
1. Test Items are proportionally distributed to all Topic/ILOs in the
grading period (Number of time spent in the Topic/ILOs is
proportional to the number of items from the Topic/ILOs which
means that the more time that the teacher spend in the Topic/ILOs,
the more test questions should be constructed from that Topic/ILOs)
a. This ensures that the techer has to cover all Topic/ILOs listed/
budgeted in the grading period.
b. There is therefore sense or urgency.
c. Remediation becomes spontaneous.
d. Assures high “Time on task” rate.
Benefits of the Table of Specification
2. Items are signifi cantly scattered along Bloom’s Taxonomy
(Complexity) / cognitive domain with respect to a desired
percentage which may adhere to the Psychology of learning and
evaluation.
a. Assures that all levels of complexity (Remembering-Creation) are
given emphasis.
b. Assures varied learning activities inside the classrooms.
c. Ensures that Higher-order Thinking skills are developed across
all levels
Benefits of the Table of Specification
3. It is easier to construct a test/exam question because the TOS serves as
a blueprint.
• In fact the teacher, (provided s/he has mastery of her/his lesson and with
the aid of the TOS), she can construct test questions without using any
textbooks and there is assurance that test questions are constructed in
her/his own words and therefore the test questions appeal or relate
better to the pupils/ students.
