A model to categorize levels of knowledge, which can be used, for example, for developing a curriculum or creating a test. One of the most commonly used ways to categorize different levels of knowledge is based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Benjamin Bloom was the chairman of a committee that conducted research on 'learning' within the cognitive domain between 1949 and 1953. The committee thereby arrived at six different components as a general model for the objectives of the learning process (revised in 2000 by Anderson and others), which is often incorrectly represented. In the original research, Bloom spoke of ‘(…)with the understanding that knowledge was the necessary precondition for putting these skills and abilities into practice’. Knowledge (remembering) is therefore necessary to come to the other ways of elaboration. From a concept with different components, it suddenly became a hierarchy (taxonomy), with a split into 'higher order' and 'lower order' concepts that were never mentioned in Bloom's research. The ideas of Bloom's team disappeared and were replaced by six concepts in a pyramid shape. Later this was revised (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 4–5). There were some things incorrect about it: 1. The pyramid shape does not appear in the research surrounding the original or revised version of the taxonomy. 2. In the revised version, knowledge has become a separate dimension, with different types of knowledge (factual, conceptual, etc.). 3. In the revised pyramid, nouns have been replaced by verbs. 4. The taxonomy was never intended as a sequence. There is no research that shows you must be able to ‘analyze’ before you can ‘create’. As De Bruyckere also describes: ‘Applying procedural knowledge, also known as skills, can, for example, mean that you can create a painting. However, this does not necessarily mean that you understand the concept behind a painting you create.’ (De Bruyckere, 2019)
De Bruyckere, P., Kirschner, P. & Hulshof, C. (2019). Juffen zijn toffer dan meesters. Nog meer mythes over leren en onderwijs. Amsterdam, Nederland: Lannoo Campus | Anderz.