Carnegie Mellon University

Eberly Center

Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation

Bloom’s Taxonomy

This taxonomy was originally created by Benjamin Bloom in 1956 to categorize a continuum of educational objectives. These objectives are described in terms of student-centered actions that represent the kind of knowledge and intellectual engagement we want our students to demonstrate. The updated version by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001) represents the incorporation of new knowledge and thought into the original framework, which remains as relevant today as when it was created.

Descriptions of the Knowledge and Cognitive Processing Dimensions (pdf)

This document consists of two charts: (4.1) represents the knowledge dimension and moves from concrete to abstract. The second chart (5.1) denotes the cognitive processing dimension, moving from simple to complex.

Bloom’s Table (pdf)

This document is a blank table with the categories for Bloom’s taxonomy marked on each axis. You can use it as you work to define your educational objectives for a course.

Examples of activities (pdf) that are associated with Bloom’s cognitive processing dimension categories

This chart contains examples of cognitive activities, expressed as verbs (e.g., list, classify, describe, explain, judge, design) that are associated with the different categories. This list is helpful as you develop your objectives, instructional activities, and assessments.