Measuring Standards using Bloom's Taxonomy

When writing objectives, I was always taught to use verbs that are easily measurable. Rick Wormeli, in the video, defining mastery he begins with the simple statement of an objective of The student will understand fact versus opinion, but then he begins to break down the verb understand. Understand is not an easily measurable word. Students may show understanding in different ways, and just because they understand a concept, does not necessarily mean that they will be able to apply it to other situations. Wormeli begins to break down this verb further: identify, create and revise. When I heard him say this verbs, I immediately paused the video and looked at my notes from another class on Bloom’s Taxonomy, which is a framework that can be applied to teaching to determine students knowledge. At the bottom level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is the “remembering” stage, where students are able to define, list, or state things that they have learned. In the “understanding” stage, students can describe, explain the topic in detail or in their own words. In the “apply” stage, students solve problems or use the information that they have learned in a new way. In the “analyze” stage, students organize the information and compare or contrast it to other things that they have learned. When students are in the “evaluate” stage, they support or critique what they have learned, and in the final stage, “create”, students design a project, or investigate and conduct further research. I think that looking at the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy is helpful when writing objectives or determining goals for a lesson. For example, if teaching a new topic to a class, it would not be helpful to start by having them “Create a project to explain how the concept works” because the students most likely would not even have an understanding of the topic, much less be able to analyze or apply it to other situations. Therefore, when creating learning goals, it is important to build students up to the level where you need them to be at. Here is a link to a PDF of a very helpful guide for creating questions that align to the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and that can also be applied to creating objectives and standards as well.

As I continued to watch the video, I began intrigued at the verbs that are used in both the NCTE and the CCSS Standards, and realized that oftentimes, the verbs that are in these standards are difficult to measure. As a teacher, I believe it is important to understand what the standards are requiring and to remember that there are multiple ways to achieve a skill.