Bloom, B.S. Benjamin S. Bloom,

Bloom, B.S. Benjamin S. Bloom, Educational Theorist Benjamin S. Bloom, an educational theorist and creator of the "Original Taxonomy of learning held beliefs concerning education that are considered priceless by some and are considered conflicting by others. The purpose of this work is to review the main ideas of Bloom's theories, identify the strengths and weaknesses in the theories and explore ways that the research can be applied to the classroom. Benjamin S. Bloom was an educator professor and was well-known for his theory of Taxonomy of Learning.

He demonstrated that early life experiences greatly affected learning and was key in the establishment of the Head Start program. Bloom's taxonomy is a framework for classification of what students are expected to learn from instruction. It was introduced by Benjamin S. Bloom for the purpose of labor reduction in preparation of annually given comprehensive exams. Bloom believed the taxonomy could serve as a common language about learning goals in facilitation of communication across the board in the educational field.

The taxonomy was the basis for determination of standards in a particular course of curriculum and the means for making a determination of educational objectives, activities and assessments in a unit or course. Main Ideas of Bloom: According to the beliefs of Bloom there is more than one type of learning. The three categories in learning identified by Bloom in education are those of: 1. Cognitive: 'knowledge' or mental skills 2. Affective: 'attitude' growth in feelings/emotions 3. Psychomotor 'manual' physical skills.

Blooms taxonomy of learning behaviors is in actuality goals that are set for the learning processes. The Cognitive category is that which involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills inclusive of recalling prior knowledge. There are six sections within the category of cognitive learning starting from the simplest moving to the most complex or progressing according to level of difficulty.

Those six categories are Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluation Knowledge is the recall of data, Comprehension is the understanding of the meaning and interpretation of whatever is being studied, Application is the use of a newly learned concept, Analysis is the distinguishment between facts and what is only inferred, Synthesis is the placing together of pieces in creating a whole, and Evaluation is making of judgments in terms of the ideas expressed in the material being studied.

The Affective category is concerned with the processing of emotional aspects and contains five categories as follows: Receiving phenomena: This is the aspect of "listening." Responding to phenomena: Active participation or responding willingly and satisfactorily to that which is being received. Valuing: A range of acceptance that is placed on the information being received. Organization: this is the organizing of the values by contrasting differing values. Internalizing Values: This has to do with the learners value system and how the learner assigns value.

The Psychomotor category includes physical aspects of movement, as well as coordination in movement. There were not subcategories in the Psychomotor development category. Critics of Bloom: There are those critics who claim that Bloom's taxonomy lacks comprehensiveness in certain areas and other claim that it is altogether too narrow as it has not included all of the necessary learning outcomes that are expected in schools.

Bloom maintains that lack of physical as well as mental growth early in life is a permanent loss, but Tanner (1963) 'found evidence that even when physical growth is severely student for a time by malnutrition or illness, the organism has a target-seeking tendency to return to its natural growth curve. In a similar analysis Krogman (1962) presented evidence that heredity is the 'great master' in determining physical growth.

Furthermore, Arthur Jensen (1969) pointed out flaws of Blooms theory claiming that Blooms' method of estimating mental growth is applied to physical growth." (Biehler 1975) Jerome Kagan at a 1973 convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science presented evidence that leads to questions of Bloom's theory. Classroom Application of Bloom's Theory: Blooms theory may be used in the classroom for curriculum and test construction as well as for.