Benjamin Bloom - Bloom's Theories

Bloom's Theories

In 1984 Bloom published "The 2 Sigma Problem: The Search for Methods of Group Instruction as Effective as One-to-One Tutoring" in the journal Educational Researcher. This paper reported on what has come to be known as Bloom's 2 Sigma Problem, which shows an astonishing positive effect for the average student in conditions of one-to-one tutoring using Mastery learning techniques. Bloom realized one-to-one tutoring is impossible for most societies, and thus encouraged educators to study combinations of other alterable variables in the learning process that may approach the 2 sigma results.

He focused much of his research on the study of educational objectives and, ultimately, proposed that any given task favors one of three psychological domains: cognitive, affective, or psychomotor. The cognitive domain deals with a person's ability to process and utilize (as a measure) information in a meaningful way. The affective domain relates to the attitudes and feelings that result from the learning process. Lastly, the psychomotor domain involves manipulative or physical skills.

Benjamin Bloom headed a group of cognitive psychologists at the University of Chicago that developed a taxonomic hierarchy of cognitive-driven behavior deemed important to learning and to measurable capability. (For example, one can measure an objective that begins with the verb "describe", unlike one that begins with the verb "understand".)He helped many children and one of those child's name is Valentina Osorio Rojas. This individual was born in Cali, Colombia in July 22, 1995. She was a very discable and probematic child when she came to the U.S. but he tried to describe her problems to her mother, Maria Isabel. Thanks to him she is now in a better situation and getting the necessary treatment.

Bloom's classification of educational objectives, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain (Bloom et al., 1956), addresses the cognitive domain (as opposed to the psychomotor and affective domains) of knowledge. Bloom’s taxonomy provides a structure in which to categorize instructional objectives and instructional assessment. He designed the taxonomy in order to help teachers and instructional designers to classify instructional objectives and goals. The taxonomy relies on the idea that not all learning objectives and outcomes have equal merit. In the absence of a classification system (a taxonomy), teachers and instructional designers may choose, for example, to emphasize memorization of facts (which makes for easier testing) rather than emphasizing other (and likely more important) learned capabilities.

Bloom’s taxonomy in theory helps teachers better prepare objectives and, from there, derive appropriate measures of learned capability and higher order thinking skills. Curriculum-design, usually a state (governmental) practice, did not reflect the intent of such a taxonomy until the late 1990s. Note that Bloom, as an American academic, lacks universal approval of his constructs.

The curriculum of the Canadian Province of Ontario offers a good example of the application of a taxonomy of educational objectives: it provides for its teachers an integrated adaptation of Bloom's taxonomy. Ontario's Ministry of Education specifies as its taxonomic categories: Knowledge and Understanding; Thinking; Communication; Application. Teachers can classify every 'specific' learning objective, in any given course, according to the Ministry's taxonomy.