Chapter 3: Bloom’s Taxonomy: Its Evolution, Revision, and Use in the Field of Education

At the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1948, Dr. Benjamin Bloom, then only 35 years of age but already a college examiner at the prestigious University of Chicago, met informally with other college and university examiners and set forth in motion the production of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. The hierarchical classification system listed in this handbook is more commonly known as “Bloom’s Taxonomy” (Appendix A). More than 50 years after the handbook’s publication in 1956, it continues to be widely used today in the disciplines of teaching, curriculum writing, and learning theory, as well as content development, instruction, and assessment. The relevance of Bloom’s Taxonomy can be explored through the initial development of the handbook, the use and misuse of the taxonomy over the past half century, and its recent revision including any possible effect on the future of curriculum planning and development.