Skip to content

Bloom Level Ladder

Run the Bloom Level Ladder MicroSim Fullscreen
Edit in the p5.js Editor

About This MicroSim

Bloom's 2001 Taxonomy names six levels of thinking, from Remember at the bottom to Create at the top. This ladder puts each level on its own rung. For every level it gives a one-line definition, the book's eight canonical Bloom verbs, one learning outcome from this course's own course description, and one kind of MicroSim interaction that suits the level. The compare mode makes a subtle point visible: "compare" and "contrast" appear at both Understand and Analyze, so a verb alone cannot settle an objective's level.

Learning objective: The learner will summarize what each of the six Bloom levels asks of a learner and name one kind of MicroSim interaction that suits it.

Bloom level: Understand. Bloom verb: summarize.

How to Use

  1. Hover over a rung to see the level's one-line definition.
  2. Click a rung. The panel lists its eight verbs, an example outcome from the course description, and an interaction pattern that suits the level.
  3. Check Show verbs on bars to print every level's verbs on its rung so you can scan the whole ladder at once.
  4. Check Compare two levels and click two rungs. Their verb lists appear side by side, and verbs that appear in both lists are highlighted in yellow. Try Understand and Analyze.
  5. Press Random level quiz. A verb appears in the panel; click the rung you think it belongs to. The quiz score counts your correct answers.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

1
2
3
4
<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/microsims/sims/bloom-level-ladder/main.html"
        height="522px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Audience

Teachers, instructional designers and learning-technology developers who write or classify learning objectives (college undergraduate or professional development).

Duration

10 to 15 minutes.

Prerequisites

  • The definition of a learning objective (Chapter 3)
  • A general idea of what a MicroSim interaction is (Chapter 1)

Activities

  1. Climb the ladder (4 min): Learners click each rung from Remember to Create and, for each, write one sentence in their own words saying what the level asks of a learner.
  2. Match patterns (3 min): Without looking, learners name an interaction pattern for three levels, then check their answers in the panel.
  3. Find the overlap (3 min): In compare mode, learners compare Understand with Analyze and explain why a shared verb does not decide the level.
  4. Quiz (3 min): Each learner answers ten random-verb questions and records the verbs they missed.

Assessment

  • The learner writes a one-sentence summary for each of the six levels that matches the level's definition.
  • For each level, the learner names one suitable MicroSim interaction pattern, such as flash cards for Remember or a rubric-rating activity for Evaluate.

References

  1. Chapter 3: Learning Objectives and Bloom's Taxonomy - the six levels, the Bloom verb table and interaction patterns.
  2. Bloom's taxonomy - Wikipedia overview of the 1956 taxonomy and its 2001 revision.
  3. p5.js reference: createDiv() - the DOM element used for the accessible details panel.