to read more about the revised Bloom's taxonomy (PDF)

Terminology Changes
Basically, Bloom’s six major categories were changed from noun to verb forms. Additionally, the
lowest level of the original, knowledge was renamed and became remembering. Finally,
comprehension and synthesis were changed as understanding and creating and the order of the
top two cognitive process categories were interchanged. Comparison images appear below.
Separate dimension
(Knowledge dimension)
Knowledge
Comprehension
Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Old version
Revised structure
The new terms are defined as:
• Remember : Retrieving, recognizing and recalling relevant knowledge from long term
memory
• Understand: Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through
interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining
• Apply: Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing
• Analyze: Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to
one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing,
and attributing.
• Evaluate: making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and
critiquing.
• Create: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole: reorganizing
elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.
(Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 67 ‐68)

Structural changes
Bloom’s original cognitive taxonomy was a one‐ dimensional form. With the addition of
products, the revised Bloom’s taxonomy takes the form of a two‐dimensional table. One of the
dimensions identifies the Knowledge Dimension (or the kind of knowledge to be learned) while
the second identifies the Cognitive Process Dimension (or the process used to learn). As
represented on the grid below, the intersection of the knowledge and cognitive process
categories form twenty‐four separate cells.
The Knowledge Dimension on the left side is comprised of four levels that are defined as
Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, and Meta‐Cognitive. Process Dimension across the top of the
grid consists of six levels that are defined as Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate,
and Create. Each level of both dimensions of the table is subdivided.
THE
KNOWLEDGE
DIMENSION
THE COGNITIVE PROCESS DIMENSION
1.REME
M BER
2.UNDER
STAND
3.APPLY 4.ANALYZE 5.EVALUATE 6.CREATE
A. FACTUAL
KNOWLEDGE
B. CONCEPTUAL
KNOWLEDGE
C. PROCEDURAL
KNOWLEDGE
D. META-
COGNITIVE
KNOWLEDGE
Table 4.1: The taxonomy table (from Anderson et al 2001)

Knowledge Dimension
In the taxonomy table the knowledge Dimension is described as Factual, Conceptual,
Procedural, and Meta cognitive as four general types of knowledge Factual and Conceptual
knowledge are most similar in that they involve the knowledge of “what”’ although conceptual
knowledge is a deeper, more organized, integrated, and systematic knowledge than just
knowledge of terminology and isolated facts. Procedural knowledge is the knowledge of “how”
to do something. These three categories were all represented in the original Taxonomy.
Reflecting recent cognitive science and cognitive psychological research on the importance of
Meta cognition, Anderson et al. added a fourth category: meta cognitive knowledge. Meta
cognitive knowledge reflects recent research on how students’ knowledge about their own
cognition and control of their own cognition play an important role in learning (Bransford‐
Brown & Cocking 1999: Sternberg 1985: Zimmerman & Schunk 1998, cited in Anderson et al,
2001)
Meta‐ Cognitive knowledge does not have the same status as the other three types of
knowledge. These three types of knowledge were developed through consensus within a
scientific or disciplinary community. This is clearly not the case with meta cognitive knowledge
which is based on an individual’s own self awareness and the knowledge base has been
developed within different communities (Anderson et al., 2000)
Four types of knowledge are defined as.
A. FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE : The basic elements students must know to be acquainted
with a discipline or solve problems in it.
Consists of
• Knowledge of terminology
• Knowledge of specific details and elements
B. CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE : The inter‐relationships among the basic elements within a
larger structure that enable them to function together
Consists of
• Knowledge of classifications and categories
• Knowledge of principles and generalizations
• Knowledge of theories, models, and structures

C. PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE : How to do something, methods of inquiry, and criteria for
using skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods
Consists of
• Knowledge of subject‐ specific skills and
algorithms
• Knowledge of subject‐ specific techniques and
methods
• Knowledge of criteria for determining when to
use appropriate procedures
D. METACOGNITIVE KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness
and knowledge of one’s own cognition consists of
Consists of
• Strategic knowledge
• Knowledge about cognitive tasks, including
appropriate contextual and conditional
knowledge
• Self‐ Knowledge
How can Bloom’s Taxonomy be used?
The taxonomy table makes teachers aware of the possibility and desirability of including more
complex cognitive process categories, which promote critical thinking, problem solving and
higher‐Level thinking in classroom instruction and assessment. It points to the necessity of
considering complex cognitive processes in terms of knowledge. It provides an easy way for
teachers to use activities to infer objectives. If a teacher knows that a specific objective is of the
form remember factual knowledge, understand conceptual knowledge, or apply procedural
knowledge, then the teacher may make some assumptions about how to teach and assess that
learning outcome. It will help to develop assessment tasks for learning outcomes that include
the types of knowledge in terms of complex cognitive process.

The knowledge and cognitive process dimensions intersect in the cells of the taxonomy table.
Learning outcomes either explicitly or implicitly include both knowledge and cognitive
processes that can be classified in the taxonomy framework. Learning outcomes can be placed
in the cells, and placing a learning outcome into the framework increases the understanding of
that learning outcome. Different types of learning outcomes require different instructional
approaches, that is, different learning activities and different teacher and pupil roles. Classifying
a particular learning outcome within the framework, therefore, helps teachers to systematically
plan a way of effectively facilitating pupil’s learning of that learning outcome. Different types of
learning outcomes (learning outcomes in the different cells of the table) require different
approaches to assessment. (Anderson et al 2001)