Learn exactly what Bloom’s Taxonomy is, how it’s changed and how it can support better learning outcomes.
L&D teams are under increasing pressure to deliver training programs that not only transfer knowledge but also foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation.
In fact, a recent survey by LinkedIn Learning shows that 94% of employees would stay longer at a company that invests in their professional development.
This underscores the vital role of effective training in retaining top talent.
To meet these growing expectations, L&D professionals are turning to proven frameworks like Bloom’s Taxonomy to create impactful, targeted, and measurable learning experiences.
By using this framework, L&D teams can design training that progresses from foundational skills to higher-order thinking, ensuring that employees don’t just memorise information but apply it meaningfully in their roles.
In this blog we’ll go through:
- What Bloom’s Taxonomy is and how it changed in 2001
- What Bloom’s Taxonomy levels mean and what they look like in practice
- Some Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs
- Plus, why the taxonomy is vital for L&D professionals
Let’s get started.
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework that attempts to classify learning objectives into different levels of complexity.
This taxonomy was created by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1956.
Nowadays, the framework is often depicted as a pyramid.
At the base of the pyramid is Knowledge, the first level of learning. To move up a level, you need to build off of the previous level, so you can only move up one step at a time.
In the context of employee learning and development, Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used to guide training principles.
It enforces the idea that critical thinking will create better learning retention than simple memorisation.
Original Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956)
The original taxonomy was first described in 1956 in the book Taxonomy of Educational Objectives by American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and coauthors Max Englehart, Edward Furst, Walter Hill, and David Krathwohl.
The aim was to create common vocabulary for teachers to discuss learning objectives.
Though it was originally designed for teachers, it has since been embraced by corporate education.
Bloom’s original taxonomy consists of the following six levels (from lowest to highest):
- Knowledge – Recalling information, facts, or concepts (e.g., “Define”, “List”).
- Comprehension – Understanding the meaning of the information (e.g., “Explain”, “Summarise”).
- Application – Using knowledge in new situations (e.g., “Apply”, “Demonstrate”).
- Analysis – Breaking down information into parts to understand its structure (e.g., “Differentiate”, “Analyse”).
- Synthesis – Combining elements to form a new whole or propose alternative solutions (e.g., “Design”, “Construct”).
- Evaluation – Judging the value or effectiveness based on criteria or standards (e.g., “Evaluate”, “Critique”).
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2001)
In 2001, a group of educators led by Lorin Anderson, a former student of Bloom, revised the taxonomy.
They made some key changes, such as renaming and reordering some levels to better reflect active learning.
The revised taxonomy emphasises action verbs to represent the process of learning.
The six levels in the revised taxonomy (in ascending order) are:
- Remembering – Recalling facts, terms, and basic concepts (e.g., “List”, “Recall”).
- Understanding – Explaining ideas or concepts (e.g., “Describe”, “Interpret”).
- Applying – Using information in new contexts (e.g., “Implement”, “Solve”).
- Analysing – Breaking down information to examine relationships or patterns (e.g., “Differentiate”, “Organise”).
- Evaluating – Making judgments and justifying decisions (e.g., “Assess”, “Critique”).
- Creating – Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things (e.g., “Design”, “Construct”).
Bloom’s Taxonomy levels
Let’s look at each taxonomy level from the revised version (2001). In this version of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the levels are arranged in ascending order to promote a progression from foundational to higher-order thinking skills.
When reading each, imagine they’re prefaced by the phrase, ‘The employee is able to…’
This will help you better visualise the impact of each level.
1. Remembering
Remembering is simply the ability to recall or recognise facts, terms, basic concepts, or answers without necessarily understanding what they mean.
This means the employee can accurately:
- List
- Define
- Identify
- Name
- Recite
You could test this knowledge by asking the employee to:
- List the steps in a business process
- Identify the main stakeholders
- Recall actions needed when an event occurs
This foundational level is essential because it enables students to memorise basic knowledge that is needed for deeper understanding and analysis.
2. Understanding
Understansding is simply the ability to grasp the meaning of information by interpreting, summarising, comparing, or explaining ideas in one’s own words.
This means the employee can:
- Summarise
- Describe
- Explain
- Classify
- Interpret
You could test this level of knowledge by asking the employee to:
- Explain how a key process works
- Summarize the main idea of learning content
- Describe the key points of a set process
At this level, students move beyond rote memorisation to comprehend the material, making it easier to engage with it in more complex ways.
3. Applying
Applying knowledge is the ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations, or apply rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, or theories.
This means the employee should be able to:
- Implement
- Use
- Execute
This level is about transferring knowledge to new situations, allowing students to see how the concepts they’ve learned can function in practical scenarios.
4. Analysing
This level is the ability to break down information into parts to explore relationships and connections.
This includes understanding how parts relate to an overall structure or purpose.
Some key skills your employee should have at this level would include:
- Comparing
- Deconstructing
- Attributing
To test this level of knowledge, you could ask them to:
- Analyse the structure of an argument in an essay
- Differentiate between two similar scientific processes
- Organise a sequence of events to understand cause and effect
At this stage, students start examining complex ideas, identifying patterns, and finding connections within the information, which enhances critical thinking.
5. Evaluating
At this level, your employee should be able to make judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.
Evaluation involves assessing the validity or quality of ideas, proposals, and materials.
Some key skills would include:
- Judging
- Testing
- Recommending
At this level, students use their judgement to assess the value or reliability of information or ideas, often supporting their opinions with evidence and standards.
6. Creating
Here, your employee should have the ability to put elements together to form a new, coherent whole or to make an original product.
It involves reorganising information, generating ideas, and planning or producing something new.
Your employee should have the skills to:
- Design a new experiment to test a hypothesis
- Create an original piece of work relating to learned content
- Develop a business proposal or marketing plan
Creating is the highest level of cognitive skill in Bloom’s revised taxonomy.
Here, students synthesise knowledge and skills from various areas to generate new ideas, solutions, or products, representing a deep engagement with the material and a high level of mastery.
Bloom’s Taxonomy verbs to try
Here is a table of action verbs associated with each level of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2001).
These verbs can guide the creation of learning objectives, assessments, and training activities for each cognitive level.
| Level | Description | Action Verbs |
| Remembering | Recall facts, terms, and basic concepts. | Define, List, Recall, Recognize, Identify, Describe, Name, Retrieve, Memorize, Locate, Label |
| Understanding | Explain ideas or concepts in one’s own words. | Explain, Summarize, Interpret, Paraphrase, Classify, Describe, Compare, Discuss, Exemplify, Infer |
| Applying | Use information in new situations. | Apply, Demonstrate, Use, Execute, Implement, Carry out, Perform, Solve, Illustrate, Operate |
| Analyzing | Break down information into components. | Analyze, Differentiate, Organize, Attribute, Deconstruct, Outline, Compare, Contrast, Relate, Examine |
| Evaluating | Make judgments based on criteria and standards. | Evaluate, Judge, Critique, Test, Defend, Appraise, Argue, Support, Validate, Assess, Recommend |
| Creating | Produce new or original work. | Create, Design, Develop, Construct, Plan, Generate, Formulate, Invent, Compose, Synthesize, Propose |
These verbs help create learning objectives that are specific to each cognitive level, ensuring that training activities align with the complexity of learning desired.
Why Bloom’s Taxonomy is beneficial for L&D professionals
Bloom’s Taxonomy is essential because it provides a structured framework to design training programs, develop curriculum, and assess employee learning outcomes.
By aligning training objectives with the taxonomy’s levels, you can create more effective and targeted learning experiences that go beyond just transferring information.
Here’s a few more reasons why Bloom’s Taxonomy is especially valuable in L&D:
1. Guides the creation of learning objectives
Bloom’s Taxonomy helps L&D professionals define clear, measurable learning objectives for training programs.
By identifying the specific cognitive level they want employees to achieve, L&D teams can structure learning goals around different levels, such as “understanding company policies” (Understanding) or “applying customer service techniques” (Applying).
Each level in the taxonomy provides specific action verbs (like “explain,” “analyse,” “design”), helping professionals articulate objectives that match desired learning outcomes.
2. Supports the development of relevant training materials
The taxonomy offers a roadmap for developing training materials that move beyond rote memorisation to encourage practical application, problem-solving, and critical thinking.
By focusing on the progression from Remembering to Creating, L&D professionals can build materials that gradually increase in complexity, ensuring employees gain not just knowledge but also practical skills.
3. Helps structure assessments and evaluations
Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a framework for assessing learning outcomes at various cognitive levels.
L&D professionals can design assessments that test not just recall, but deeper understanding and practical application.
For example, knowledge checks might include:
- Understanding: Questions that ask learners to explain concepts.
- Applying: Scenarios requiring learners to demonstrate skills in new contexts.
- Evaluating: Challenges that ask learners to assess different approaches.
This multi-level assessment approach helps measure the full scope of learning and competency rather than just surface-level understanding.
4. Promotes transfer of learning to the workplace
Bloom’s Taxonomy encourages learning experiences that are applicable in real-world scenarios.
By moving through the levels from basic understanding to practical application and analysis,
L&D professionals can ensure that employees not only know a concept but can also use it in their daily tasks.
For instance, training on leadership skills might include modules on “Remembering” company leadership principles, “Applying” them in hypothetical situations, and “Creating” action plans for team improvement, which helps ensure transfer from training to job performance.
Wrapping up
When you’re creating learning content for your LMS, it’s vital that you consider Bloom’s taxonomy.
Maybe you don’t need to take it so literally, but it’s important to understand that your learners need to go beyond just memorising content.
It’s why repeating learning is so important, and why making learners apply their new knowledge is vital.
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FAQs
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy in simple terms?
Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework used to classify educational learning objectives into levels of complexity.
What are the 6 levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
I. Knowledge. Remembering information.
II. Comprehension. Explaining the meaning of information.
III. Application. Using abstractions in concrete situations.
IV. Analysis. Breaking down a whole into component parts.
V. Synthesis. Putting parts together to form a new and integrated whole.
VI. Evaluation.
What is the main focus of Bloom’s Taxonomy?
The goal of an educator’s using Bloom’s taxonomy is to encourage higher-order thought in their students by building up from lower-level cognitive skills. Start from the bottom and build up.