Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Introduction

    The overall purpose of process of education is to bring about worth-while changes in the behavior pattern of pupils. Instructional objectives have the directive role to play in this process. For teaching to result worth-while behavior changes, a clear understanding of educational objectives is essential. Since modern evaluation is all objective based, a comprehensive statement of educational objectives in terms of expected pupil-behavior become desirable. More over if the educational policies set forth in statement on education and national objectives are to be implemented, the aims and purpose must be stated in terms of behavior to be expected from student who have indeed achieve them.

 

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

    Taxonomy of educational objectives means classification of educational objectives.

The Three Types of Learning

There is more than one type of learning. A committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom, identified three domains of educational activities:

Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge)

Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude)

Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills)

Cognitive Domain

The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. There are six major categories, which are listed in order below, starting from the simplest behavior to the most complex. The categories can be thought of as degrees of difficulties. That is, the first one must be mastered before the next one can take place.

Cognitive Domain – Objectives

• Knowledge
  
• Comprehension / Understanding
  
• Application
  
• Analysis
  
• Synthesis
  
• Evaluation
  

 

Knowledge

• Recall data or information.
  
  • Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from memory to a customer. Knows the safety rules.
    
• Key Words: defines, describes, identifies, knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines, recalls, recognizes, reproduces, selects, states.
  

Comprehension

• Understand the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words.
  
  • Examples: Rewrites the principles of test writing. Explain in oneís own words the steps for performing a complex task. Translates an equation into a computer spreadsheet.
    
• Key Words:
  comprehends, converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives Examples, infers, interprets, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes, translates.
  

Application

• Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.
  
  • Examples: Use a manual to calculate an employees vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written test.
    
• Key Words: applies, changes, computes, constructs, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses.
  

Analysis

• Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences. 
  
  • Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information from a department and selects the required tasks for training.
    
• Key Words: analyzes, breaks down, compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates.
  

Synthesis

• 
  Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure.
  
  • Examples: Write a company operations or process manual. Design a machine to perform a specific task. Integrates training from several sources to solve a problem. Revises and process to improve the outcome.
    
• Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes.
  

Evaluation

• Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials.
  
  • Examples: Select the most effective solution. Hire the most qualified candidate. Explain and justify a new budget.
    
• Key Words: appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, critiques, defends, describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes, supports.
  

Affective Domain

• This domain includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes. The five major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:
  
• The classification of Educational objective in Affective Domain is given by Bloom and Krathwohl (1964).
  
• The educational objectives under this domain emphasis feeling, emotions of an individual.
  

Affective domain - Objectives

• Receiving
  
• Responding
  
• Valuing
  
• Organization
  
• Characterization by a value or value complex
  

Receiving

• Awareness, willingness to hear, selected attention.
  
• Willing to receive or to attend to certain phenomena or stimuli
  
  • Examples: Listen to others with respect. Listen for and remember the name of newly introduced people.
    
• Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, follows, gives, holds, identifies, locates, names, points to, selects, sits, erects, replies, uses.
  

Responding

• Active participation on the part of the learners. Attends and reacts to a particular phenomenon.  Learning outcomes may emphasize compliance in responding, willingness to respond, or satisfaction in responding (motivation). 
  
• Responding to a particular stimuli.
  
• Willingness to respond.
  
• Satisfaction in response.
  
  • Examples:  Participates in class discussions.  Gives a presentation. Questions new ideals, concepts, models, etc. in order to fully understand them. Know the safety rules and practices them.
    
• Key Words: answers, assists, aids, complies, conforms, discusses, greets, helps, labels, performs, practices, presents, reads, recites, reports, selects, tells, writes.
  

Valuing

• The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. This ranges from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment. Valuing is based on the internalization of a set of specified values, while clues to these values are expressed in the learner's overt behavior and are often identifiable. 
  
• Acceptance of Value.
  
  • Eg. Pupils develop a positive attitude to incorporate non violent behavior to his life.
    
• Performance for a value.
  
  • Eg. Pupil performs non violent behavior in different situations.
    
• Commitment.
  
  • Eg. Pupil tries to convince others the worth of non violence in modern era.
    
• Key Words: completes, demonstrates, differentiates, explains, follows, forms, initiates, invites, joins, justifies, proposes, reads, reports, selects, shares, studies, works.
  

Organization

• Organizes values into priorities by contrasting different values, resolving conflicts between them, and creating a unique value system.  The emphasis is on comparing, relating, and synthesizing values. 
  
• Organization of values into a system.
  
• The determination of interrelationship among them.
  
  • Examples:  Recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsible behavior. Accepts responsibility for ones behavior. Explains the role of systematic planning in solving problems. Accepts professional ethical standards. Creates a life plan in harmony with abilities, interests, and beliefs. Prioritizes time effectively to meet the needs of the organization, family, and self.
    
• Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes, defends, explains, formulates, generalizes, identifies, integrates, modifies, orders, organizes, prepares, relates, synthesizes.
  

 

Characterization by a value or value complex

• Has a value system that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive, consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner. Instructional objectives are concerned with the student's general patterns of adjustment (personal, social, emotional).
  
• Internalization of values.
  
  • The non violence value becomes the philosophy of life of an individual.
    
• Adopt belief system and philosophy.
  
• Values become part of behavior.
  
  • Examples:  Shows self-reliance when working independently. Cooperates in group activities (displays teamwork). Uses an objective approach in problem solving.  Displays a professional commitment to ethical practice on a daily basis. Revises judgments and changes behavior in light of new evidence. Values people for what they are, not how they look.
    
• Key Words: acts, discriminates, displays, influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves, solves, verifies.
  

Psychomotor Domain

The psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. The six major objectives are listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:

 

Simpson's Taxonomy (1966) of Psychomotor domain can be divided in to six main categories.

Psyshomotor Domain – Objectives

• Perception
  
• Set
  
• Guided response
  
• Mechanism
  
• Complex overt response
  
• Adaptation And Originality
  

Perception

• Ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity.
  
• Perception is the process of becoming aware of objects by the way of sense organs.
  
  • Eg. Detects non-verbal communication cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball.
    Adjust heat of stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food.
    
• Key Words: chooses, describes, detects, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates, relates, selects.
  

Set

• The readiness to perform the psychomotor activity.
  
• Readiness can be observable through three specific activities.
  
  • Mental set
    
  • Physical set
    
  • Emotional set
    
  • Examples:  Knows and acts upon a sequence of steps in a manufacturing process.  Recognize ones abilities and limitations.
    
• Key Words: begins, displays, explains, moves, proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.
  

Guided response

• The early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and error. Adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing.
  
• Overt behavioral act of an individual under the guidance of the instructor.
  
• Learner's attempt to imitate models presented by the instructor or and to master it by trail and error.
  
  • Examples:  Performs a mathematical equation as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a model.
    
• Key Words: copies, traces, follows, react, reproduce, responds
  

Mechanism

• This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex skill. Learned responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some confidence and proficiency. 
  
• Gets familiarized with the 'mechanism' involved in the psychomotor activity.
  
• It is the micro analysis in which each step in the mechanism is properly examined and drilled.
  
• In this stage the pupil will mastered in particular skill.
  
• Learned response become habitual and the movements can be performed with same confidence and proficiency.
  
  • Examples:  Use a personal computer. Repair a leaking faucet. Drive a car.
    
• Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.
  

Complex overt response

• The skillful performance of motor acts that involve complex movement patterns. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of energy. This category includes performing without hesitation, and automatic performance. For example, players are often utter sounds of satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a tennis ball or throw a football, because they can tell by the feel of the act what the result will produce.
  
• The activity performed without any hesitation.
  
• The individual can perform a finely coordinated motor skill with a great deal of ease and muscle control.
  
  • Examples:  Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and accurately. Displays competence while playing the piano.
    
• Key Words: assembles, builds, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.
  
• NOTE: The Key Words are the same as Mechanism, but will have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the performance is quicker, better, more accurate, etc.
  

Adaptation and Originating

• The individual might originate new pattern of action in solving a specific problem
  
  • Examples:  Constructs a new theory. Develops a new and comprehensive training programming. Creates a new gymnastic routine.
    
• Key Words: adapts, alters, arranges, builds, combines, composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiate, makes, originates.changes, rearranges, reorganizes, revises, varies.
  

Dave (1989) of NCERT has proposed a taxonomy of psychomotor domain as follows.

Objectives

Imitation

• Imitation of an action or performance.
  

Manipulation

• Manipulation of an act. This includes differentiating various movements and selecting the proper one.
  

Precision

• Precision in reproduction in a given act. This includes accuracy, exactness in performance.
  

Articulation

• Articulation among different acts. This includes coordination, sequence harmony among the acts.
  

Naturalization

• Performing an act with the least psychic energy.
  

 

 

Specifications or Specific Outcomes of Learning (SOL)

• Specifications are measurable and observable change of behavior in pupil
  
• SOL are expressed in Operational terms.
  
• SOL consist of three component
  
• Performer:             Pupil
  
• Behavior expected :         A transitive verb
  
• Eg: Recall, recognize, identifies etc.
  
• Related Learning material
  
• Eg. A term, a concept, a part etc.
  

Objectives and Specifications

Knowledge

• Recall facts, concept, terms, events etc.
  
• Recognize facts, concept, terms, events etc.
  
• Shows/locates information on maps, charts, diagrams etc.
  
• Reads information represented in various forms of such as maps, charts etc.
  

Comprehension

• Classifies facts, concept etc.
  
• Distinguishes between facts and opinion, between relevant and irrelevant facts.
  
• Discriminate between different facts.
  
• Compare two concept or facts
  
• Contrast between two concept or facts.
  
• Illustrates facts and events.
  
• Detect errors.
  
• Rectifies errors
  
• Identifies relationship between two concepts, persons etc.
  
• Interprets data presented in various forms.
  
• Recognize underlying assumptions.
  
• Summarizes points or facts related to incidents.
  
• Translate one form of communication to another.
  
• Explains by giving meaning, clarifying.
  
• Extrapolates beyond some given data.
  
• Arranges in particular manner.
  
• Justifies an event or problem.
  

Application

• Selects knowledge relevant to new situations.
  
• Establishes new relationship between different facts and concepts.
  
• Formulates new hypotheses to explain a situation or incident.
  
• Reconstruct materials in a new situation
  
• Predicts outcomes in a given situation.
  
• Restate new problems in the light of established explanation
  
• Verifies the consistency of hypotheses.
  
• Organizes argument in a novel and meaningful way.
  
• Improvises tools and apparatus to perform certain operations.
  
• Judges the adequacy, relevancy, of data
  
• Formulates definitions.
  
• Analyses the situation to discover the issues involved in it.
  
• Test hypotheses, argument etc.
  
• Generalizes facts concepts.
  

Skills (Psychomotor domain)

• Prepare models, tools, instruments apparatus etc.
  
• Draws maps, charts, diagrams etc.
  
• Handle instruments appropriately.
  
• Makes accurate observation of the event.
  
• Records observation correctly.
  
• Conducts surveys.
  
• Conduct interviews.
  
• Collect relevant information.
  
• Presents data in symbolic form.
  
• Displays maps, charts etc.
  
• Preserves specimens exhibits etc.
  
• Manipulates instrument and apparatus.
  

Appreciation

• Pupil expresses his appreciation about past cultural and social heritage.
  
• Pupil shows dislike towards the weakness of our great personalities.
  
• Pupil participates in desirable social events and does not pray to hero-worship.
  

Interest

• Voluntarily reads newspapers, magazines and books etc.
  
• Discusses social, civic, economic, political problems with his friends teachers etc.
  
• Participates in desirable social and civic activities in and out side the school.
  
• Visits places of political, civic and historical importance.
  
• Collects specimen pictures, stamps, coin etc.
  
• Writes articles on economic, social and political topics,
  
• Prefers to see movies based on historical themes.
  
• Exhibits materials related to the subject in an organized way
  
• Observes relevant phenomenon keenly.
  

Attitudes

• Develops a sense of patriotism.
  
• Assumes social and civic responsibilities.
  
• Respects law and order, right opinion of others.
  
• Become open minded.
  
• Values human rights and privileges.
  
• Expresses his belief that ant social problem can be solved through a democratic approach.
  
• Sympathizes towards suffering of others
  
• Realizes the importance of international peace and co-operation.
  
• Develops social virtues.
  
• Develops the feelings of national integration and international understandings.
  
• Revises his conclusion in the light of additional information.
  
• Evaluates social changes critically.
  
• Co-operates with others in social and civic matters.
  
• Helpful to the members of his community.
  
• Appreciates human efforts to master the forces of nature.
  
• Recognizes the contributions of different regions and people to the growth of modern civilization.