Bloom's Taxonomy of Thinking Skills and Examples of Question Words that Meet the Thinking Skill Levels

Bloom's Thinking Skiil Level
Description & Examples
Appropriate "Question" Words

Knowledge

Remembering previously learned information; recall of specific facts, methods and procedures, basic concepts and principles

name, outline, reproduce, select, state, define, describe, label, list, match

Comprehension

Grasp the meaning of material; interpreting verbal material or charts and graphs, predict future events, justify methods and procedures

convert, distinguish, explain, extend, generalize, paraphrase, summarize, defend, predict infer, give examples, rewrite, chart, graph

Application

Ability to use learned information in new and concrete situations; apply theory to practical situations, construct charts and graphs, demonstrate correct usage of methods and procedures

change, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate, solve, compute, show, predict, prepare, produce, relate, use

Analysis

Break down material into ists component parts; recognize unstated assumptions or fallacies in reasoning, distinguish between fact and inference, evaluate relevancy of data, analyze the organizational structure of a work (art, music, writing, etc.)

break down, differentiate, distinguish, illustrate, pooint out, separate, diagram, discriminate, identify, infer, outline, relate, select, subdivide, classify, abridge, design

Synthesis

The ability to put parts together to form a new whole; write a well organized theme, give a well organized speech, write a creative piece (short story, poem, music), propose a plan for experimentation, integrate information from different areas of knowledge into a plan to solve a problem, formulate a new scheme for classifying (objects, event, or ideas)

categorize, combine, create, explain, modify, plan, reconstruct, rewrite, tell, devise, compose, design, generate, organize, originate, rearrange, revise, summarize, write

Evaluation

The ability to judge material (text, music, art, etc.) for a given purpose; judge the consistency of written materail, judge the adequacy with which conclusions are supported by data, judge the value of a work (art, music, writing) by use of internal criteria or external standards of excellence

appraise, compare, conclude, contrast, critique, interpret, evaluate, justify, support, criticize, document, parallel