Bloom’s goal was to organise educational objectives according to the level of cognitive complexity and thought required; these are as follows (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012).
Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, syntheses and evaluation is what Bloom's believed to be relevant to that of the questioning process.
Knowledge “Recall of facts, dates, and general information about a subject” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49).
Comprehension
“Understand information, ideas, or skills” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49).
Application
“Applying skills to new situations” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49).
Analysis
“In-depth consideration of an idea or concept” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49).
Synthesis
“Taking two ideas and concept and seeing what the intersection or synthesis of these ideas would be; this involves generating a new (to the students) idea” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49)
Evaluation
“Critical consideration of a concept or theory in some definable context – not simply a judgment of whether one likes or dislikes something and the reasons why (in Bloom’s taxonomy, the most sophisticated mental activity)” (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2012, p. 49).
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Jean Piaget
Piaget's theory has had a major impact on the theory and practice of education. It has helped to create a view where the focus of attention is on the idea of developmentally appropriate education. This refers to an educational with environments, curriculum, materials and instruction that are consistency with student's physical and cognitive abilities as well as their social and emotional needs (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
There are three main teaching implications drawn from Piaget's theory:
1. A focus on the process of children's thinking, not just its products Instead of simply checking for a correct answer, teachers should emphasize the student's understanding and process they used to get the answer (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
2.Recognition of the crucial role of children's self-initiated, active involvement in learning activities In a Piagetian classroom, children are encouraged to discover themselves through spontaneous interaction with the environment, rather than the presentation of ready-made knowledge (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
3. Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress. Piaget's theory asserts that children go through all the same developmental stages, however they do so at different rates (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
Because of this, teachers must make special effort to arrange classroom activities for individuals and groups of children rather than for the whole class group. The educational implication of Piaget's theory is the adaptation of instruction to the learner's development level. It is important that the content of instruction needs to be consistent with the developmental level of the learner (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
The teacher’s main role is the facilitation of learning by providing various experiences for the students. "Discovery Learning" allows opportunities for students to explore and experiment, while encouraging new understandings. Opportunities that allow learners of different cognitive levels to work together often help encourage less mature students to advance to a higher understanding of the material. One future implication for the instruction of students is the use of hands on experiences to help students learn (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina, 2005).
Some general suggestions include: ~ Using props and visual aids such as models and/or time lines ~ Facilitate learning by using familiar examples to explain complex ideas, such as a story problem in math ~ Give students the opportunities to classify & group information, use outlines & hierarchies to facilitate assimilation of new information with previously learned knowledge. ~Present problems that require logical analytical thinking, "brain teasers" are a great way to incorporate this