levels of thinking education

Higher Order Thinking: Bloom’s Taxonomy

Many students start college using the study strategies they used in high school, which is understandable—the strategies worked in the past, so why wouldn’t they work now? As you may have already figured out, college is different. Classes may be more rigorous (yet may seem less structured), your reading load may be heavier, and your professors may be less accessible. For these reasons and others, you’ll likely find that your old study habits aren’t as effective as they used to be. Part of the reason for this is that you may not be approaching the material in the same way as your professors. In this handout, we provide information on Bloom’s Taxonomy—a way of thinking about your schoolwork that can change the way you study and learn to better align with how your professors think (and how they grade).

Why higher order thinking leads to effective study

Most students report that high school was largely about remembering and understanding large amounts of content and then demonstrating this comprehension periodically on tests and exams. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework that starts with these two levels of thinking as important bases for pushing our brains to five other higher order levels of thinking—helping us move beyond remembering and recalling information and move deeper into application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation—the levels of thinking that your professors have in mind when they are designing exams and paper assignments. Because it is in these higher levels of thinking that our brains truly and deeply learn information, it’s important that you integrate higher order thinking into your study habits.

The following categories can help you assess your comprehension of readings, lecture notes, and other course materials. By creating and answering questions from a variety of categories, you can better anticipate and prepare for all types of exam questions. As you learn and study, start by asking yourself questions and using study methods from the level of remembering. Then, move progressively through the levels to push your understanding deeper—making your studying more meaningful and improving your long-term retention.

Level 1: Remember

This level helps us recall foundational or factual information: names, dates, formulas, definitions, components, or methods.

Level 2: Understand

Understanding means that we can explain main ideas and concepts and make meaning by interpreting, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

Level 3: Apply

Application allows us to recognize or use concepts in real-world situations and to address when, where, or how to employ methods and ideas.

Level 4: Analyze

Analysis means breaking a topic or idea into components or examining a subject from different perspectives. It helps us see how the “whole” is created from the “parts.” It’s easy to miss the big picture by getting stuck at a lower level of thinking and simply remembering individual facts without seeing how they are connected. Analysis helps reveal the connections between facts.

Level 5: Synthesize

Synthesizing means considering individual elements together for the purpose of drawing conclusions, identifying themes, or determining common elements. Here you want to shift from “parts” to “whole.”

Level 6: Evaluate

Evaluating means making judgments about something based on criteria and standards. This requires checking and critiquing an argument or concept to form an opinion about its value. Often there is not a clear or correct answer to this type of question. Rather, it’s about making a judgment and supporting it with reasons and evidence.

Level 7: Create

Creating involves putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole. Creating includes reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through planning. This is the highest and most advanced level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Pairing Bloom’s Taxonomy with other effective study strategies

While higher order thinking is an excellent way to approach learning new information and studying, you should pair it with other effective study strategies. Check out some of these links to read up on other tools and strategies you can try:

• Study Smarter, Not Harder
• Simple Study Template
• Using Concept Maps
• Group Study
• Evidence-Based Study Strategies Video
• Memory Tips Video
• All of our resources

Other UNC resources

If you’d like some individual assistance using higher order questions (or with anything regarding your academic success), check out some of your UNC resources:

• Academic Coaching: Make an appointment with an academic coach at the Learning Center to discuss your study habits one-on-one.
• Office Hours : Make an appointment with your professor or TA to discuss course material and how to be successful in the class.

Works consulted

Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D.R., Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Wittrock, M.C (2001). A taxonomy of learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, NY: Longman.

“Bloom’s Taxonomy.” University of Waterloo. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/planning-courses-and-assignments/course-design/blooms-taxonomy

“Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Retrieved from http://www.bloomstaxonomy.org/Blooms%20Taxonomy%20questions.pdf

Overbaugh, R., and Schultz, L. (n.d.). “Image of two versions of Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Norfolk, VA: Old Dominion University. Retrieved from https://www.odu.edu/content/dam/odu/col-dept/teaching-learning/docs/blooms-taxonomy-handout.pdf

If you enjoy using our handouts, we appreciate contributions of acknowledgement.

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Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Ultimate Guide [Free Download]

Gain a deep understanding of Bloom's taxonomy and how it can be effectively applied in the learning process to benefit both educators and learners

Christine Persaud

In this guide, you’ll learn about:

• The six Bloom’s Taxonomy levels of thinking and how to apply them throughout a lesson plan;
• The three key domains, cognitive, affective and psychomotor, and their importance;
• How Bloom’s taxonomy can aid in active learning, as well as in formative and summative assessments.

Finally, we’ll address some of the criticisms of Bloom’s taxonomy, and how to address these in your classroom planning.

→ Download Now For Free: Ultimate Guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Table of contents

1.0. What is Bloom’s taxonomy?

2.0. The history of Bloom’s taxonomy

2.1. Original Bloom’s taxonomy from 1956

2.2. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy from 2001

3.0. Why is Bloom’s taxonomy important?

4.0. The levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy

4.1. What the levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy mean

4.2. How to use the Bloom’s taxonomy levels of thinking

4.3. bloom’s taxonomy level 1: remembering, 4.4. bloom’s taxonomy level 2: understanding, 4.5. bloom’s taxonomy level 3: applying, 4.6. bloom’s taxonomy level 4: analyzing, 4.7. bloom’s taxonomy level 5: evaluating, 4.8. bloom’s taxonomy level 6: creating.

5.0. What are the Bloom’s taxonomy objectives?

5.1. The cognitive domain in Bloom’s taxonomy

5.2. the affective domain in bloom’s taxonomy, 5.3. the psychomotor domain in bloom’s taxonomy.

6.0. How to use Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom + Bloom’s taxonomy examples

6.1. Using Bloom’s taxonomy in lesson planning and course design

6.2. bloom’s taxonomy and active learning, 6.3. bloom’s taxonomy and formative assessment, 6.4. bloom’s taxonomy and summative assessment.

6.5 Bloom’s Taxonomy for adjunct professors

7.0. Bloom’s Taxonomy question stems

8.0. Problems with Bloom’s taxonomy

8.1. Creativity as a goal, not as a tool

8.2. over-reliance, 1. what is bloom’s taxonomy.

Bloom’s taxonomy is a framework for learning, teaching and educational achievement in which each level depends on the one below. It’s often depicted in the form of a pyramid—similar to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Basic knowledge, the first stage of learning, leads to the development of the skills and abilities that are crucial to completing the pedagogical process: Comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. While there are subcategories within each, each stage lies on a continuum. The belief is that students move up through each level of the pyramid in Bloom’s taxonomy, starting from very basic learning, to acquire deeper knowledge on a subject, with each level crucial to the development of the next. In this free guide, you can learn how professors effectively put Bloom’s taxonomy to work in their college classrooms.

Teachers can apply Bloom’s taxonomy by asking questions and delivering assignments that directly correlate with specific learning objectives in each stage of the process, making the objectives clear to the student. For example, posing multiple-choice questions can help gauge a student’s level of basic understanding and remembering of a subject, while asking a student to come up with a comparison or analogy points towards entering the application or analysis stage.

2. The history of Bloom’s taxonomy

2.1. original bloom’s taxonomy from 1956.

In the 1940s, Benjamin Bloom, along with his collaborators Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill and David Krathwohl, devised Bloom’s taxonomy to place educational goals into specific categories, with the belief that this classification would be useful to better assess college student performance.

Each year for the following 16 years, Bloom and his colleagues revised and refined the framework at the American Psychological Association convention. In 1956, the final version was published as the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , showing the path of educational attainment through six orders of learning.

“After forty years of intensive research on school learning in the United States as well as abroad, my major conclusion is: What any person in the world can learn, almost all persons can learn if provided with appropriate prior and current conditions of learning.” Benjamin Bloom

The original taxonomy has served as the backbone of many teaching philosophies ever since. While it initially aided in the assessment of students, it quickly became a tool for teachers to devise their curriculum, outline clear learning objectives, and design classroom activities. It has been adapted for use in classrooms from K–12 to college and at the university level.

• Benjamin Bloom and several of his peers developed Bloom’s Taxonomy in 1956 to better assess college student performance.
• Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of six different levels of learning that build on one another to guide students and educators through the stage of educational attainment.

2.2. Revised Bloom’s taxonomy from 2001

In 2001, a group of cognitive psychologists, curriculum theorists, instructional researchers and testing assessment specialists led by Lorin Anderson, a colleague of Krathwohl’s and former student of Bloom’s,   aimed to reorganize and create a revised Bloom’s taxonomy . This involved putting together a series of more dynamic concepts for the classification system as compared to the original static, one-dimensional levels of educational objectives.

At the core of the revision of Bloom’s taxonomy is the use of verbs to replace nouns—providing learners with clearer objectives for what is expected of them.

The new revision swaps the two final Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning, Synthesis/Evaluation, making them clearer and emphasizing the application of knowledge, which is the end goal of effective learning.

Additionally, Bloom’s revised taxonomy separates the cognitive domain , which consists of all of the levels involved in learning noted above, into four distinct types within a matrix: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.

Factual knowledge is characterized by terminology and discrete facts. Conceptual by categories, principles, theories, and models, looking at the relationships among all elements within a larger structure that helps it work together. Procedural is the knowledge of a specific technique, process, or methodology: essentially, how to do something. Finally, metacognitive defines a student’s self-assessment of their ability and knowledge of different skills and techniques. The question this attempts to answer is this: Is the student aware of their cognition or learning?

The matrix organization of the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy is designed to be a more precise form of thinking about learning, making it easier for educators to create clear objectives for lesson planning and student evaluation. It also makes it simpler for students to understand what is expected of them.

• Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy focuses on the use of verbs and action words to provide learners with a clearer understanding of what is expected of them.
• Bloom’s revised taxonomy separates the cognitive domain into four distinct types within a matrix: factual, conceptual, procedural and metacognitive.

3. Why is Bloom’s taxonomy important?

Bloom’s taxonomy has been actively used by teachers from K-12 to college instructors for over five decades. Yet it is still just as important today as it was  in the 1950s.

At the heart of Bloom’s taxonomy framework is the ability to create achievable learning goals that teachers and students understand, and build a definitive plan to meet them. Instructors are encouraged to view learning objectives in behavioral terms, such that they can see what students are capable of as a direct result of the instruction they have received at each level, without the need for class-wide generalizations.

Using the categorization, educators can more effectively organize objectives and create lesson plans with appropriate content and instruction to lead students up the pyramid of learning. Educators can also design valid assessment tools and strategies to ensure each category is met in turn, and that each part of the course material is in line with the level’s objectives, whether it’s basic knowledge at the beginning of a course (e.g. remembering and recalling basic concepts), or applying that knowledge towards the middle of a school year (e.g. using the learned information in specific settings by solving problems.) For students, Bloom’s levels bridge the gap between what they know now, and what they need to learn to attain a higher level of knowledge.

At the end of the learning process, the goal with Bloom’s taxonomy is that a student has honed a new skill, level of knowledge, and/or developed a different attitude towards the subject. And that teachers can effectively assess this learning on an ongoing basis, as the course moves through each stage of the framework.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is essential because it helps educators identify achievable learning goals and develop plans to meet them.
• The Bloom’s Taxonomy framework allows educators to assess learning on an ongoing basis, encouraging students to reflect on their progress.

4. The levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy

This pyramid, courtesy of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching, represents the revised Bloom’s taxonomy framework and educational objectives and outlines the key levels of thinking.

It starts with the most basic level of knowledge at the bottom, Remembering, whereby students recall facts and basic concepts, and moves up towards the pinnacle: Create, where new or original work is produced in some fashion.

4.1. What the levels of thinking in Bloom’s taxonomy are, explained

In any learning environment, according to Bloom’s taxonomy, it’s critical to start from the bottom level and work your way up. The lower-order skills require less cognitive process but provide an important base for learning. Meanwhile, the higher Bloom’s levels require deeper learning and a greater degree of cognitive processing, which, presumably, can only be achieved once the lower-order skills have been mastered.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework that encourages learners to work their way up towards higher-order thinking and cognitive tasks.

Each level of Bloom’s taxonomy should be addressed before moving on to the next. When course planning, bear in mind the implications—how quickly to introduce new concepts, when to reinforce them and how to test them.

The first stage, Remember, is about recalling facts and concepts. A student can define and duplicate, make a list, memorize points, repeat information, and make valid statements. But this does not prove comprehension.

This is where Understand, the next level comes in. The student explains ideas and concepts, discusses and describes a topic in detail, explains what it means, recognizes it and translates the facts in some way. They can paraphrase a point, or compare and contrast information.

Once this level is conquered, students move up the pyramid to the next stage of learning: Apply. They use the information they’ve learned in new situations, whether to solve a problem, demonstrate an idea, interpret, schedule, sketch—whichever method works for the specific type of learning, course of study, and/or class environment.

Then, they must draw connections between ideas in the Analyze level of Bloom’s taxonomy, and differentiate, organize, relate, compare, contrast, examine, question or test their knowledge. Critical thinking finally comes into play, as the student distinguishes between fact and opinion, and breaks information down into component parts.

In the Evaluate stage, the student can justify a stand or decision by appraising a situation, arguing, defending, judging, critiquing, supporting, or weighing in with thoughts based on the knowledge and application they’ve acquired thus far. In the original version of Bloom’s taxonomy, this was considered the pinnacle of learning. But in the revised version, Create (which Bloom originally called Synthesis) is at the top of the pyramid. There, students produce new or original work.

Something can’t be understood without first remembering it; can’t be applied without understanding it; must be analyzed before evaluating it; and an evaluation needs to have been conducted before making an accurate conclusion.

Using verbs and actions allows educators to encourage success through each Bloom’s taxonomy level of thinking, also helping them accurately measure learning. Do so by defining learning outcomes, and breaking them down as parts of a lecture. Use three key pillars to achieve this: condition (the resource being used), performance (what students should accomplish by the end), and criteria (the method of measuring success).

Importantly, some education-related words like include, understand and learn can’t be measured in a meaningful way. Following the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy makes performance actionable and effective, using verbs that set clear expectations that can be specifically measured.

In the first stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, you might ask students to recite something you’ve taught them, quoting information from memory based on previous lectures, reading material, and notes. Educators can use verbs like define, describe, identify, label, list, outline, recall, and reproduce to effectively measure success in this stage. It’s the most basic level in Bloom’s taxonomy, but represents an important foundation; a stepping stone toward deeper learning. A basic way to test learning on this level is simple questions and answer periods, or multiple-choice questions. This shows that the student can memorize facts and recall them. But it does not yet suggest that students understand the material.

• The first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is remembering. This level helps build a solid foundation and acts as a stepping stone towards more complex learning. At this level, students are asked to memorize and recall facts.

→ Free Download to Learn More:   The Ultimate Guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Ask students to discuss a problem or idea in their own words, to evaluate their comprehension from the “remembering” stage of Bloom’s taxonomy. For example, they might have to paraphrase a story or definition, explain a concept in their own words, tell a story that relates to it, or provide analogies. To measure this, we can use verbs like defend, explain, generalize, paraphrase, summarize and translate. A student who reaches this level can interpret the materials, and demonstrate comprehension of the material.

• The second level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is understanding. This level asks students to explain course concepts in their own words.

The student will now have to take what they’ve learned and apply it to a scenario outside of the classroom. For example, they can use a math formula they’ve learned to calculate a family budget in the real world or apply a legal ruling to a specific case in the news headlines. Verbs to use in this stage of Bloom’s taxonomy include apply, demonstrate, predict, show, solve or use. That could come in the form of collaborative group projects or the composition of a blog.

• The third level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is applying. This level encourages students to extend their learning outside the classroom by finding similarities and differences in the real world.

Now it’s time to reach the higher half of the learning levels in Bloom’s taxonomy. Here, students can draw connections between ideas, utilize critical thinking, and break down knowledge into the sum of its parts. This can include using logical deduction to figure out how a piece of equipment works, or finding fallacies in the reasoning of an argument. Key verbs for measurement include analyze, break down, compare, contrast, differentiate, deconstruct and infer. Upon achieving this level of Bloom’s taxonomy, a student can demonstrate that they fully understand the material on the whole, and its component parts. They might be able to draw diagrams or deconstruct thought processes.

• The fourth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is Analyzing. This level allows students to use their critical thinking skills to understand how or why different concepts work together.

Here is where the student makes an educated judgment about the value of the material they’ve just learned, applied and analyzed, to be able to tell the difference between fact and opinions or inferences. That could include finding an effective solution to a problem, or justifying a specific decision and being able to back up that justification with knowledge. Appraise, conclude, critique, evaluate, support and summarize are all good verbs to use in this level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Tools like surveys and blogs can help in this particular level.

• The fifth level of Bloom’s taxonomy is Evaluating. This level asks students to make value judgments about the material they’ve learned.

In the final level of Bloom’s taxonomy, the student demonstrates full knowledge by applying what they’ve learned, analyzed and evaluated, and building something, either tangible or conceptual. That could include writing a manual or report on a particular topic, designing a piece of machinery, or revising a process to improve the results. Verbs to use include categorize, combine, compile, devise, design, generate, modify and write. Projects can range from detailed essays that put parts of the learning together to form a whole concept or idea, or networking with others to discuss the merits of a study.

• The sixth level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is Creating. This level encourages students to demonstrate their knowledge by building something tangible or conceptual.

5. What are the Bloom’s taxonomy objectives?

Bloom’s taxonomy is further divided into three distinct Bloom’s taxonomy objectives, or domains of educational activities: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. These are also referred to by the acronym KSA, for Knowledge (cognitive), Skills (psychomotor), and Attitudes (affective). The goal is that by the end of a learning session, the student will have acquired new knowledge, skills and attitudes towards a subject.

Knowledge and development of intellectual skills is at the heart of the cognitive domain or objective of Bloom’s taxonomy, whereby a student can recall or recognize facts, patterns, and concepts that will serve as a foundation for deeper learning. This is where the six key facets of Bloom’s taxonomy—Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation–come in.

In this domain, students have new feelings or emotions about the subject, and/or themselves. They should be able to place more value on something, and have a greater appreciation for it, along with different motivations and attitudes. In a medical or caregiving setting, students might be able to demonstrate empathy towards patients or children. Students can be assessed in several ways when it comes to the affective domain, such as their ability to listen with respect and provide their unwavering attention, actively participate in class discussions, resolve conflicts and exhibit consistent and pervasive behaviors that reflect their internalized values.

The psychomotor domain is one of the later additions to Bloom’s taxonomy, as the original team did not believe they had sufficient knowledge in teaching such skills at the post-secondary level. In this domain of Bloom’s taxonomy, students develop manual or physical skills. There are three versions: physical movement, coordination and the use of motor skills. A student in a medical setting might demonstrate psychomotor development by properly stitching a wound; a student of construction through an understanding of how to operate a backhoe. Psychomotor skills can represent basic manual tasks, like washing a car or planting a garden, as well as more complex activities, like operating heavy machinery or following choreographed dance steps. Psychomotor skills are measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures and technique.

• Bloom’s taxonomy consists of three domains of educational activities.  These domains are cognitive, psychomotor and affective.
• Instructors are encouraged to design learning plans so that students will have acquired new knowledge, skills and attitudes towards a subject.

6. How to use Bloom’s taxonomy in the classroom + Bloom’s taxonomy examples

Educators can use the tools of Bloom’s taxonomy to precisely focus curricula throughout the year on specific parts of the framework, ensuring that students demonstrate the proper cognitive abilities in each assignment and exam before moving on to the next.

This way, students can have clear, concise, and measurable goals to achieve. They answer questions and complete tasks based on which objective is the focus at the time, using measurable verbs like the ones previously noted for each level to elicit the proper types of responses. For example, questions asking students to compare, discuss, and predict will help their basic understanding of a project, while the use of verbs like “investigate” and “relate” suggest that they’ve moved on to the analyzing stage.

Students can move from the lower levels to the higher Bloom’s levels of learning through course materials, topics, lectures, assignments and in-classroom activities that are fine-tuned to help them succeed. Following the framework of Bloom’s taxonomy, assignments and classroom learning can be restructured to ensure that they fall in line with each level in succession, so students have the critical tools to move towards achieving that all-important deeper level of learning: the top of the Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid.

• Educators should consider designing lesson and curriculum plans following Bloom’s Taxonomy. This way, students can build on their learning and progress through the levels throughout the term.

In modern classrooms, students aren’t always sitting passively in front of a lecturer. Mobile devices and online course materials are the norms. It’s a testament to the versatility of Bloom’s taxonomy that fits extremely well into lesson planning for active learning.

In the Remember stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, instead of sitting back and absorbing information, you could ask students to challenge each other to recollect facts, or make a list at the end of the class of the most important facts they learned that day. And in the Analyze stage of Bloom’s taxonomy, you can spark class discussions by exploring problems, comparisons, and examining how a subject might relate to students’ everyday lives.

Being explicit about expectations in class can also help guide students in the right direction—a great application of metacognition within Bloom’s taxonomy. In this way, you can help students take responsibility for their learning. For instance, in a marketing class, teachers can instruct students that, by the middle of the term, they should not only know the components of an effective TV commercial, but why each is important, and how they holistically work together to achieve the goals of the company placing the advertisement.

• Each of Bloom’s Taxonomy levels is designed with active learning in mind. This way, students feel a sense of responsibility for their learning.

A student’s grade isn’t directly impacted by ongoing, or formative, assessment, but it’s a way for educators to gauge how well students are learning, and moving up the Bloom’s taxonomy hierarchy. Formative assessment is not a scale that determines the success or failure of a student; instead it’s used as a tool for teaching.

Focus on what you want students to achieve, using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide, as opposed to whether a specific activity will contribute toward their overall grade. Develop concrete learning objectives for each stage, and give the students clear expectations. Identify what action a student should be taking with your assignment, and to which level it applies. Then, match suggested assessment techniques and questions to the lecture, and choose activities that will encourage results.

In the Remember and Understand stage of Bloom’s taxonomy in an entry-level class, for example, multiple-choice or true or false questions make sense. 

Once you reach the top Analyze, Evaluate, and Create levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, whether it’s in an advanced class or toward the end of the course, consider oral examinations or written essays. Even if they aren’t tied to a grade, the assignments can paint a picture of how much the students have truly learned to date so educators can tweak course materials or their approach. This will help better prepare students to succeed when it comes time for summative assessment.

• Bloom’s taxonomy can be used to test and reinforce learning as the term progresses. Educators can course-correct and refocus on areas of learning where students are struggling.

For assignments and exams that impact grading, Bloom’s taxonomy can also apply. Typically, mid-term exams might cover material and learning that fits closer to the bottom of the pyramid, in Remembering, Understanding, and Applying.

When you get to final exams, however, this is when it can be useful to assess learning towards the top of the pyramid, including Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. Students should be able to apply their knowledge to everyday situations beyond course material, provide informed opinions and defend them, and consider additional questions that need to be addressed, including providing examples. Perhaps ask them to make a booklet outlining five to ten important rules, a mock marketing campaign, a flowchart, or a series of tips based on their learning. By the time you get to the summative assessment, the results should indicate a deeper level of learning that fits within the top of Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid.

• Bloom’s Taxonomy allows students to apply their knowledge in creative ways. Educators can use the later levels to design flexible assessments that let students demonstrate their learnings in ways that make sense for them/

6.5. Bloom’s taxonomy for STEM Classes

With so much emphasis on ensuring students meet math and science standards, particularly in introductory courses, higher-order thinking skills are sometimes deprioritized. With most STEM assessments consisting of multiple-choice questions, which tend to focus on the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to cover higher levels. Unfortunately, much of what students will need in order to be successful outside the classroom requires them to proficiently apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. 

The good news is that STEM subjects lend themselves well to Bloom’s Taxonomy’s higher levels. Educators can help students internalize course concepts by designing engaging activities in which they practice learning through higher-order question stems. They’ll not only perform better on assessments, but they’ll also be better prepared to apply their learnings outside the classroom as well.

7. Bloom’s taxonomy question stems

Bloom’s revised taxonomy gives educators the ability to construct a curriculum to assess objective learning outcomes. Pre-created Bloom’s taxonomy question stems make engaging students in each of these levels easier. This way, educators can plan opportunities for students to learn, reflect and assess their learning in motivating and creative ways throughout the term.

8. Problems with Bloom’s taxonomy

Bloom’s taxonomy is by no means a hard and fast rule book that needs to be followed to a tee; it’s a theoretical construct that can be interpreted in many ways to fit individual teaching styles, courses, and lesson plans. Some believe that it is only appropriate for the lower Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning and that it fails to address more recent developments in cognitive psychology, including the ability for students to create knowledge in their minds throughout the learning process. Some also frown on the idea that students must start at the lowest level and work their way up before engaging in a meaningful dialog about facts, which isn’t always necessarily the case.

Sometimes, creativity isn’t just a goal, it’s a tool that can be effectively used to further learning. You could ask students to create something in the first lesson, like a mock advertisement in a marketing class, or a proposed solution to global warming. Educators can deconstruct and compare the results with them, and use that creative project to introduce facts, concepts, and basic knowledge of the topic. In that respect, while the components of the framework are always the same, it isn’t always necessarily organized neatly into a pyramid, as with the original Bloom’s taxonomy. Bloom’s taxonomy structure can morph into everything from a circle, to a web, a flower, or even a mandala (below) in design, showing each level of learning feeding into one another and occurring at different points in the process. No matter which way you slice (or organize) Bloom’s taxonomy, though, it always uses the six key principles to result in deeper learning.

Bloom’s taxonomy mandala. Based on an image from K. Aainsqatsi

As with any construct, there’s always room for improvement. With Bloom’s taxonomy, the 21st-century revision proved there was further refinement and adjustments necessary to make the framework relevant for future decades. Sticking to the template without thinking about the reasons behind it can lead to an over-reliance on the literal interpretation of Bloom’s taxonomy. Just because a student can defend a position, for example, doesn’t mean they’re doing so in anything more than a superficial way. And the ability to come up with a detailed plan isn’t evidence that the plan itself is the result of good judgment and analysis. There’s more than meets the eye to learning and education, but using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide to ensure all six of Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning are covered, in whichever way works best, can put you on the right path to success.

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6 Levels of Cognitive Learning According to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Authored by Leland Jaffe DPM, FACFAS – Associate Dean and Professo

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a widely recognized framework in education that provides a structured approach to learning and teaching. Developed by Benjamin Bloom and a group of educational psychologists in the 1950s, it categorizes cognitive skills into a hierarchy, making it easier to plan and assess learning objectives. In this comprehensive guide, I will explore the different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and how they can be applied in various educational contexts. https://bloomstaxonomy.net/

The Six Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy

1. remembering.

At the base of the taxonomy, ‘Remembering’ involves recalling facts, basic concepts, or information without necessarily understanding or applying it. This level of cognition includes tasks such as memorization, listing, and defining.

Example activities:

• Memorizing historical dates or mathematical formulas.
• Recalling specific details from a text or lecture.

2. Understanding

Moving beyond simple recall, ‘Understanding’ requires the learner to grasp the meaning of information. This level involves explaining concepts, interpreting data, and summarizing information in one’s own words.

• Explain a scientific principle in your own words.
• Interpreting a graph or chart.

3. Applying

Here, learners take the knowledge they have acquired and apply it to new situations or contexts. This level emphasizes the practical application of concepts.

• Solving mathematical problems using learned formulas.
• Applying scientific theories to conduct experiments.

4. Analyzing

‘Analyzing’ involves breaking down information into its constituent parts to understand their relationships and implications. This level encourages critical thinking and the ability to draw connections.

• Comparing and contrasting different literary works.
• Analyzing the steps in a scientific method.

5. Evaluating

At this level, learners assess the value of information, ideas, or methods based on a set of criteria. It requires a deeper level of critical thinking and the ability to form judgments.

• Evaluating the effectiveness of a marketing campaign.
• Assessing the validity of a scientific experiment.

6. Creating

The highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, ‘Creating’, involves synthesizing information to generate new ideas, products, or solutions. This level encourages originality and innovation.

• Designing a new experiment to test a hypothesis.
• Creating a piece of art or literature.

Practical Applications

1. lesson planning.

Educators can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to design effective lesson plans that target specific cognitive levels. By incorporating activities from all six levels, teachers can ensure a well-rounded learning experience.

2. Assessment and Evaluation

When creating assessments, instructors can align questions and tasks with the desired cognitive level. This ensures that assessments accurately measure the intended learning outcomes.

3. Curriculum Development

Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a framework for structuring curriculum content. It helps in sequencing topics from basic to advanced, ensuring a logical progression of learning.

4. Professional Development

For individuals seeking to enhance their learning or train others, understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy can guide the development of effective training programs and materials.

Bloom’s Taxonomy – Conclusion

Bloom’s Taxonomy remains a cornerstone in educational theory and practice. By recognizing the different levels of cognitive skills, educators can better plan their instruction and assessments to promote meaningful learning experiences. Whether you’re a professor or clinical instructor, understanding and applying Bloom’s Taxonomy can significantly enhance the quality and effectiveness of your education.

Leland Jaffe DPM, FACFAS

Associate Dean and Professor Podiatric Physician and Surgeon North Chicago, Illinois

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What Is Higher-Order Thinking and How Do I Teach It?

Go beyond basic remembering and understanding.

Educators know that people learn in a variety of ways and that we often learn best when we can make connections to the material on a deeper level. That’s why higher-order thinking is such a valuable skill, one that serves students well throughout their school years and beyond. But what exactly does the term mean? And how can teachers build higher-order thinking skills in their students? Learn what you need to know here.

What is higher-order thinking?

Source: Vanderbilt University

Higher-order thinking refers to the top levels of cognitive thinking, as laid out in the Bloom’s Taxonomy model. When we use higher-order thinking, we push beyond basic memorization and recall to analyze and synthesize information. These are the skills that help us evaluate information and think critically. We also use these skills to develop new ideas and concepts, building on previous knowledge to create something entirely new.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Benjamin Bloom headed a team of educational researchers in the 1950s and led the development of the model that bears his name today. He and his team broke cognitive thinking into six levels, shown as a pyramid. The bottom levels provide the foundation for the higher-order thinking skills at the top.

Source: Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy/University of Michigan

If you first learned about Bloom’s Taxonomy more than 20 years ago, it looked a little bit different. In 2001, education experts decided to revise the taxonomy to make it more accurate and easier for educators to understand and apply. They changed the category names from nouns to verbs, showing the action learners would take for each. And they determined that the top two tiers should actually be switched, making “Create” (Synthesis) the highest order of thinking.

Learn more about the history and development of Bloom’s Taxonomy here.

What are the Lower-Order Thinking Skills (LOTS)?

Source: Lower-Order Thinking Skills/Helpful Professor

The bottom three levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are referred to as the Lower-Order Thinking Skills (LOTS). It’s important to note that even though these skills are considered lower on the pyramid, they’re still extremely important. Think of these as the foundational skills students must have to support their higher-order thinking.

These are skills like memorizing math facts, defining vocabulary words, or knowing the main characters and basic plot points of a story. This is the kind of information you can check using flash cards, spelling tests, true/false questions, and more. There are many basic facts that kids must master so they can quickly recall them as needed.

Check out 21 Ways To Build Background Knowledge to learn more.

When you understand a concept, you can explain how it works to someone else. True understanding is more than memorization or reciting facts. It’s the difference between a child reciting by rote “one times four is four, two times four is eight, three times four is twelve,” versus recognizing that multiplication is the same as adding a number to itself a certain number of times. This is why we often ask students to “show their work” or “show their thinking” on math tests.

See 20 Ways To Check for Understanding for more information.

When you apply your knowledge, you take a concept you’ve already mastered and apply it to new situations. For instance, a student learning to read doesn’t need to memorize every word. Instead, they use their skills in sounding out letters to tackle each new word as they come across it.

Explore 25 Easy Ways To Make Math Practice Fun here.

Which levels constitute higher-order thinking skills (HOTS)?

Source: Higher-Order Thinking Skills/Helpful Professor

The top three levels make up the Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), also known as critical thinking skills . When students use these skills, they delve deeper into information. Rather than simply accepting facts, they explore the reasons behind them and make cause-and-effect connections. They evaluate the validity of facts and use them to synthesize new concepts, ideas, and inventions.

When we analyze something, we don’t take it at face value. Analysis requires us to find facts that stand up to inquiry. We put aside personal feelings or beliefs, and instead identify and scrutinize primary sources for information. This is a complex skill, one we hone throughout our entire lives. When students compare and contrast multiple concepts, sort and categorize, or ask “why” questions, they’re analyzing.

Try these 25 Cause-and-Effect Lesson Plans and Activities to help kids analyze information.

Evaluating means reflecting on analyzed information, selecting the most relevant and reliable facts to help us make choices or form opinions. True evaluation requires us to put aside our own biases and accept that there may be other valid points of view, even if we don’t necessarily agree with them. Students evaluate when they debate topics, write persuasive essays, assess their own or others’ writings, and more.

Use these 35 Strong Persuasive Writing Examples to show students how evaluation works in practice.

At the highest level, students take the facts that they’ve mastered, evaluated, and analyzed, and use them to create something entirely new. This might be designing a science experiment, building a computer program, writing a paper putting forth new ideas, authoring a story or making art, and other creative activities.

Discover 40 Ways To Make More Time for Creativity in Your Lesson Plans .

Why is it so important to teach higher-order thinking?

Source: Equal Levels/University of Michigan

While remembering, understanding, and applying are key skills, they don’t really develop students into lifelong learners and critical thinkers. As kids often point out, if they need to know the date of the start of the American Civil War or the third law of motion, they can just look it up in a book or online.

What really matters is what we do with the information we have. Higher-order skills are the ones people use in daily life to make informed decisions and create new products and processes. They help us think critically, something that’s incredibly vital in this age of constant information overload.

When we teach higher-order thinking skills, we give students the ability to solve problems, develop creative solutions, make smart choices, and evaluate the validity of information. Kids grow into adults who understand how to think carefully about the world and feel confident enough to share their own ideas, concepts, and creations with others.

Read more about the importance of higher-order thinking here.

How do I teach higher-order thinking?

Source: The IDEA Lab

There are a multitude of ways to encourage higher-order thinking in your students. While some say that kids don’t really begin to develop these skills until upper elementary, others argue that it’s never too soon to challenge kids to make connections and ask questions. You can tweak these quick higher-order thinking strategies to work in any classroom, no matter the age or subject.

1. Ask higher-order thinking questions.

Keep a list of higher-order thinking questions on hand, and use them regularly in class. Consider making a bulletin board or anchor chart with some of your favorites, and refer kids to it as they learn. Get a huge list of higher-order thinking questions here.

2. Encourage discussion and debate

When kids learn to disagree respectfully and argue their own opinions using facts to back their beliefs, they’re preparing to take part in the discourse of the world at large. Encourage those with conflicting points of view to share them in your classroom, and teach kids how to analyze and evaluate those points though discussion and debate. Try these resources:

• 60 Funny Debate Topics for Kids of All Ages
• 100 Winning Debate Topics for Middle School Students
• 100 High School Debate Topics To Engage Every Student
• 110+ Controversial Debate Topics to Challenge Your Students
• 60 Interesting Persuasive Essay Topics for Kids and Teens

3. Try STEM challenges.

STEM challenges encourage kids to come up with their own unique answers to problems. They use their knowledge and understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math to analyze and evaluate the challenge and create new solutions. Start with these 50 STEM Activities To Help Kids Think Outside the Box . Then, visit our archive of STEM challenges and science experiments for ideas .

4. Use graphic organizers.

Graphic organizers are tools that let kids make connections, create a plan, and communicate effectively. A good organizer simplifies complex information and lays it out in a way that makes it easier for a learner to digest. Graphic organizers may include text and images, depending on the purpose and student’s learning style. Read all about graphic organizers and learn how to use them here.

5. Incorporate project-based learning.

Project-based learning uses HOTS like analysis and evaluation, collaboration and communication, and problem-solving. As students conduct their hands-on projects, they dig deeper into a real-world topic and make personal connections to the knowledge and skills they’re gaining. In many ways, PBL is more like the work adults do in their daily jobs, especially because students collaborate with others outside their school community. Discover the basics of project-based learning here , then check out 55+ Real-World Project-Based Learning Ideas for All Ages and Interests .

Have more questions about higher-order thinking? Come talk it over with other educators in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, what is critical thinking and why do we need to teach it .

You Might Also Like

70 Higher-Order Thinking Questions To Challenge Your Students (Free Printable)

Plus 45 lower-order thinking questions too. Continue Reading

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Understanding education and its objectives

Bloom’s cognitive domains, a revision of bloom’s taxonomy.

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Bloom’s taxonomy

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• Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching - Bloom’s Taxonomy
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• Table Of Contents

Bloom’s taxonomy , taxonomy of educational objectives, developed in the 1950s by the American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom, which fostered a common vocabulary for thinking about learning goals. Bloom’s taxonomy engendered a way to align educational goals, curricula, and assessments that are used in schools, and it structured the breadth and depth of the instructional activities and curriculum that teachers provide for students. Few educational theorists or researchers have had as profound an impact on American educational practice as Bloom.

Throughout the 20th century, educators explored a variety of different ways to make both explicit and implicit the educational objectives taught by teachers, particularly in early education . In the early 20th century, objectives were referred to as aims or purposes , and in the early 21st century, they evolved into standards . During much of the 20th century, educational reformers who wanted to more clearly describe what teachers should teach began to use the word objectives , which referred to the type of student learning outcomes to be evidenced in classrooms. Bloom’s taxonomy was one of the most significant representations of those learning outcomes.

Bloom’s work was not only in a cognitive taxonomy but also constituted a reform in how teachers thought about the questioning process within the classroom. Indeed, the taxonomy was originally structured as a way of helping faculty members think about the different types of test items that could be used to measure student academic growth. Bloom and a group of assessment experts he assembled began their work in 1949 and completed their efforts in 1956 when they published Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain .

Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy originally was represented by six different domain levels: (1) knowledge, (2) comprehension, (3) application, (4) analysis, (5) synthesis, and (6) evaluation. All of the Bloom domains focused on the knowledge and cognitive processes. The American educational psychologist David Krathwohl and some of his associates subsequently focused on the affective domain, which is concerned with student interests, attitudes, and feelings. Another American educational psychologist, Anita Harrow, developed the psychomotor domains, which deal with a wide variety of motor skills. Bloom’s work was most noted for its focus on the cognitive. Bloom became closely associated with the cognitive dimension even though, in subsequent work, he often examined the wide variety of “entry” characteristics (cognitive and affective) that students evidenced when they began their schooling.

Each of Bloom’s cognitive domains enabled educators to begin differentiating the type of content being taught as well as the complexity of the content. The domains are particularly useful for educators who are thinking about the questioning process within the classroom, with questions ranging in complexity from lower-order types of knowledge to higher-order questions that would require more complex and comprehensive thought. Bloom’s taxonomy enabled teachers to think in a structured way about how they question students and deliver content. The taxonomy, in both its original and revised versions, helped teachers understand how to enhance and improve instructional delivery by aligning learning objectives with student assessments and by enhancing the learning goals for students in terms of cognitive complexity.

The following list presents the structure of the original framework, with examples of questions at each of the six domain levels:

• Knowledge Level: At this level the teacher is attempting to determine whether the students can recognize and recall information. Example: What countries were involved in the War of 1812 ?
• Comprehension Level: At this level the teacher wants the students to be able to arrange or, in some way, organize information. Example: In the book Teammates the authors describe Jackie Robinson ’s struggles as a baseball player and the way in which Pee Wee Reese publicly defended Robinson. Describe in your own words the struggles that Robinson had and what Reese did to help him succeed as a baseball player.
• Application Level: At this level the teacher begins to use abstractions to describe particular ideas or situations. Example: What would be the probable influence of a change in temperature on a chemical such as hydrochloric acid ?
• Analysis Level: At this level the teacher begins to examine elements and the relationships between elements or the operating organizational principles undergirding an idea. Example: Describe the way in which slavery contributed to the American Civil War .
• Synthesis Level: At this level the teacher is beginning to help students put conceptual elements or parts together in some new plan of operation or development of abstract relationships. Example: Formulate a hypothesis about the reasons for South Carolina ’s decision to secede from the Union.
• Evaluation Level: At this level the teacher helps students understand the complexity of ideas so that they can recognize how concepts and facts are either logically consistent or illogically developed. Example: Was it an ethical decision to take to trial the Nazi war criminals and to subsequently put so many of them to death?

Bloom focuses primarily on the cognitive dimension; most teachers rely heavily on the six levels of the cognitive domain to shape the way in which they deliver content in the classroom. Originally Bloom thought about the characteristics that students possess when they enter school, and he divided those characteristics into the affective and the cognitive. From Bloom’s perspective the learning outcomes are a result of the type of learning environment a student is experiencing and the quality of the instruction the teacher is providing. The affective elements included the students’ readiness and motivation to learn; the cognitive characteristics included the prior understandings the students possessed before they entered the classroom. In essence, a student who had an extensive personal vocabulary and came from a reading-rich home environment would be more ready to learn than the student who had been deprived of such opportunities during his preschool years. In the early 21st century, some reformers described this as the “knowledge gap” and specifically highlighted the fact that students from low socioeconomic settings have less access to books and a lower exposure to a rich home vocabulary. In essence, some of Bloom’s original ideas continued to be reinforced in the educational research literature.

Many researchers had begun to rethink the way in which educational objectives were presented by teachers, and they developed a revision of Bloom’s taxonomy in 2001. The revised taxonomy was developed by using many of the same processes and approaches that Bloom had used a half century earlier. In the new taxonomy, two dimensions are presented: the knowledge dimension and the cognitive dimension. There are four levels on the knowledge dimension: factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive. There are six levels on the cognitive process dimension: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The new taxonomy enabled teachers to think more in depth about the content that they are teaching and the objectives they are focusing on within the classroom. It allowed teachers to categorize objectives in a more-multidimensional way and to do so in a manner that allows them to see the complex relationships between knowledge and cognitive processes.

The original Bloom’s taxonomy allowed teachers to categorize content and questions at different levels. The new two-dimensional model enabled teachers to see the relationship between and among the objectives for the content being taught and to also examine how that material should be taught and how it might be assessed. By examining both the knowledge level and the cognitive processes, teachers were better equipped to consider the complex nature of the learning process and also better equipped to assess what the students learn.

The new taxonomy did not easily spread among practitioners, in part because most classroom teachers remained unfamiliar with the new taxonomic approach and because many professional development experts (including those in teacher-education institutions) continued to rely on the original taxonomy. The new model was in many ways just as significant as the original taxonomy. The original approach provided a structure for how people thought about facts, concepts , and generalizations and offered a common language for thinking about and communicating educational objectives. In essence, it helped teachers think more clearly about the structure and nature of knowledge. The new taxonomy helped teachers see how complex knowledge really is.

Bloom's Taxonomy Levels of Learning: The Complete Post

If you've read our ultimate guide to understanding Bloom's taxonomy , you may want to find out more about Bloom's levels of learning. This post will explain everything you need to know about these levels and help you develop a full understanding of what they are, how they help and how they can be used to improve the learning process.   

This post will explain: 

What Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning are 

The three key domains; affective, cognitive and psychomotor 

How to apply Bloom’s taxonomy levels of learning when designing a course 

How to use Bloom’s taxonomy level of learning to assess and evaluate learning.  

An introduction to Bloom’s taxonomy 

The Original Bloom’s taxonomy 6 levels of learning 

The Revised Bloom’s taxonomy 6 levels of learning 

Types of knowledge in the revised Bloom’s taxonomy  

How to use Bloom’s 6 levels of learning 

Examples of how to apply each level of learning 

Further reading 

 1. An introduction to Bloom’s taxonomy 

 In 1956, Benjamin Bloom and his team of collaborators published their book, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Their framework soon became known as  Bloom’s Taxonomy  and provides a way of categorizing educational goals. It went on to enjoy widespread popularity among generations of teachers and instructors and has been applied across a broad range of age groups, from kindergarten to college level. both at a K-12 school level and at a college level.  

Bloom’s taxonomy helps teachers and instructors create curricula, course, lesson plans, and learning activities, as well as formative and summative assessments. It helps ensure that the students have clear measurable goals and expectations.  

2. The Original Bloom’s taxonomy 6 levels of learning

The original taxonomy featured six major categories of thinking.  

There were:  

Comprehension 

Application 

Evaluation 

As a taxonomy, Bloom’s framework has to be followed in order; learners must start at the first stage – Knowledge – and master that level before moving on to the next. The first level – Knowledge – is a necessary precondition for the following five levels. For this reason, the taxonomy is often presented as a pyramid to show that knowledge acts as a foundation for all subsequent levels of learning:

The five areas of learning above Knowledge are known as ‘skills and abilities’. Each category contains various subcategories, ranging from simple tasks to complex tasks.  

A brief explanation of each category

The following explanations are derived from the 1984 edition of Bloom’s Handbook One.  

Knowledge This initial level involved recalling basic facts, processes, and methods, or patterns and structures.  

Comprehension  This level refers to the learners’ understanding of the ideas and materials presented at the first level. At this stage, they won’t necessarily be able to see the full implications or their knowledge or be able to relate it to other material.  

Application  At this level of thinking, learners should be able to use their knowledge and understanding in certain situations.  

Analysis  At the analysis level, learners are expected to be able to articulate the relationship between different ideas and be able to breakdown their learning into elements or parts.  

Synthesis  This level of thinking involves combining different ideas or elements to create new structures or ideas.  

Evaluation  In the original Bloom’s taxonomy, ‘evaluation’ was the highest level of thinking and was thought to require the most complex mental processes. At this level, learners are expected to make judgments about the value of the methods or materials presented to them.  

3. The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy 6 levels of learning

A group of researchers, psychologists, and assessment specialists produced a revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy,  A Taxonomy for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment , in 2001. Their main goal was to move the focus away from purely educational objectives and make it clearer for learners to understand specifically what was required of them at each stage.  

In place of static objectives and nouns used in the original Bloom’s taxonomy, the revised version uses verbs and gerunds to describe the cognitive processes that students and learners are required to use.  

These are: 

Understand 

In common with Bloom’s original work, learners must still approach a topic or subject from the lowest level – Remember – and master that before moving on to higher levels of thinking.  

A brief explanation of each category

The revised Bloom’s taxonomy categories are briefly explained below.  

Remember  Action verbs such as ‘recognizing’, and ‘recalling’ tell the learner that the learning is at the lowest level of thinking.  

Understand  Work at this level is likely to require actions such as ‘interpreting’, ‘exemplifying’, ‘classifying’, ‘summarizing’, ‘inferring’, ‘comparing’ and ‘explaining’.  

Apply  If learners are asked to ‘implement’ or ‘execute’ a task or action, they would likely be working at this level of thinking.  

Analyze  At the analytical stage, learners are commonly asked to ‘differentiate’, ‘organize’ or ‘attribute’ facts, data or subject matter.  

Evaluate  Learners working at this high level of thinking may be asked to ‘critique’ or ‘check’ materials.  

Create  In the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, creating something original or substantially new is considered to be the highest level of thinking. Verbs such as ‘generate’, ‘plan’ or ‘produce’ tell learners that they are required to work at this level.  

4. Types of knowledge in the revised Bloom’s taxonomy

In addition to the six cognitive processes, the authors of the revised taxonomy created a separate taxonomy for four distinct types of knowledge.  

These are:  

Factual Knowledge  Learners need to demonstrate knowledge of specific details, elements or terminology.  

Conceptual Knowledge  Learners need knowledge of theories, models, principles, classifications, and categories.  

Procedural Knowledge  Learners need to know specific techniques, skills, algorithms or methods.  

Metacognitive Knowledge  Learners need self-knowledge about cognitive tasks and contextual knowledge.  

5. How to use Bloom’s 6 levels of learning

At this point, you may be wondering, “Why use Bloom’s taxonomy?’ 

Here’s the deal:  

Bloom’s taxonomy is incredibly flexible and can be used in conjunction with most teaching philosophies and teaching styles. Its popularity stems from the fact that it is highly adaptability and versatile, making is well suited to a number of different tasks.  

Course or curriculum planning 

Setting learning goals or objectives 

Creating learning activities 

Creating assessments or evaluations 

Let’s look at each of these areas separately.  

Course or curriculum planning  Bloom’s taxonomy helps educators plan a curriculum, syllabus or course by offering a structure about how people learn. The lowest levels of learning – Remembering and Understanding – must feature near the start of the course or curriculum. Instructors must ensure that learners have a good grasp of the content at these levels before moving on to higher levels of learning such as applying, evaluating or creating.  

Setting learning goals or objectives  Objectives or learning goals are crucially important if the teacher is to establish a pedagogical interchange with their students. Clear goals will help the learners understand the purpose of the learning. They help the instructor plan and deliver instruction at an appropriate level. Bloom’s taxonomy helps to ensure that the right learning goals are set, according to the level of learning that the learners are engaged.  

Creating learning activities  Bloom’s taxonomy helps educators create appropriate learning activities for the level of learning that is taking place. For example, on a course focused at the lower levels of learning, an activity that involves analysis or creation may be unsuitable. Bloom’s taxonomy helps instructions set the activities at the right level.  

Creating assessments or evaluations   Lastly, Bloom’s taxonomy helps educators set assessments and evaluations at the right level. Worthwhile assessments will reflect the level of thinking that has been taking place.  

6. Examples of how to apply each level of learning

If you want to put Bloom’s taxonomy into practice, here are some examples of the ways you might apply each level of learning.  

Level 1: Remembering  This is the most basic level of Bloom’s taxonomy but is a necessary prerequisite for the following stages.  

If you are teaching at this level, you may use verbs such as: 

This will help you to measure the learner’s success in this stage. The purpose is to ensure that students memorize facts but doesn’t guarantee that they actually understand the material.  

Sample Level 1 learning activities  You may ask the learners to recite something you’ve taught them or ask them to quote information from previous classes, lectures or notes. Alternatives include multiple choice questions, or simple question and answer sessions.  

Level 2: Understanding  The second level of learning in Bloom’s taxonomy is when a learner can comprehend or interpret the materials presented during classes or lecture.  

At this level, you may use verbs like:   

• paraphrase 

Sample Level 2 Learning Activities   Your options include asking learners to provide analogies of a given topic or concept, telling a story, explaining a concept in their own words, or paraphrasing something they have learned. 

Level 3: Applying 

This level of thinking asks learners to use and apply the material or skills that they have been studying.  

You may use verbs like 

• demonstrate 

The goal is to measure whether students can make use of their learning.  

Sample Level 3 Learning Activities 

The range of learning activities at this level varies enormously. If the learning focuses on practical skills such as making phone calls or completing a form, the assessment would mirror that real-life activity. If the focus is on knowledge, such as a math formula, you might ask learners to make a calculation that demonstrates their understanding of the formula.  

Level 4: Analyzing 

Analyzing is the upper-half of the levels of learning in Bloom’s taxonomy. The goal is to assess whether students can draw connections between ideas and utilize their critical thinking skills.  

Verbs you may use include: 

• deconstruct 
• differentiate 

Sample level 4 learning activities 

You may ask students to find fallacies in the reasoning of various arguments or use logical deduction to determine how a particular piece of equipment works. These tasks allow the students to demonstrate that they can understand the material fully, and can break it down into its component parts.  

Level 5: Evaluating 

At the second-highest level of learning of Bloom’s taxonomy, you are assessing whether students can differentiate between facts, opinions, and inferences.  

Sample Level 5 Learning Activities 

You may ask learners to justify a specific decision or find an effective solution to a problem while backing up that decision with a justification. Blogs and surveys are popular learning activities at this level.  

Level 6: Creating 

The highest level of learning in Bloom’s taxonomy is asking the learner to create something either tangible or conceptual.  

You may use verbs such as:

Sample Level 6 Learning activities 

If the learning is practical in nature, you may ask learners to design a product or physical device such as a piece of machinery. If the learning is conceptual or intangible, a suitable learning activity may be writing a report, creating a manual, writing an essay or paper.   

7. Problems with using Bloom’s taxonomy 

As with any theoretical construct, Bloom’s taxonomy is open to interpretation and doesn’t have to be precisely followed or applied to every given situation. For instance, when designing a course, it may not be necessary to have the learners start at the lowest level – remembering – and work their way up.   

The solution? 

If you are creating a bespoke course or syllabus for a group of learners, you can use formative assessments to gauge learners’ abilities before you start designing. This will help you set appropriate learning goals and pitch the instruction at the right level.  

Creativity doesn’t have to be the end goal, either. You can use creativity as a tool to spark inspiration and learning. In a corporate learning environment, for example, you could ask the participants to create their own solution to a problem. This could act as an engaging and inspiring entry event, as you could deconstruct the solution and use it as a creative way of introducing facts, knowledge and basic concepts around a subject.   

8. Further reading 

To discover more about Bloom’s taxonomy and how to use it to improve the effectiveness of your training evaluation, consider getting in touch with us below. 

Related posts:

• How to Use Bloom's Hierarchy to Succeed in Evaluating Training Effectiveness  
• How to Use the Six Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy for Corporate Training

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Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom)

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a model that is a hierarchy — a way to classify thinking according to six cognitive levels of complexity.

Contributors Key Concepts Resources and References

Contributors

• Benjamin S. Bloom (1913-1999)

Key Concepts

Bloom’s model consists of six levels, with the three lower levels (knowledge, comprehension, and application) being more basic than the higher levels (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation)[1]. Some think of the levels as a stairway, in which learners are encouraged to achieve a higher level of thinking. If a student has mastered a higher level, then he or she is considered to have mastered the levels below.

Bloom’s model has been updated to account for 21st century needs[2]. The old model and new model are depicted below.

Additional Resources and References

• Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals.
• Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R., & Bloom, B. S. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Allyn & Bacon.

Related Posts

Dunning-Krueger Effect

Confirmation Bias (Wason)

Situated Learning Theory (Lave)

Stereotype Threat (Steele, Aronson)

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• Critical Thinking and other Higher-Order Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is a higher-order thinking skill. Higher-order thinking skills go beyond basic observation of facts and memorization. They are what we are talking about when we want our students to be evaluative, creative and innovative.

When most people think of critical thinking, they think that their words (or the words of others) are supposed to get “criticized” and torn apart in argument, when in fact all it means is that they are criteria-based. These criteria require that we distinguish fact from fiction; synthesize and evaluate information; and clearly communicate, solve problems and discover truths.

Why is Critical Thinking important in teaching?

According to Paul and Elder (2007), “Much of our thinking, left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed or down-right prejudiced.  Yet the quality of our life and that of which we produce, make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought.”  Critical thinking is therefore the foundation of a strong education.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking skills, the goal is to move students from lower- to higher-order thinking:

• from knowledge (information gathering) to comprehension (confirming)
• from application (making use of knowledge) to analysis (taking information apart)
• from evaluation (judging the outcome) to synthesis (putting information together) and creative generation

This provides students with the skills and motivation to become innovative producers of goods, services, and ideas.  This does not have to be a linear process but can move back and forth, and skip steps.

How do I incorporate critical thinking into my course?

The place to begin, and most obvious space to embed critical thinking in a syllabus, is with student-learning objectives/outcomes.  A well-designed course aligns everything else—all the activities, assignments, and assessments—with those core learning outcomes.

Learning outcomes contain an action (verb) and an object (noun), and often start with, “Student’s will....” Bloom’s taxonomy can help you to choose appropriate verbs to clearly state what you want students to exit the course doing, and at what level.

• Students will define the principle components of the water cycle. (This is an example of a lower-order thinking skill.)
• Students will evaluate how increased/decreased global temperatures will affect the components of the water cycle. (This is an example of a higher-order thinking skill.)

Both of the above examples are about the water cycle and both require the foundational knowledge that form the “facts” of what makes up the water cycle, but the second objective goes beyond facts to an actual understanding, application and evaluation of the water cycle.

Using a tool such as Bloom’s Taxonomy to set learning outcomes helps to prevent vague, non-evaluative expectations. It forces us to think about what we mean when we say, “Students will learn…”  What is learning; how do we know they are learning?

The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom by Larry Ferlazzo

Consider designing class activities, assignments, and assessments—as well as student-learning outcomes—using Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide.

The Socratic style of questioning encourages critical thinking.  Socratic questioning  “is systematic method of disciplined questioning that can be used to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we don’t know, and to follow out logical implications of thought” (Paul and Elder 2007).

Socratic questioning is most frequently employed in the form of scheduled discussions about assigned material, but it can be used on a daily basis by incorporating the questioning process into your daily interactions with students.

In teaching, Paul and Elder (2007) give at least two fundamental purposes to Socratic questioning:

• To deeply explore student thinking, helping students begin to distinguish what they do and do not know or understand, and to develop intellectual humility in the process
• To foster students’ abilities to ask probing questions, helping students acquire the powerful tools of dialog, so that they can use these tools in everyday life (in questioning themselves and others)

How do I assess the development of critical thinking in my students?

If the course is carefully designed around student-learning outcomes, and some of those outcomes have a strong critical-thinking component, then final assessment of your students’ success at achieving the outcomes will be evidence of their ability to think critically.  Thus, a multiple-choice exam might suffice to assess lower-order levels of “knowing,” while a project or demonstration might be required to evaluate synthesis of knowledge or creation of new understanding.

Critical thinking is not an “add on,” but an integral part of a course.

• Make critical thinking deliberate and intentional in your courses—have it in mind as you design or redesign all facets of the course
• Many students are unfamiliar with this approach and are more comfortable with a simple quest for correct answers, so take some class time to talk with students about the need to think critically and creatively in your course; identify what critical thinking entail, what it looks like, and how it will be assessed.

Additional Resources

• Barell, John. Teaching for Thoughtfulness: Classroom Strategies to Enhance Intellectual Development . Longman, 1991.
• Brookfield, Stephen D. Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question Their Assumptions . Jossey-Bass, 2012.
• Elder, Linda and Richard Paul. 30 Days to Better Thinking and Better Living through Critical Thinking . FT Press, 2012.
• Fasko, Jr., Daniel, ed. Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Current Research, Theory, and Practice . Hampton Press, 2003.
• Fisher, Alec. Critical Thinking: An Introduction . Cambridge University Press, 2011.
• Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. Critical Thinking: Learn the Tools the Best Thinkers Use . Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006.
• Faculty Focus article, A Syllabus Tip: Embed Big Questions
• The Critical Thinking Community
• The Critical Thinking Community’s The Thinker’s Guides Series and The Art of Socratic Questioning

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Higher Level Thinking: Synthesis in Bloom's Taxonomy

Putting the Parts Together to Create New Meaning

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Bloom’s Taxonomy  (1956 ) was designed with six levels in order to promote higher order thinking. Synthesis was placed on the fifth level of the Bloom’s taxonomy pyramid as it requires students to infer relationships among sources. The high-level thinking of synthesis is evident when students put the parts or information they have reviewed as a whole in order to create new meaning or a new structure.

The Online Etymology Dictionary records the word synthesis as coming from two sources:

"Latin synthesis  meaning a "collection, set, suit of clothes, composition (of a medication)" and also from the Greek  synthesis  meaning "a composition, a putting together."

The dictionary also records the evolution of the use of synthesis to include "deductive reasoning" in 1610 and "a combination of parts into a whole" in 1733. Today's students may use a variety of sources when they combine parts into a whole. The sources for synthesis may include articles, fiction, posts, or infographics as well as non-written sources, such as films, lectures, audio recordings, or observations.

Types of Synthesis in Writing

Synthesis writing is a process in which a student makes the explicit connection between a thesis (the argument) and evidence from sources with similar or dissimilar ideas. Before synthesis can take place, however, the student must complete a careful examination or close reading of all source material. This is especially important before a student can draft a synthesis essay.

There are two types of synthesis essays:

• A student may choose to use an explanatory synthesis essay in order to deconstruct or divide evidence into logical parts so that the essay is organized for readers. Explanatory synthesis essays usually include descriptions of objects, places, events or processes. Descriptions are written objectively because the explanatory synthesis does not present a position. The essay here has information gathered from the sources that the student places in a sequence or other logical manner.
• In order to present a position or opinion, a student may choose to use an argumentative synthesis. The thesis or position of an argumentative essay is one that can be debated. A thesis or position in this essay can be supported with evidence taken from sources and is organized so that it can be presented in a logical manner. 

The introduction to either synthesis essay contains a one-sentence (thesis) statement that sums up the essay's focus and introduces the sources or texts that will be synthesized. Students should follow the citation guidelines in referencing the texts in the essay, which includes their title and author(s) and maybe a little context about the topic or background information. 

The body paragraphs of a synthesis essay can be organized using several different techniques separately or in combination. These techniques can include: using a summary, making comparisons and contrasts, providing examples, proposing cause and effect, or conceding opposing viewpoints. Each of these formats allows the student the chance to incorporate the source materials in either the explanatory or the argumentative synthesis essay.

The conclusion of a synthesis essay may remind readers of the key points or suggestions for further research. In the case of the argumentative synthesis essay, the conclusion answers the "so what" that was proposed in the thesis or may call for action from the reader.

Key Words for the Synthesis Category:

blend, categorize, compile, compose, create, design, develop, form, fuse, imagine, integrate, modify, originate, organize, plan, predict, propose, rearrange, reconstruct, reorganize, solve, summarize, test, theorize, unite.

Synthesis Question Stems With Examples

• Can you develop a theory for the popularity of a text in English? 
• Can you predict the outcome of behavior in Psychology I by using polls or exit slips?
• How could you test the speed of a rubber-band car in physics if a test track is not available?
• How would you adapt ingredients to create a healthier casserole in Nutrition 103 class?'
• How could you change the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth so it could be rated "G"?
• Suppose you could blend iron with another element so that it could burn hotter?
• What changes would you make to solve a linear equation if you could not use letters as variables?
• Can you fuse Hawthorne's short story "The Minister's Black Veil" with a soundtrack?
• Compose a nationalist song using percussion only.
• If you rearrange the parts in the poem "The Road Not Taken", what would the last line be?

Synthesis Essay Prompt Examples

• Can you propose a universal course of study in the use of social media that could be implemented across the United States?
• What steps could be taken in order to minimize food waste from the school cafeteria?
• What facts can you compile to determine if there has been an increase in racist behavior or an increase in awareness of racist behavior?
• What could you design to wean young children off video games?
• Can you think of an original way for schools to promote awareness of global warming or climate change?
• How many ways can you use technology in the classroom to improve student understanding?
• What criteria would you use to compare American Literature with English Literature?

Synthesis Performance Assessment Examples

• Design a classroom that would support educational technology.
• Create a new toy for teaching the American Revolution. Give it a name and plan a marketing campaign.
• Write and present a news broadcast about a scientific discovery.
• Propose a magazine cover for a famous artist using his or her work.
• Make a mix tape for a character in a novel.
• Hold an election for the most important element on the periodic table.
• Put new words to a known melody in order to promote healthy habits.
• Questions for Each Level of Bloom's Taxonomy
• Higher-Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in Education
• Bloom's Taxonomy - Application Category
• How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
• Asking Better Questions With Bloom's Taxonomy
• Using Bloom's Taxonomy for Effective Learning
• Bloom's Taxonomy in the Classroom
• How to Construct a Bloom's Taxonomy Assessment
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
• Beef Up Critical Thinking and Writing Skills: Comparison Essays
• What an Essay Is and How to Write One
• Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
• How to Write a Solid Thesis Statement
• Composition Type: Problem-Solution Essays
• How to Write a Critical Essay
• What Is Expository Writing?

Teaching & Learning Tips

A collection of tips and tools designed to aid in transitioning instruction online.

Bloom’s Taxonomy: The Cognitive Dimension

Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist known for his research on defining the levels of cognitive processes. Bloom’s Taxonomy highlights six levels of thinking ranging from the lowest level of remembering to the highest, more complex process of creating. The video below offers clear examples of each level and discusses the importance of aligning your teaching practices and assessment expectations.

It’s important to consider these dimensions of student performance when outlining the learning objectives for your assignments. Objectives should state what you want your students to be able to do. The language used to describe your objective defines the type of cognitive process that you want the student to use to demonstrate their learning.

Examples, with the cognitive processes in bold  and the subject matter content in  italics :

• The student will learn to  categorize   rational and irrational numbers .
• The student will learn to  distinguish  among  confederal, federal, and unitary systems of government.
• The student will be able to  design   an experiment to test a hypothesis .

As you consider the learning objectives for your course and assignments, you want may to review this list of active learning verbs for each of the six dimensions of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

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Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives

Information professionals who train or instruct others can use Bloom’s taxonomy to write learning objectives that describe the skills and abilities that they desire their learners to master and demonstrate. Bloom’s taxonomy differentiates between cognitive skill levels and calls attention to learning objectives that require higher levels of cognitive skills and, therefore, lead to deeper learning and transfer of knowledge and skills to a greater variety of tasks and contexts.

As learners, we know from experience that some learning tasks are more difficult than others. To take an example from elementary school, knowing our multiplication tables by rote requires a qualitatively different type of thinking than does applying our multiplication skills through solving “word problems.” And in both cases, a teacher could assess our knowledge and skills in either of these types of thinking by asking us to demonstrate those skills in action, in other words, by doing something that is observable and measurable. With the publication in 1956 of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals , an educational classic was born that powerfully incorporated these concepts to create a classification of cognitive skills [ 1 ]. The classification system came to be called Bloom’s taxonomy, after Benjamin Bloom, one of the editors of the volume, and has had significant and lasting influence on the teaching and learning process at all levels of education to the present day.

Bloom’s taxonomy contains six categories of cognitive skills ranging from lower-order skills that require less cognitive processing to higher-order skills that require deeper learning and a greater degree of cognitive processing ( Figure 1 ). The differentiation into categories of higher-order and lower-order skills arose later; Bloom himself did not use these terms.

Bloom’s taxonomy

Knowledge is the foundational cognitive skill and refers to the retention of specific, discrete pieces of information like facts and definitions or methodology, such as the sequence of events in a step-by-step process. Knowledge can be assessed by straightforward means, for example, multiple choice or short-answer questions that require the retrieval or recognition of information, for example, “Name five sources of drug information.” Health professionals must have command of vast amounts of knowledge such as protocols, interactions, and medical terminology that are committed to memory, but simple recall of facts does not provide evidence of comprehension, which is the next higher level in Bloom’s taxonomy.

Learners show comprehension of the meaning of the information that they encounter by paraphrasing it in their own words, classifying items in groups, comparing and contrasting items with other similar entities, or explaining a principle to others. For example, librarians might probe a learner’s understanding of information sources by asking the learner to compare and contrast the information found in those sources. Comprehension requires more cognitive processing than simply remembering information, and learning objectives that address comprehension will help learners begin to incorporate knowledge into their existing cognitive schemas by which they understand the world [ 2 ]. This allows learners to use knowledge, skills, or techniques in new situations through application, the third level of Bloom’s taxonomy. An example of application familiar to medical librarians is the ability to use best practices in the literature searching process, such as using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms for key concepts in a search.

Moving to higher levels of the taxonomy, we next see learning objectives relating to analysis . Here is where the skills that we commonly think of as critical thinking enter. Distinguishing between fact and opinion and identifying the claims upon which an argument is built require analysis, as does breaking down an information need into its component parts in order to identify the most appropriate search terms.

Following analysis is the level of synthesis, which entails creating a novel product in a specific situation. An example of an evidence-based medicine–related task requiring synthesis is formulating a well-built clinical question after analyzing a clinician’s information gaps [ 3 ]. The formulation of a management plan for a specific patient is another clinical task involving synthesis.

Finally, the pinnacle of Bloom’s taxonomy is evaluation , which is also important to critical thinking. When instructors reflect on a teaching session and use learner feedback and assessment results to judge the value of the session, they engage in evaluation. Critically appraising the validity of a clinical study and judging the relevance of its results for application to a specific patient also require evaluative skills. It is important to recognize that higher-level skills in the taxonomy incorporate many lower-level skills as well: to critically appraise the medical literature ( evaluation) , one must have knowledge and comprehension of various study designs, apply that knowledge to a specific published study to recognize the study design that has been used, and then analyze it to isolate the various components of internal validity such as blinding and randomization. For an illustrative list of learning objectives from evidence-based medicine curricula at US and Canadian medical schools categorized according to Bloom’s taxonomy, refer to the 2014 Journal of the Medical Library Association article by Blanco et al. [ 3 ].

CHANGES IN BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Based on findings of cognitive science following the original publication, a later revision of the taxonomy changes the nomenclature and order of the cognitive processes in the original version. In this later version, the levels are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. This reorganization places the skill of synthesis rather than evaluation at the highest level of the hierarchy [ 2 ]. Furthermore, this revision adds a new dimension across all six cognitive processes. It specifies the four types of knowledge that might be addressed by a learning activity: factual (terminology and discrete facts) ; conceptual (categories, theories, principles, and models) ; procedural (knowledge of a technique, process, or methodology); and metacognitive (including self-assessment ability and knowledge of various learning skills and techniques).

It is important to note that the most common usage of Bloom’s taxonomy focuses on cognitive learning skills rather than psychomotor or affective skills, two domains that are crucial to the success of health professionals. Examples of psychomotor and affective skills are knot tying in surgery and empathy toward patients, respectively.

Information professionals who train or instruct others can use Bloom’s taxonomy to write learning objectives that describe the skills and abilities that they desire their learners to master and demonstrate.

The taxonomy is useful in two important ways. First, use of the taxonomy encourages instructors to think of learning objectives in behavioral terms to consider what the learner can do as a result of the instruction. A learning objective written using action verbs will indicate the best method of assessing the skills and knowledge taught. Lists of action verbs that are appropriate for learning objectives at each level of Bloom’s taxonomy are widely available on the Internet [ 4 ]. Second, considering learning goals in light of Bloom’s taxonomy highlights the need for including learning objectives that require higher levels of cognitive skills that lead to deeper learning and transfer of knowledge and skills to a greater variety of tasks and contexts.

Today’s health professions educators wish to develop learners’ skills at the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy that require demonstration of deeper cognitive processing such as critical thinking and evaluative judgments, but studies have shown that learning objectives in many training programs and curricula focus overwhelmingly on the lower levels of the taxonomy, knowledge and comprehension [ 3 , 5 ]. This shortcoming must be considered by educators if health professionals are to achieve increasing levels of skill and function.

Nancy E. Adams, MLIS, ude.usp.cmh@smadan , Associate Director and Coordinator of Education and Instruction, George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, Penn State Hershey Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, Mail Code H127, Hershey, PA 17033-0850

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Higher Order Thinking: Bloom's Taxonomy

Many students start college using the study strategies they used in high school, which is understandable—the strategies worked in the past, so why wouldn’t they work now? As you may have already figured out, college is different. Classes may be more rigorous (yet may seem less structured), your reading load may be heavier, and your professors may be less accessible. For these reasons and others, you’ll likely find that your old study habits aren’t as effective as they used to be. Part of the reason for this is that you may not be approaching the material in the same way as your professors. In this guide, we provide information on Bloom’s Taxonomy—a way of thinking about your schoolwork that can change the way you study and learn to better align with how your professors think (and how they grade).

Why Higher Order Thinking Leads to Effective Study

Most students report that high school was largely about remembering and understanding large amounts of content and then demonstrating this comprehension periodically on tests and exams. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework that starts with these two levels of thinking as important bases for pushing our brains to five other higher order levels of thinking—helping us move beyond remembering and recalling information and move deeper into application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation—the levels of thinking that your professors have in mind when they are designing exams and paper assignments. Because it is in these higher levels of thinking that our brains truly and deeply learn information, it’s important that you integrate higher order thinking into your study habits.

The following categories can help you assess your comprehension of readings, lecture notes, and other course materials. By creating and answering questions from a variety of categories, you can better anticipate and prepare for all types of exam questions. As you learn and study, start by asking yourself questions and using study methods from the level of remembering. Then, move progressively through the levels to push your understanding deeper—making your studying more meaningful and improving your long-term retention.

Level 1: Remember

This level helps us recall foundational or factual information: names, dates, formulas, definitions, components, or methods.

Level 2: Understand

Understanding means that we can explain main ideas and concepts and make meaning by interpreting, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.

Level 3: Apply

Application allows us to recognize or use concepts in real-world situations and to address when, where, or how to employ methods and ideas.

Level 4: Analyze

Analysis means breaking a topic or idea into components or examining a subject from different perspectives. It helps us see how the “whole” is created from the “parts.” It’s easy to miss the big picture by getting stuck at a lower level of thinking and simply remembering individual facts without seeing how they are connected. Analysis helps reveal the connections between facts.

Level 5: Synthesize

Synthesizing means considering individual elements together for the purpose of drawing conclusions, identifying themes, or determining common elements. Here you want to shift from “parts” to “whole.”

Level 6: Evaluate

Evaluating means making judgments about something based on criteria and standards. This requires checking and critiquing an argument or concept to form an opinion about its value. Often there is not a clear or correct answer to this type of question. Rather, it’s about making a judgment and supporting it with reasons and evidence.

Level 7: Create

Creating involves putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole. Creating includes reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through planning. This is the highest and most advanced level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Pairing Bloom’s Taxonomy with Other Effective Study Strategies

While higher order thinking is an excellent way to approach learning new information and studying, you should pair it with other effective study strategies. Check out some of these links to read up on other tools and strategies you can try:

• Study Smarter, Not Harder
• Simple Study Template
• Using Concept Maps
• Group Study

Works Consulted

Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D.R., Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., & Wittrock, M.C (2001). A taxonomy of learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Longman.

“Bloom’s Taxonomy.” (PDF).

Overbaugh, R., and Schultz, L. (n.d.). “Image of two versions of Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Norfolk, VA: Old Dominion University.

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SOLO Taxonomy – 5 Levels of Learning Complexity

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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The SOLO taxonomy stands for ‘structure of observed learning outcome’. It provides a framework for analyzing a student’s depth of knowledge.

It was developed by John Biggs as an alternative to Bloom’s taxonomy of knowledge.

The SOLO taxonomy is considered a more practical framework than Bloom’s due to its focus on observable outcomes rather than internal cognitive processes .

The SOLO taxonomy contains 5 levels of knowledge , from simple to complex:

• Prestructural
• Unstructural
• Multistructural
• Extended Abstract

At the lower levels, students demonstrate lower-order cognitive skills , while at higher levels students demonstrate the ability to use complex inductive reasoning strategies.

Definition of the SOLO Taxonomy

The structure of observed learning outcomes taxonomy (SOLO taxonomy) is a tool for measuring how well a student understands a topic.

It describes 5 levels of understanding from simple to complex. It is widely used for designing curriculum outcomes and assessment tasks that get progressively more difficult as students move through their education.

5 Levels of the Taxonomy

The 5 levels of the taxonomy are:

• Unistructural
• Multisrtuctural

The first 3 levels represent quantitative thinking, which Biggs argues tends to involve deductive reasoning and surface analysis. The final 2 levels move into a qualitative approach that focuses on depth of knowledge and understanding on a topic.

Here are explanations of each level of learning:

1. Prestructural

At the prestructural stage, students don’t have any understanding of the topic. This may be because they’ve never encountered it before!

Biggs argues that “prestructural responses simply miss the point” and “show little evidence of relevant learning” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 87).

We can observe that a student is in the prestructural stage when they respond to questions with simple answers like:

• “I don’t know”
• “I’m parroting what I am supposed to say”, or
• With an irrelevant comment.

When I grade papers, I notice this all the time. A paragraph may be totally off topic, filled with factual inaccuracies, or totally copied from a source text. This shows me that the student completely misunderstands.

Biggs reminds us that sometimes a person will give a long and seemingly impressive response to a question, but it may still be at the prestructural stage.

He uses the example of a politician speaking a lot, but not actually answering the question they were asked.

2. Unistructural

A student with unistructural understanding tends to understand only one or two elements of the task, but not the whole.

At this level, a student may be able to identify and name a few things and follow simple procedures that they have been taught.

While some elements of a topic may be covered by the student, they will also miss many more important parts of the topic that are required to truly understand it.

A student who provides a unistructural response to a question would likely:

• Be able to give a vague or general answer.
• Know some terms relevant to the topic.
• Not be able to explain the terms in depth when pushed.

Biggs explains: “Unistructural responses deal with terminology, getting on track but little more” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 87).

3. Multistructural

At the multistructural level, the student has begun to acquire a lot knowledge, but can’t put it together yet.

The student’s knowledge remains at the level of remembering, memorizing and parroting what they have learned. The student therefore has surface level understanding. They could not use a concept in new and innovative ways because they simply don’t understand it well enough.

The multistructural student is like the builder without his tools: all the pieces are there, but he doesn’t know how they connect. You may have felt this way when you unpacked some Ikea furniture and it’s been laid out upon your floor in bits!

4. Relational

The relational stage is the first that shows deep qualitative understanding of a topic and more complex thinking skills .

At the relational level, students start to see how the parts of a topic are put together. They can:

• Identify patterns.
• Explain how parts of a topic link together.
• Compare and contrast different elements of a topic.
• View a topic from several perspectives.

Central to relational knowledge is the ability to create structures and systems for sorting knowledge. Students begin to explain connections between things by using systemic and some theoretical modelling.

As Biggs argues: “a qualitative change in learning and understanding has occurred. It is no longer a matter of listing facts and details” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 87).

5. Extended Abstract

At the extended abstract stage, students have a sophisticated understanding of the topic and can apply it in various contexts.

Biggs argues that the essence of the extended abstract response “is that it goes beyond what has been given” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 87). In other words, students can create new knowledge and apply the knowledge they have in multiple contexts due to their deep understanding of the topic.

For example, a student may laern something in the classroom and be able to apply it in their lives outsive the classroom in an entirely different context.

Students may also be able to generate theoretical ideas and then use them to make assumptions about future events.

SOLO Taxonomy vs Bloom’s Taxonomy

Biggs’s taxonomy is well respected as an alternative to Bloom’s taxonomy for assessing student behavioral and learning objectives .

While Bloom’s taxonomy describes many unobservable cognitive skills, the SOLO approach focuses on observable evidence of a student’s understanding. This makes it very useful for the assessment of a student’s understanding of topics.

In Bloom’s taxonomy, you may come across many unobservable and unassessable verbs to describe knowledge and understanding. Some examples are below:

By contrast, the SOLO taxonomy focuses on outcomes of knowledge rather than descriptions of knowledge itself. The taxonomy provides vocabulary that clearly conveys what students should be able to demonstrate by the end of a course.

This means that Biggs’s approach is very useful for writing assessment learning outcomes. Below is a collection of observable verbs that the SOLO approach recommends.

SOLO Verbs (How to use the Framework in Curriculum Design)

Biggs designed the SOLO model for curriculum design in higher education. It is a part of his broader concept of constructive alignment .

Constructive alignment involves ensuring that the things we teach in our lessons:

• Are in tune with our assessment content.
• Prepare students for the things we assess our students on.
• Are at an appropriate ability level in relation to the summative assessment.
• Are cognitively challenging.
• Use constructivist teaching strategies .

The SOLO framework , as a practical component of constructive alignment, helps us:

• Create learning outcomes.
• Assess students’ depth of knowledge.

As Biggs argues, this taxonomy “can be used to define course intended learning outcomes, which describe where students should be operating, and for evaluating learning outcomes so that we can know at what level individual students actually are operating.” (Biggs & Tang, 2007, p. 87)

To help guide you, you may like to use verbs that relate to each level of understanding. These verbs will guide you as you attempt to create learning outcomes that are at the appropriate difficulty level.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bigg’s Model

Advantages of the SOLO taxonomy include:

• Educators can use the verbs from the taxonomy to create learning outcomes. Unlike Bloom’s taxonomy, the verbs in the SOLO taxonomy are all observable, making them ideal for assessments.
• It provides a framework for creating progressive curricula that gradually increase in difficulty level.
• It provides a framework for thinking about what you want your students to know and at what stage.
• It helps you think through what grade you will give a student by explicitly outlining how to identify depth of understanding.

Disadvantages

Disadvantages include:

• The model doesn’t take into account difficulty of topics themselves. Some topics (such as brain surgery!) require extreme difficulty to reach levels 3 or 4 of the taxonomy. Other topics may be easy to understand, manipulate and theorise at level 5 of the taxonomy (extended abstract level). So, even very difficult postgraduate level curricula may require lower-order verbs within their learning outcomes.
• The model assumes courses should contain learning outcomes and places high value on assessment. Some educators may believe that assessment and learning outcomes stifle creativity and student-led learning and are therefore inappropriate.

Final Thoughts

The structure of observed learning outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy is a very useful framework for thinking about how well a student should, or does, understand a topic. I find it very beneficial for both writing curricula and assessing students’ work.

I reflect on it regularly when considering what grade I should give a student as it gives me a framework for considering how deep their understanding truly is.

Biggs, J.B., and Collis, K.F. (1982). Evaluating the Quality of Learning . New York: Academic Press.

Biggs, J. (1999). Teaching for Quality Learning at University . SHRE and Open University Press.

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university. What the student does (3rd Ed.). Berkshire: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Brabrand, C., & Dahl, B. (2009). Using the SOLO model to analyze competence progression of university science curricula. Higher Education, 58 (4), 531-549.

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 15 Self-Actualization Examples (Maslow's Hierarchy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Forest Schools Philosophy & Curriculum, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori's 4 Planes of Development, Explained!
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ Montessori vs Reggio Emilia vs Steiner-Waldorf vs Froebel

2 thoughts on “SOLO Taxonomy – 5 Levels of Learning Complexity”

is there anything after solos taxonomy what is that what are the other models

The main alternative approach is Bloom’s Taxonomy.

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• Thinking in Education

Thinking in Education

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Book description

The first edition of Thinking in Education made a case for inserting thinking into all levels of education by infusing critical thinking into existing disciplines. Matthew Lipman, a leading education theorist, provided procedures to enable students at all levels of education to become more thoughtful, more reasonable, and more judicious. In the 12 years since the first edition was published, the author has broadened his approach to teaching thinking. While critical thinking is important and highly valuable, it is not sufficient; students must develop creative and caring thinking as well. This edition provides methods for integrating emotive experience, mental acts, thinking skills and informal fallacies into a concerted approach to the improvement of reasoning and judgment. It also shows how the community of inquiry can be utilized for the reduction of violence in the classroom and for the improvement of the education of children at risk.

"This book highlights, very appropriately, why thinking needs improving in schools. It illustrates, in a variety of ways, how teachers could encourage their pupils in thought-provoking debates....This book would be a useful resource to anyone involved in teaching philosophy, citizenship or subject-specific thinking." British Journal of Educational Studies

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Frontmatter pp i-iv

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Contents pp v-x

Preface pp xi-xii, introduction to the second edition pp 1-6, part one - education for thinking pp 7-8, 1 - the reflective model of educational practice pp 9-27, 2 - approaches in teaching for thinking pp 28-63, 3 - obstacles and misconceptions in teaching for thinking pp 64-80, part two - communities of inquiry pp 81-82, 4 - thinking in community pp 83-104, 5 - the community of inquiry approach to violence reduction pp 105-124, part three - orchestrating the components pp 125-126, 6 - the emotions in thinking and in education pp 127-138, 7 - mental acts pp 139-161, 8 - thinking skills pp 162-194, part four - education for the improvement of thinking pp 195-196, 9 - the transactive dimensions of thinking pp 197-204, 10 - education for critical thinking pp 205-242, 11 - education for creative thinking pp 243-260, 12 - education for caring thinking pp 261-271, 13 - strengthening the power of judgment pp 272-293, bibliography pp 294-298, index pp 299-304, altmetric attention score, full text views.

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Enhancing Learning: Thinking & Curriculum Development

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What is STEM Education?

STEM education, now also know as STEAM, is a multi-discipline approach to teaching.

• Importance of STEAM education

STEAM blended learning

• Inequalities in STEAM

Additional resources

Bibliography.

STEM education is a teaching approach that combines science, technology, engineering and math . Its recent successor, STEAM, also incorporates the arts, which have the "ability to expand the limits of STEM education and application," according to Stem Education Guide . STEAM is designed to encourage discussions and problem-solving among students, developing both practical skills and appreciation for collaborations, according to the Institution for Art Integration and STEAM .

Rather than teach the five disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEAM integrates them into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications. 

According to the U.S. Department of Education "In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever that our nation's youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information, and know how to gather and evaluate evidence to make decisions." 

In 2009, the Obama administration announced the " Educate to Innovate " campaign to motivate and inspire students to excel in STEAM subjects. This campaign also addresses the inadequate number of teachers skilled to educate in these subjects. 

The Department of Education now offers a number of STEM-based programs , including research programs with a STEAM emphasis, STEAM grant selection programs and general programs that support STEAM education.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education awarded $141 million in new grants and $437 million to continue existing STEAM projects a breakdown of grants can be seen in their investment report .  

The importance of STEM and STEAM education

STEAM education is crucial to meet the needs of a changing world. According to an article from iD Tech , millions of STEAM jobs remain unfilled in the U.S., therefore efforts to fill this skill gap are of great importance. According to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics there is a projected growth of STEAM-related occupations of 10.5% between 2020 and 2030 compared to 7.5% in non-STEAM-related occupations. The median wage in 2020 was also higher in STEAM occupations ($89,780) compared to non-STEAM occupations ($40,020).

Between 2014 and 2024, employment in computer occupations is projected to increase by 12.5 percent between 2014 and 2024, according to a STEAM occupation report . With projected increases in STEAM-related occupations, there needs to be an equal increase in STEAM education efforts to encourage students into these fields otherwise the skill gap will continue to grow. 

STEAM jobs do not all require higher education or even a college degree. Less than half of entry-level STEAM jobs require a bachelor's degree or higher, according to skills gap website Burning Glass Technologies . However, a four-year degree is incredibly helpful with salary — the average advertised starting salary for entry-level STEAM jobs with a bachelor's requirement was 26 percent higher than jobs in the non-STEAM fields.. For every job posting for a bachelor's degree recipient in a non-STEAM field, there were 2.5 entry-level job postings for a bachelor's degree recipient in a STEAM field. 

What separates STEAM from traditional science and math education is the blended learning environment and showing students how the scientific method can be applied to everyday life. It teaches students computational thinking and focuses on the real-world applications of problem-solving. As mentioned before, STEAM education begins while students are very young:

Elementary school — STEAM education focuses on the introductory level STEAM courses, as well as awareness of the STEAM fields and occupations. This initial step provides standards-based structured inquiry-based and real-world problem-based learning, connecting all four of the STEAM subjects. The goal is to pique students' interest into them wanting to pursue the courses, not because they have to. There is also an emphasis placed on bridging in-school and out-of-school STEAM learning opportunities. 

– Best microscopes for kids

– What is a scientific theory?

– Science experiments for kids  

Middle school — At this stage, the courses become more rigorous and challenging. Student awareness of STEAM fields and occupations is still pursued, as well as the academic requirements of such fields. Student exploration of STEAM-related careers begins at this level, particularly for underrepresented populations. 

High school — The program of study focuses on the application of the subjects in a challenging and rigorous manner. Courses and pathways are now available in STEAM fields and occupations, as well as preparation for post-secondary education and employment. More emphasis is placed on bridging in-school and out-of-school STEAM opportunities.

Much of the STEAM curriculum is aimed toward attracting underrepresented populations. There is a significant disparity in the female to male ratio when it comes to those employed in STEAM fields, according to Stem Women . Approximately 1 in 4 STEAM graduates is female.  

Inequalities in STEAM education

Ethnically, people from Black backgrounds in STEAM education in the UK have poorer degree outcomes and lower rates of academic career progression compared to other ethnic groups, according to a report from The Royal Society . Although the proportion of Black students in STEAM higher education has increased over the last decade, they are leaving STEAM careers at a higher rate compared to other ethnic groups. 

"These reports highlight the challenges faced by Black researchers, but we also need to tackle the wider inequalities which exist across our society and prevent talented people from pursuing careers in science." President of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith said. 

Asian students typically have the highest level of interest in STEAM. According to the Royal Society report in 2018/19 18.7% of academic staff in STEAM were from ethnic minority groups, of these groups 13.2% were Asian compared to 1.7% who were Black. 

If you want to learn more about why STEAM is so important check out this informative article from the University of San Diego . Explore some handy STEAM education teaching resources courtesy of the Resilient Educator . Looking for tips to help get children into STEAM? Forbes has got you covered.  

• Lee, Meggan J., et al. ' If you aren't White, Asian or Indian, you aren't an engineer': racial microaggressions in STEM education. " International Journal of STEM Education 7.1 (2020): 1-16. 
• STEM Occupations: Past, Present, And Future . Stella Fayer, Alan Lacey, and Audrey Watson. A report. 2017. 
• Institution for Art Integration and STEAM What is STEAM education? 
• Barone, Ryan, ' The state of STEM education told through 18 stats ', iD Tech.  
• U.S. Department of Education , Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, including Computer Science.  
• ' STEM sector must step up and end unacceptable disparities in Black staff ', The Royal Society. A report, March 25, 2021.  
• 'Percentages of Women in STEM Statistics' Stemwomen.com  

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Is College Worth It? Consider These Factors Before Enrolling

Expert Reviewed

Updated: Jun 4, 2024, 8:30am

For decades in the U.S., a four-year degree was seen as a ticket to a better life, associated with higher wages, better health and access to homeownership, to name a few benefits. But rising costs, mounting student debt, changing job requirements in some industries and new higher education alternatives have altered the equation, leaving many high schoolers and their parents wondering: Is college worth it?

College graduates still earn higher wages and have lower unemployment rates than workers with only a high school diploma. However, industries that don’t require a bachelor’s degree, like manufacturing, construction and hospitality, often pay well and see steady economic demand. Plus, many companies and even government organizations no longer require job candidates to hold college degrees.

Though some researchers claim the economic benefits of a college degree are diminishing, higher education is still undeniably valuable. But is college right for you? That depends on your financial priorities and professional goals. Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of going to college.

Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Education

Forbes Advisor’s education editors are committed to producing unbiased rankings and informative articles covering online colleges, tech bootcamps and career paths. Our ranking methodologies use data from the National Center for Education Statistics , education providers, and reputable educational and professional organizations. An advisory board of educators and other subject matter experts reviews and verifies our content to bring you trustworthy, up-to-date information. Advertisers do not influence our rankings or editorial content.

• 6,290 accredited, nonprofit colleges and universities analyzed nationwide
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• Only 7.12% of all colleges, universities and bootcamp providers we consider are awarded

How To Determine Whether College Is Worth It

College is a great way to discover yourself: what you’re good at, what drives you, what you want to spend your life doing. Higher learning can provide opportunities to travel, research, build a professional network and connect with peers and mentors. But the cost is immense—often more than $100,000 for a four-year degree, depending on the institution.

If you’re on the fence about college, take the considerations discussed below into account. Also, compare the potential benefits and drawbacks of a four-year degree to alternative higher ed options, such as bootcamps , professional certificate programs and trade schools .

Factors To Consider

When determining whether you should go to college, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your career goals?
• Does the school you’re eying offer a strong program in your area of interest?
• How much would you pay for tuition and other expenses?

Next, assess what student loans and scholarships are available to you, and consider the level of debt you’ll face after graduation. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our rankings of the best private student loans , the best low-interest student loans and the best personal loans for students . We also list some of the best scholarship websites and search engines .

Finally, think about the salary you’ll likely earn in your desired profession and how quickly you’ll be able to repay your loans.

It might be wise to consider this decision as if you were your own life coach or mentor. How would you talk through this problem with someone in your shoes? College admission professionals, high school guidance counselors and mentors can also provide input to help you make an informed decision.

College Income and Wealth Premiums

Two key economic indicators to think about are income and wealth. “Income” here relates to your earnings from a job, while “wealth” refers to your net worth.

For decades, college graduates enjoyed higher earnings and greater wealth than individuals who did not graduate from college, creating so-called “college premiums” on both income and wealth. Though these premiums still exist, they’ve declined for recent graduates, according to economic research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis .

The college wealth premium is trending downward faster than the income premium due in part to the high and rising cost of college.

The Cost of College

To examine the cost of college, we look at the average net price as collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Net price is the total cost of college—including tuition, supplies, housing and other expenses—minus grant and scholarship aid.

In the 2020–21 academic year, the average net price of attending a four-year college for first-time undergraduates was $14,700 at public institutions, $28,400 at private nonprofit schools and $24,600 at private, for-profit institutions, according to NCES.

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees have risen over the past decade across public and private nonprofit colleges and universities. The increase was highest for private nonprofits, where annual tuition and fees increased by 14% between the 2010–11 and 2021–22 school years—from $34,000 to $38,000, respectively. The increase at public institutions in that time frame was smaller at 6%, from $9,100 to $9,700.

Total Cost of Attendance

The total cost of attendance combines the cost of tuition, fees, books, supplies, room, board and other expenses. It also accounts for federal student aid awards, including grants, work-study programs and loans.

In 2021–22, the average total cost of attending a public, four-year institution was $26,000 for students living on campus. Attending a private, for-profit school cost $32,900, or $55,800 for a private, nonprofit college.

So for a four-year bachelor’s degree, the average total cost of attendance for students residing on campus was approximately:

• $104,000 at public schools
• $131,600 at private, for-profit schools
• $223,200 at private, nonprofit schools

In other words, the cost of college is steep even with financial aid taken into account.

Student Loans

The percentage of first-year undergraduates who take out student loans has decreased since 2010, according to NCES. Thirty-eight percent of first-time, full-time college students were awarded loans in 2020–21, compared with 50% in 2010–11. NCES noted a decrease across all controls for both two-year and four-year higher education institutions.

The average loan amount awarded has also decreased over the past decade. First-time, degree-seeking students received an average $8,400 in 2020–21, compared to $7,700 in 2010–11, a decrease of 8%.

Education debt is the fastest-growing form of debt in the U.S. with total student debt now around $1.76 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve . In the 2021–22 academic year, 49% of students earning bachelor’s degrees from public, four-year institutions graduated with federal student loan debt, according to research from College Board . The average amount of debt per student was $20,700. Another 9% graduated with private loan debt averaging $34,600 per borrower.

To understand how effective students are at paying back their loans, NCES examined the class of 2015-16 four years after graduation, finding that the average federal student borrower still owed 78% of their original loan amount. The average percentage owed was particularly high among Pell Grant recipients: 85% of the original borrowed amount.

The Potential College Payoff

We’ve determined that college is expensive (and only getting costlier), student debt is on the rise and financial aid awards are dwindling. So what’s the return on an investment in higher education? Let’s take a look at potential payoffs for college grads.

Higher Earnings

College graduates still enjoy higher earnings than the average U.S. worker. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that in 2022, bachelor’s degree holders took home a median wage of $1,432 per week, while workers with just a high school diploma earned only $853. That’s a difference of 68%.

But how much you earn depends on several factors, including the industry you work in and your age, gender and location. A 2021 report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce found that 16% of high school graduates and 28% of associate degree holders earn higher wages than half of bachelor’s degree graduates.

On average, bachelor’s degree holders don’t start to see returns on their college investment until they’ve worked full time for 15 years. It’s the lowest return on investment (ROI) of all postsecondary degrees, according to the Education Data Initiative .

However, ROI for bachelor’s degrees can differ significantly depending on the major. The most cost-effective majors are in the computer and information sciences. Other areas with high returns include business finance, business accounting and electrical engineering. Majors with low ROI include fine art, liberal arts, general studies and education.

Lower Unemployment Rates

In 2022, bachelor’s degree grads faced an unemployment rate of 2.2%, while the rate for all workers was 3%, according to the BLS. By comparison, 4% of workers with only a high school diploma were unemployed.

Despite national conversation questioning the value of a college degree, a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that many employers still see higher ed as valuable, with three-quarters of respondents viewing college credentials as high-quality.

Recession Resiliency

Having a college degree may help you stay afloat during the next economic downturn. According to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California , less-educated workers suffered higher unemployment losses during the past few recessions. For example, at the height of the Covid-19 recession, workers with no college education experienced an unemployment rate of 18%, compared to 10% for workers with bachelor’s degrees.

The Pros and Cons of Going to College

Whether going to college is worth it really depends on your situation. Some career aspirations require a four-year degree, while plenty of others don’t. Certain academic interests make more sense to pursue in a formal campus environment. Others lend themselves to self-study.

Your financial situation is an important factor in determining the value of college. You’ll want to ask yourself if higher wages and more career options in the long run are worth years of student loan payments.

• Higher wages on average
• More career options
• Opportunities to gain further credentials and earn more money
• Alumni networks
• Recession resilience
• Personal growth
• Better health
• Higher likelihood of homeownership and being partnered (married or cohabiting)
• Lower risk of becoming delinquent on debt obligations
• Years of student loan debt
• Not necessary for some jobs
• Many alternatives to college, like apprenticeships and associate degrees, may provide similar benefits
• “Opportunity loss” due to time in college spent not working in profession

If you’re unsure about whether college would pay off for you, check out the below resources to learn about alternative options for higher education and professional credentials:

• Best Coding Bootcamps
• Best Online Trade Schools
• Can You Get a Bachelor’s Degree at a Community College? Here’s What To Know
• How Much Do Coding Bootcamps Cost? What To Know
• How To Get an Apprenticeship: Tips and Resources
• Tech Bootcamps With Job Guarantees: What To Know
• These 8 Universities Offer Business Certificates Online
• What Is a Graduate Certificate? Everything You Need To Know
• What Is a Skilled Trade? Top-Paying Trades To Conside

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Whether College Is Worth It

Should i go to college.

A college degree is a great investment for many students, but it’s not the slam dunk that it once was. A college degree is still correlated with higher earnings and greater wealth, but the cost is considerable and rising. Depending on your intended profession, you might consider an alternative education path.

Is college worth the cost?

Ultimately, whether college is worth the cost will depend on factors like your career and life goals and whether you’ll need to take out student loans. While a college degree is still associated with greater earnings and wealth over a lifetime, the upfront cost is not worth it for many students.

Why is college worth it?

There are many positives to attending college: higher wages, stronger recession resilience, lower unemployment rates, the list goes on. Plus, many employers require or prefer a college degree for many professional roles. On the other hand, you may be able to earn a good living without attending college, depending on your professional aspirations.

• Ranking The Most Affordable States For College Students
• How To Apply For College
• Should You Attend Graduate School Online?
• Choosing A Major: How To Find What Major Is Right For You
• Online College Accreditation
• Do You Need The SAT For College Admission?
• Free Student Laptops
• How To Transfer Universities
• Online Checklist For Students
• What Is A Good GPA In College, And Does It Matter?

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Garrett Andrews is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Political Science at Portland Community College where he teaches State and Local Government.

Brenna Swanston is an education-focused editor and writer with a particular interest in education equity and alternative educational paths. As a newswriter in her early career, Brenna's education reporting earned national awards and state-level accolades in California and North Carolina. Since 2018, she has worked in the higher-education web content space, where she aims to help current and prospective students of all backgrounds find effective, accessible pathways to rewarding careers.

Appointments at Mayo Clinic

• Stress management
• Chronic stress puts your health at risk

Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your mind and body. Take steps to control your stress.

Your body is made to react to stress in ways meant to protect you against threats from predators and other aggressors. Such threats are rare today. But that doesn't mean that life is free of stress.

Instead, you likely face many demands each day. For example, you may take on a huge workload, pay bills or take care of your family. Your body treats these everyday tasks as threats. Because of this, you may feel as if you're always under attack. But you can fight back. You don't have to let stress control your life.

Understanding the natural stress response

When you face a perceived threat, a tiny region at the brain's base, called the hypothalamus, sets off an alarm system in the body. An example of a perceived threat is a large dog barking at you during your morning walk. Through nerve and hormonal signals, this system prompts the adrenal glands, found atop the kidneys, to release a surge of hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline makes the heart beat faster, causes blood pressure to go up and gives you more energy. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugar, also called glucose, in the bloodstream, enhances the brain's use of glucose and increases the availability of substances in the body that repair tissues.

Cortisol also slows functions that would be nonessential or harmful in a fight-or-flight situation. It changes immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system also communicates with the brain regions that control mood, motivation and fear.

When the natural stress response goes wild

The body's stress response system is usually self-limiting. Once a perceived threat has passed, hormones return to typical levels. As adrenaline and cortisol levels drop, your heart rate and blood pressure return to typical levels. Other systems go back to their regular activities.

But when stressors are always present and you always feel under attack, that fight-or-flight reaction stays turned on.

The long-term activation of the stress response system and too much exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt almost all the body's processes. This puts you at higher risk of many health problems, including:

• Depression.
• Digestive problems.
• Muscle tension and pain.
• Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke.
• Sleep problems.
• Weight gain.
• Problems with memory and focus.

That's why it's so important to learn healthy ways to cope with your life stressors.

Why you react to life stressors the way you do

Your reaction to a potentially stressful event is different from everyone else's. How you react to your life stressors is affected by such factors as:

• Genetics. The genes that control the stress response keep most people at a fairly steady emotional level, only sometimes priming the body for fight or flight. More active or less active stress responses may stem from slight differences in these genes.
• Life experiences. Strong stress reactions sometimes can be traced to traumatic events. People who were neglected or abused as children tend to be especially at risk of experiencing high stress. The same is true of airplane crash survivors, people in the military, police officers and firefighters, and people who have experienced violent crime.

You may have some friends who seem relaxed about almost everything. And you may have other friends who react strongly to the slightest stress. Most people react to life stressors somewhere between those extremes.

Learning to react to stress in a healthy way

Stressful events are facts of life. And you may not be able to change your current situation. But you can take steps to manage the impact these events have on you.

You can learn to identify what causes you stress. And you can learn how to take care of yourself physically and emotionally in the face of stressful situations.

Try these stress management tips:

• Eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise. Get plenty of sleep too.
• Do relaxation exercises such as yoga, deep breathing, massage or meditation.
• Keep a journal. Write about your thoughts or what you're grateful for in your life.
• Take time for hobbies, such as reading or listening to music. Or watch your favorite show or movie.
• Foster healthy friendships and talk with friends and family.
• Have a sense of humor. Find ways to include humor and laughter in your life, such as watching funny movies or looking at joke websites.
• Volunteer in your community.
• Organize and focus on what you need to get done at home and work and remove tasks that aren't needed.
• Seek professional counseling. A counselor can help you learn specific coping skills to manage stress.

Stay away from unhealthy ways of managing your stress, such as using alcohol, tobacco, drugs or excess food. If you're worried that your use of these products has gone up or changed due to stress, talk to your health care provider.

There are many rewards for learning to manage stress. For example, you can have peace of mind, fewer stressors and less anxiety, a better quality of life, improvement in conditions such as high blood pressure, better self-control and focus, and better relationships. And it might even lead to a longer, healthier life.

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• How stress affects your health. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/health. Accessed March 19, 2021.
• Stress effects on the body. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body. Accessed March 19, 2021.
• Lower stress: How does stress affect the body? American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/lower-stress-how-does-stress-affect-the-body. Accessed March 18, 2021.
• Stress and your health. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/good-mental-health/stress-and-your-health. Accessed March 18, 2021.
• AskMayoExpert. Stress management and resiliency (adult). Mayo Clinic. 2019.
• Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 5th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Seaward BL. Managing Stress: Skills for Self-Care, Personal Resiliency and Work-Life Balance in a Rapidly Changing World. 10th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2022.
• Olpin M, et al. Stress Management for Life. 5th ed. Cengage Learning; 2020.
• Hall-Flavin DK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. March 23, 2021.

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The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year

You have reached a page with older survey data. please see our 2024 survey results here ..

The latest annual McKinsey Global Survey  on the current state of AI confirms the explosive growth of generative AI (gen AI) tools . Less than a year after many of these tools debuted, one-third of our survey respondents say their organizations are using gen AI regularly in at least one business function. Amid recent advances, AI has risen from a topic relegated to tech employees to a focus of company leaders: nearly one-quarter of surveyed C-suite executives say they are personally using gen AI tools for work, and more than one-quarter of respondents from companies using AI say gen AI is already on their boards’ agendas. What’s more, 40 percent of respondents say their organizations will increase their investment in AI overall because of advances in gen AI. The findings show that these are still early days for managing gen AI–related risks, with less than half of respondents saying their organizations are mitigating even the risk they consider most relevant: inaccuracy.

The organizations that have already embedded AI capabilities have been the first to explore gen AI’s potential, and those seeing the most value from more traditional AI capabilities—a group we call AI high performers—are already outpacing others in their adoption of gen AI tools. 1 We define AI high performers as organizations that, according to respondents, attribute at least 20 percent of their EBIT to AI adoption.

The expected business disruption from gen AI is significant, and respondents predict meaningful changes to their workforces. They anticipate workforce cuts in certain areas and large reskilling efforts to address shifting talent needs. Yet while the use of gen AI might spur the adoption of other AI tools, we see few meaningful increases in organizations’ adoption of these technologies. The percent of organizations adopting any AI tools has held steady since 2022, and adoption remains concentrated within a small number of business functions.

Table of Contents

• It’s early days still, but use of gen AI is already widespread
• Leading companies are already ahead with gen AI
• AI-related talent needs shift, and AI’s workforce effects are expected to be substantial
• With all eyes on gen AI, AI adoption and impact remain steady

About the research

1. it’s early days still, but use of gen ai is already widespread.

The findings from the survey—which was in the field in mid-April 2023—show that, despite gen AI’s nascent public availability, experimentation with the tools  is already relatively common, and respondents expect the new capabilities to transform their industries. Gen AI has captured interest across the business population: individuals across regions, industries, and seniority levels are using gen AI for work and outside of work. Seventy-nine percent of all respondents say they’ve had at least some exposure to gen AI, either for work or outside of work, and 22 percent say they are regularly using it in their own work. While reported use is quite similar across seniority levels, it is highest among respondents working in the technology sector and those in North America.

Organizations, too, are now commonly using gen AI. One-third of all respondents say their organizations are already regularly using generative AI in at least one function—meaning that 60 percent of organizations with reported AI adoption are using gen AI. What’s more, 40 percent of those reporting AI adoption at their organizations say their companies expect to invest more in AI overall thanks to generative AI, and 28 percent say generative AI use is already on their board’s agenda. The most commonly reported business functions using these newer tools are the same as those in which AI use is most common overall: marketing and sales, product and service development, and service operations, such as customer care and back-office support. This suggests that organizations are pursuing these new tools where the most value is. In our previous research , these three areas, along with software engineering, showed the potential to deliver about 75 percent of the total annual value from generative AI use cases.

In these early days, expectations for gen AI’s impact are high : three-quarters of all respondents expect gen AI to cause significant or disruptive change in the nature of their industry’s competition in the next three years. Survey respondents working in the technology and financial-services industries are the most likely to expect disruptive change from gen AI. Our previous research shows  that, while all industries are indeed likely to see some degree of disruption, the level of impact is likely to vary. 2 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. Industries relying most heavily on knowledge work are likely to see more disruption—and potentially reap more value. While our estimates suggest that tech companies, unsurprisingly, are poised to see the highest impact from gen AI—adding value equivalent to as much as 9 percent of global industry revenue—knowledge-based industries such as banking (up to 5 percent), pharmaceuticals and medical products (also up to 5 percent), and education (up to 4 percent) could experience significant effects as well. By contrast, manufacturing-based industries, such as aerospace, automotives, and advanced electronics, could experience less disruptive effects. This stands in contrast to the impact of previous technology waves that affected manufacturing the most and is due to gen AI’s strengths in language-based activities, as opposed to those requiring physical labor.

Responses show many organizations not yet addressing potential risks from gen AI

According to the survey, few companies seem fully prepared for the widespread use of gen AI—or the business risks these tools may bring. Just 21 percent of respondents reporting AI adoption say their organizations have established policies governing employees’ use of gen AI technologies in their work. And when we asked specifically about the risks of adopting gen AI, few respondents say their companies are mitigating the most commonly cited risk with gen AI: inaccuracy. Respondents cite inaccuracy more frequently than both cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, which were the most common risks from AI overall in previous surveys. Just 32 percent say they’re mitigating inaccuracy, a smaller percentage than the 38 percent who say they mitigate cybersecurity risks. Interestingly, this figure is significantly lower than the percentage of respondents who reported mitigating AI-related cybersecurity last year (51 percent). Overall, much as we’ve seen in previous years, most respondents say their organizations are not addressing AI-related risks.

2. Leading companies are already ahead with gen AI

The survey results show that AI high performers—that is, organizations where respondents say at least 20 percent of EBIT in 2022 was attributable to AI use—are going all in on artificial intelligence, both with gen AI and more traditional AI capabilities. These organizations that achieve significant value from AI are already using gen AI in more business functions than other organizations do, especially in product and service development and risk and supply chain management. When looking at all AI capabilities—including more traditional machine learning capabilities, robotic process automation, and chatbots—AI high performers also are much more likely than others to use AI in product and service development, for uses such as product-development-cycle optimization, adding new features to existing products, and creating new AI-based products. These organizations also are using AI more often than other organizations in risk modeling and for uses within HR such as performance management and organization design and workforce deployment optimization.

AI high performers are much more likely than others to use AI in product and service development.

Another difference from their peers: high performers’ gen AI efforts are less oriented toward cost reduction, which is a top priority at other organizations. Respondents from AI high performers are twice as likely as others to say their organizations’ top objective for gen AI is to create entirely new businesses or sources of revenue—and they’re most likely to cite the increase in the value of existing offerings through new AI-based features.

As we’ve seen in previous years , these high-performing organizations invest much more than others in AI: respondents from AI high performers are more than five times more likely than others to say they spend more than 20 percent of their digital budgets on AI. They also use AI capabilities more broadly throughout the organization. Respondents from high performers are much more likely than others to say that their organizations have adopted AI in four or more business functions and that they have embedded a higher number of AI capabilities. For example, respondents from high performers more often report embedding knowledge graphs in at least one product or business function process, in addition to gen AI and related natural-language capabilities.

While AI high performers are not immune to the challenges of capturing value from AI, the results suggest that the difficulties they face reflect their relative AI maturity, while others struggle with the more foundational, strategic elements of AI adoption. Respondents at AI high performers most often point to models and tools, such as monitoring model performance in production and retraining models as needed over time, as their top challenge. By comparison, other respondents cite strategy issues, such as setting a clearly defined AI vision that is linked with business value or finding sufficient resources.

The findings offer further evidence that even high performers haven’t mastered best practices regarding AI adoption, such as machine-learning-operations (MLOps) approaches, though they are much more likely than others to do so. For example, just 35 percent of respondents at AI high performers report that where possible, their organizations assemble existing components, rather than reinvent them, but that’s a much larger share than the 19 percent of respondents from other organizations who report that practice.

Many specialized MLOps technologies and practices  may be needed to adopt some of the more transformative uses cases that gen AI applications can deliver—and do so as safely as possible. Live-model operations is one such area, where monitoring systems and setting up instant alerts to enable rapid issue resolution can keep gen AI systems in check. High performers stand out in this respect but have room to grow: one-quarter of respondents from these organizations say their entire system is monitored and equipped with instant alerts, compared with just 12 percent of other respondents.

3. AI-related talent needs shift, and AI’s workforce effects are expected to be substantial

Our latest survey results show changes in the roles that organizations are filling to support their AI ambitions. In the past year, organizations using AI most often hired data engineers, machine learning engineers, and Al data scientists—all roles that respondents commonly reported hiring in the previous survey. But a much smaller share of respondents report hiring AI-related-software engineers—the most-hired role last year—than in the previous survey (28 percent in the latest survey, down from 39 percent). Roles in prompt engineering have recently emerged, as the need for that skill set rises alongside gen AI adoption, with 7 percent of respondents whose organizations have adopted AI reporting those hires in the past year.

The findings suggest that hiring for AI-related roles remains a challenge but has become somewhat easier over the past year, which could reflect the spate of layoffs at technology companies from late 2022 through the first half of 2023. Smaller shares of respondents than in the previous survey report difficulty hiring for roles such as AI data scientists, data engineers, and data-visualization specialists, though responses suggest that hiring machine learning engineers and AI product owners remains as much of a challenge as in the previous year.

Looking ahead to the next three years, respondents predict that the adoption of AI will reshape many roles in the workforce. Generally, they expect more employees to be reskilled than to be separated. Nearly four in ten respondents reporting AI adoption expect more than 20 percent of their companies’ workforces will be reskilled, whereas 8 percent of respondents say the size of their workforces will decrease by more than 20 percent.

Looking specifically at gen AI’s predicted impact, service operations is the only function in which most respondents expect to see a decrease in workforce size at their organizations. This finding generally aligns with what our recent research  suggests: while the emergence of gen AI increased our estimate of the percentage of worker activities that could be automated (60 to 70 percent, up from 50 percent), this doesn’t necessarily translate into the automation of an entire role.

AI high performers are expected to conduct much higher levels of reskilling than other companies are. Respondents at these organizations are over three times more likely than others to say their organizations will reskill more than 30 percent of their workforces over the next three years as a result of AI adoption.

4. With all eyes on gen AI, AI adoption and impact remain steady

While the use of gen AI tools is spreading rapidly, the survey data doesn’t show that these newer tools are propelling organizations’ overall AI adoption. The share of organizations that have adopted AI overall remains steady, at least for the moment, with 55 percent of respondents reporting that their organizations have adopted AI. Less than a third of respondents continue to say that their organizations have adopted AI in more than one business function, suggesting that AI use remains limited in scope. Product and service development and service operations continue to be the two business functions in which respondents most often report AI adoption, as was true in the previous four surveys. And overall, just 23 percent of respondents say at least 5 percent of their organizations’ EBIT last year was attributable to their use of AI—essentially flat with the previous survey—suggesting there is much more room to capture value.

Organizations continue to see returns in the business areas in which they are using AI, and they plan to increase investment in the years ahead. We see a majority of respondents reporting AI-related revenue increases within each business function using AI. And looking ahead, more than two-thirds expect their organizations to increase their AI investment over the next three years.

The online survey was in the field April 11 to 21, 2023, and garnered responses from 1,684 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 913 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one function and were asked questions about their organizations’ AI use. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

The survey content and analysis were developed by Michael Chui , a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute and a partner in McKinsey’s Bay Area office, where Lareina Yee is a senior partner; Bryce Hall , an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office; and senior partners Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky , global leaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, based in the Chicago and London offices, respectively.

They wish to thank Shivani Gupta, Abhisek Jena, Begum Ortaoglu, Barr Seitz, and Li Zhang for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, an editor in the Atlanta office.

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