Blooms Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational objectives was developed in 1956 and was named after Benjamin Bloom. It was created to classify learning objectives for teachers and students while creating a more holistic approach to education. “This taxonomy has been used extensively by educators in allied health fields, including nursing, to structure lesson plans and outcome testing” (Larkin & Burton, 2008, p. 394). This is commonly used in the nursing field to help create learning tools for educational purposes. “Educators can facilitate knowledge transfer by developing instructional designs that incorporate subject content and cognitive processes related to the use of the subject content” (Contin, 2001, p. 321). Blooms taxonomy provides a framework for meeting this particular need. Nurses encounter patient teaching on a daily basis.

Whether they are teaching a patient or family member, it is important to transfer this education correctly and in a way that others will understand. “Blooms Taxonomy has been a cornerstone for the development of objectives in academe for over a half of a century. The revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is a tool that can be used by nurses who educate patients to ensure the education session is focus, clear, has standards for evaluation, and is well documented” (Krau, 2011, p. 299). The importance of Bloom’s Taxonomy for teacher’s or nurses is that it can serve to remind us of what we’re asking the learner or patient to do and why they are doing it.

Blooms taxonomy consists of a hierarchy of three domains that divide educational objectives. These domains are cognitive, affective and psychomotor. “Anderson and Krathwohl demonstrated the utility of the revised taxonomy to achieve congruence among intended learning, instructional activities, and assessment methods while teaching diagnostic reasoning to patients with myocardial infarction” (Larkin & Burton, 2008, p. 394). Cognitive Domain

​Within the cognitive domain, learners use long-term memory to retrieve relevant information. In nursing for example, learners may recognize certain symptoms of medication side effects. They need to understand this information and be able to explain and demonstrate how it works. Learners will be able to solve future problems by applying their knowledge. Learners will be able to evaluate the outcome of patient teaching by seeing if the objectives were met and be able to create individual teaching plans to fit a particular situation. “At this- the highest level of Blooms Taxonomy, learners organize or put elements together to form a new structure or pattern. They can then modify concepts to create an individual teaching plan to fit the particular patient situation” (University of Phoenix, 2014). Affective Domain

​In the affective domain, certain aspects are addressed including how people react and deal with things emotionally. Learners are expected to receive information by being attentive and listening carefully. Learners are also expected to participate in discussions by asking questions and providing feedback. It is important for learners to value and accept information given to them. Organization is a key concept for learners. Prioritizing responsibilities and using time management is an example frequently used in the nursing field. Internalizing or utilizing a value system is important for learners to be self-reliant. “Learners are expected to have a value system that informs their behavior. They are consistent in this system, and predictable outcomes result from implementing the behavior. Learners are more self-reliant at this point and committed to embodying these values” (University of Phoenix, 2014). Psychomotor Domain

​The psychomotor domain helps to address how people use their motor skills in order to physically move. Physical movement, coordination, and engaging in a task are skills that are addressed. Learners use imitation to carry out certain behaviors. An example in nursing would be demonstrating appropriate lifting techniques to perform activities of daily living. Learners need to follow instructions to carry out tasks. Learners must also be precise to be able to perform responsibilities and articulate information. An example of articulation would be when a diabetic patient adjusts the amount of desired insulin according to the patient’s blood sugar reading. The use of articulation helps to manage their chronic disease.

​Bloom’s Taxonomy of Education and the three domains help nurses provide better care for patients through education and learning while preventing patient complications. Patient teaching is a vital aspect of the nursing process. Without proper patient teaching errors may occur and possible harm to the patient. The process of listening, providing feedback, and encouraging questions are all crucial strategies in education. In order for teaching to be effective it is necessary to have the patient or learner carry out the desired tasks and return demonstrate. This allows the teacher to evaluate whether the information was applied correctly for the particular situation. Blooms Taxonomy assists nurses in their ability to evaluate patient scenarios. This framework also allows the patients or learners to have a better understanding of their patient teaching and plan of care.

References

Contin, J. (2011, July). The revised Bloom’s taxonomy: implications for educating nurses. Pubmed.gov, 42(7), 321-327. ncbl.nlm.nih.gov Krau, S. (2011, September). Creating educational objectives for patient education using the new bloom’s taxonomy. Nursing Clinics of North America, 46(3), 299-312. theclinics.com Larkin, B. G., & Burton, K. J. (2008, Septmber). Evaluating a case study using Bloom’s ​taxonomy of education. AORN Journal, 88(3), 390-402. EBSCOhost database. University of Phoenix. (2014). Blooms Taxonomy. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, NUR427 website.