Bloom, Benjamin (1913-1999), an American educational theorist, became known for his classification system of educational objectives. This system is known as Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Bloom’s classification system grew out of his work with the University of Chicago’s Board of Examinations. The board’s responsibilities included developing tests to measure whether students had mastered the requirements for a degree. Bloom and other educational psychologists on the board began to discuss what knowledge an undergraduate student should possess upon graduation. Over time, this process helped Bloom to develop a hierarchical classification system that allowed educators to organize the objectives they had for their students.
Bloom’s Taxonomy divides knowledge into three categories he called domains: (1) cognitive, which consists of intellectual knowledge and the understanding of concepts; (2) affective, which covers the development and growth of personal and emotional maturity; and (3) psychomotor, which includes the development of physical abilities. Bloom created this taxonomy as a structure to help teachers categorize test questions and to determine the level of understanding that a student possesses. Since its initial publication in 1956, Bloom’s Taxonomy has been revised in a variety of ways. In a 2001 revision, for example, changes were made to the taxonomy’s terminology, structure, and emphasis to bring them in line with current understanding of how children learn.
Benjamin Samuel Bloom was born on Feb. 21, 1913, in Lansford, Pennsylvania. He received a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1935 and his Ph.D. in education from the University of Chicago in 1942. Bloom served as an examiner at the University of Chicago from 1940 to 1959, and he taught for the university’s education department from the 1940’s to the 1980’s. His major works include Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I, The Cognitive Domain (1956); Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook II, The Affective Domain (1964); and Developing Talent in Young People (1985). Bloom died in Chicago on Sept. 13, 1999.
