Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives within education proposed in 1956 by a committee of educators chaired by Benjamin who also edited the first volume of the standard text, Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals[1] (referred to as simply "the Handbook" below). Although named for Bloom, the publication followed a series of conferences from 1949 to 1953, which were designed to improve communication between educators on the design of curricula and examinations.[2] [3]
It refers to a classification of the different objectives that educators set for students (learning objectives). Bloom's Taxonomy divides educational objectives into three "domains": Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor (sometimes loosely described as knowing/head, feeling/heart and doing/hands respectively). Within the domains, learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge and skills at lower levels.[4] A goal of Bloom's Taxonomy is to motivate educators to focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education.[1]
A revised version of the taxonomy was created in 2000.[5] [6] [7]
Bloom's Taxonomy is considered to be a foundational and essential element within the education community as evidenced in the 1981 survey significant writings that have influenced the curriculum: 1906-1981, by H.G. Shane and the 1994 yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. 1. 2. ^ a b c d Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., &Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals; Handbook I: Cognitive DomainNew York, Longmans, Green, 1956. 3. ^ Bloom et al, (1956) p. 4 "The idea for this classification system was formed at an informal meeting of college examiners attending the 1948 American Psychological Association Convention in Boston. At this meeting, interest was expressed in a theoretical framework which could be used to facilitate communication among examiners. This group felt that such a framework could do much to promote the exchange of test materials and ideas about testing. In addition, it could be helpful in stimulating research on examining and on the relations between examining and education. After considerable discussion, there was agreement that such a theoretical framework might best be obtained through a system of classifying the goals of the educational process, since educational objectives provide the basis for building curricula and tests and represent the starting point for much of our educational research." 4. ^ a b c Bloom, Benjamin S. Reflections on the development and use of the taxonomy in Anderson, Lorin W. & Lauren A. Sosniak, eds. (1994), Bloom's Taxonomy: A Forty-Year Retrospective. Chicago National Society for the Study of Education 5. ^ Orlich, et al. (2004) Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Effective Instruction', Houghton Mifflin 6. ^ a b c d L. W. Anderson, D. R. Krathwohl, Peter W. Airasian, Kathleen A. Cruikshank, Richard E. Mayer, Paul R. Pintrich, James Raths, and Merlin C. Wittrock (eds) (2000) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Allyn and Bacon 7. ^ Anderson, L. & Krathwohl, D. A (2001) Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives New York: Longman 8. ^ Krathwohl, D. R. (2002). A revision of bloom's taxonomy: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41 (4), 212-218. 9. ^ Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives; the classification of educational goals. Handbook II: The affective domain. New York: Longman, Green. 10. ^ Simpson, E.J. (1972) The Classification of Educational Objectives in the Psychomotor Domain Washington DC: Gryphon House. 11. ^ Harrow, A.J. (1972) A Taxonomy of the Psychomotor DomainNew York: 12. ^ Dave, R.H. (1970). Psychomotor levels. In RJ. Armstrong (Ed.) Developing and writing educational objectives (pp. 33-34). Tucson AZ: Educational Innovators Press. 13. ^ Learning Domains or Bloom's Taxonomy - Donald R. Clark 14. ^ Morshead, Richard W. (1965) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Handbook II: Affective Domain. Studies in Philosophy and Education vol. 4 (1) pp. 164-170 15. ^ Paul, R. (1993). Critical thinking: What every person needs to survive in a rapidly changing world (3rd ed.). Rohnert Park, California: Sonoma State University Press.

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Affective
Skills in the affective domain describe the way people react emotionally and their ability to feel another living thing's pain or joy. Affective objectives typically target the awareness and growth in attitudes, emotion, and feelings.
There are five levels in the affective domain moving through the lowest order processes to the highest:
Receiving
The lowest level; the student passively pays attention. Without this level no learning can occur.
Responding
The student actively participates in the learning process, not only attends to a stimulus; the student also reacts in some way.
Valuing
The student attaches a value to an object, phenomenon, or piece of information.
Organizing
The student can put together different values, information, and ideas and accommodate them within his/her own schema; comparing, relating and elaborating on what has been learned.
Characterizing
The student holds a particular value or belief that now exerts influence on his/her behaviour so that it becomes a characteristic.
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Psychomotor
Skills in the psychomotor domain describe the ability to physically manipulate a tool or instrument like a hand or a hammer. Psychomotor objectives usually focus on change and/or development in behavior and/or skills.
Bloom and his colleagues never created subcategories for skills in the psychomotor domain, but since then other educators have created their own psychomotor taxonomies.[12] Simpson (1972) among other contributors, such as Harrow (1972) and Dave (1967), created a Psychomotor Taxonomy that helps to explain the behavior of typical learners or high performance athletes. The proposed levels are:
1. Perception: The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity. This ranges from sensory stimulation, through cue selection, to translation. Examples: Detects non-verbal communication cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball. Adjusts heat of stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food. Adjusts the height of the forks on a forklift by comparing where the forks are in relation to the pallet. Key Words: chooses, describes, detects, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates, relates, selects.
2. Set: Readiness to act. It includes mental, physical, and emotional sets. These three sets are dispositions that predetermine a person's response to different situations (sometimes called mindsets). Examples: Knows and acts upon a sequence of steps in a manufacturing process. Recognize one's abilities and limitations. Shows desire to learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This subdivision of Psychomotor is closely related with the “Responding to phenomena” subdivision of the Affective domain. Key Words: begins, displays, explains, moves, proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.
3. Guided Response: The early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and error. Adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing. Examples: Performs a mathematical equation as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a model. Responds hand-signals of instructor while learning to operate a forklift. Key Words: copies, traces, follows, react, reproduce, responds
4. Mechanism: This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex skill. Learned responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some confidence and proficiency. Examples: Use a personal computer. Repair a leaking faucet. Drive a car. Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.
5. Complex Overt Response: The skillful performance of motor acts that involve complex movement patterns. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of energy. This category includes performing without hesitation, and automatic performance. For example, players are often utter sounds of satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a tennis ball or throw a football, because they can tell by the feel of the act what the result will produce. Examples: Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and accurately. Displays competence while playing the piano. Key Words: assembles, builds, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches. NOTE: The Key Words are the same as Mechanism, but will have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the performance is quicker, better, more accurate, etc.
6. Adaptation: Skills are well developed and the individual can modify movement patterns to fit special requirements. Examples: Responds effectively to unexpected experiences. Modifies instruction to meet the needs of the learners. Perform a task with a machine that it was not originally intended to do (machine is not damaged and there is no danger in performing the new task). Key Words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges, reorganizes, revises, varies.
7. Origination: Creating new movement patterns to fit a particular situation or specific problem. Learning outcomes emphasize creativity based upon highly developed skills. Examples: Constructs a new theory. Develops a new and comprehensive training programming. Creates a new gymnastic routine. Key Words: arranges, builds, combines, composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiate, makes, originates. cognitive
Skills in the cognitive domain revolve around knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking of a particular topic. Traditional education tends to emphasize the skills in this domain, particularly the lower-order objectives.
There are six levels in the taxonomy, moving through the lowest order processes to the highest:

Knowledge
Exhibit memory of previously-learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts and answers * Knowledge of specifics - terminology, specific facts * Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics - conventions, trends and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology * Knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field - principles and generalizations, theories and structures
Questions like: What are the health benefits of eating apples?
Comprehension
Demonstrative understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating main ideas * Translation * Interpretation * Extrapolation
Questions like: Compare the health benefits of eating apples vs. oranges.
Application
Using new knowledge. Solve problems to new situations by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way
Questions like: Which kinds of apples are best for baking a pie, and why?
Analysis
Examine and break information into parts by identifying motives or causes. Make inferences and find evidence to support generalizations * Analysis of elements * Analysis of relationships * Analysis of organizational principles
Questions like: List four ways of serving foods made with apples and explain which ones have the highest health benefits. Provide references to support your statements.
Synthesis
Compile information together in a different way by combining elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions * Production of a unique communication * Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations * Derivation of a set of abstract relations
Questions like: Convert an "unhealthy" recipe for apple pie to a "healthy" recipe by replacing your choice of ingredients. Explain the health benefits of using the ingredients you chose vs. the original ones.
Evaluation
Present and defend opinions by making judgments about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria * Judgments in terms of internal evidence * Judgments in terms of external criteria
Questions like: Do you feel that serving apple pie for an after school snack for children is healthy? Why or why not?