A Brief Exploration of His Background, His Contributions and Their Application

Benjamin S. Bloom

A brief exploration of his background, his contributions and their application

Benjamin S. Bloom
A brief exploration of his background, his contributions and their application
Aglhaen Nieto-Cruz
2/17/2010
Spring 2010 - EDCI 6304

Benjamin S. Bloom

“I am confident that virtually all people have enormous potential for something. The problem is to find some way of unearthing what that is and to make it possible for them to excel in the things they find most interesting.” Benjamin S. Bloom, 1985

Throughout his life’s work, Benjamin S. Bloom is quoted making similar statements, which hevalidated with his studies. One might perceive him as an advocate for the masses. He was an educational psychologist whoattempted to understand and illustrate how given the proper learning experience, all can learn(Bloom, 1978). In reviewing the work of Halawi, McCarthy & Pires (2009), Hanna (2007), and Lynch & Sutter (2009)one can observe that Bloom’s contributions have greatly impacted our educational systemsat all levels and in all subjects.

Benjamin Bloom was born in Lansford, Pennsylvania, on February 21, 1913. Bloom was the youngest of five children; he had three older brothers and an older sister. He was the son of Russian immigrants. His educational success is first noted in the documenting of his 1931 graduation from high school as his classes’ valedictorian. Bloom’s path to academic and personal success from there on out is interesting and motivational. (Anderson, 2002)

His post secondary experience at Penn State University coincided with the time of the Great Depression. As the economy plunged and society adapted to enormous changes, Benjamin Bloom earned both his B.A. and M.S. from Penn StateUniversity. For the four years proceeding his1935 graduation and while the U.S. was recovering from the Great Depression and World War II began,Benjamin Bloom took the role of researcher with Pennsylvania State Relief Organization followed by work with the AmericanYouth Commission in Washington, DC. It was during that time that Benjamin met Ralph Tylerand decided to pursue his doctoral degree under Tyler’s supervision.In 1942, Bloom received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Between 1943 and 1959, Benjamin Bloom held the position of University Examiner. It is important to note that Tyler, Blooms’ mentor, was an American educator that worked in the field of assessment.Tyler was a critical advisor that helped establish guidelines for the expenditures of federal funds, impacting policy of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965.Their united vision, paired with Bloom’s 1964 publication of Stability and Change in Human Characteristics,resulted in the creation of Head Start Programs. The publication provided much of the research base for the federal Head Start program whichcontinues to be funded and is recognized as a major outcome of the War on Poverty(Guskey, 2007).

It was immediately upon completing his Doctoral degree that Bloom began making significant contributions to the field of Education. Many of his contributions are delivered in the form of published work. In 2000, Eisner provided the following list of 18 titles of books authored or co-authored by Bloom:

Books authored or co-authored by Bloom

1948. Teaching by discussion. Chicago, IL, College of the University of Chicago.(With J. Axelrod et al.)

1956a. Methods in personality assessment.Glencoe, IL, Free Press.(With G.G. Stern and M.I. Stein.)

1956b. Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook I, The cognitive domain. New York, David McKay &Co. (With D. Krathwohl et al.)

1958a. Evaluation in secondary schools. New Delhi, All India Council for Secondary Education,

1958b. Problem-solving processes of college students. Chicago, IL, University of Chicago Press.

1961a. Evaluation in higher education. New Delhi, University Grants Commission.

1961b. Use of academic prediction scales for counseling and selecting college entrants. Glencoe, IL, Free Press.(With F. Peters).

1964a. Stability and change in human characteristics. New York, John Wiley & Sons.

1964b. Taxonomy of educational objectives: Volume II, The affective domain. New York, David McKay & Co. (With B. Masia and D. Krathwohl.)

1965. Compensatory education for cultural deprivation. New York, Holt, Rinehart & Winston.(With A. Davis and R. Hess.)

1966. International study of achievement in mathematics: a comparison of twelve countries. Vols I & II.New York, John Wiley & Sons.(T. Husén, Editor; B. Bloom, Associate Editor.)

1971. Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning. New York, McGraw-Hill.(With J.T. Hastings, G.F. Madaus and others.)

1976. Human characteristics and school learning. New York, McGraw-Hill.

1980. The state of research on selected alterable variables in education. Chicago, IL, University of Chicago,MESA Publication.(With MESA Student Group.)

1980. All our children learning: a primer for parents, teachers, and other educators. New York, McGraw-Hill.

1981. Evaluation to improve learning. New York, McGraw-Hill.(With G.F. Madaus and J.T. Hastings.)

1985. Developing talent in young people. New York, Ballantine. (With L.A. Sosniak et al.)

1993. The home environment and social learning. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.(With T. Kellaghan, K. Sloane, and B. Alvarez.)

Additionally, Bloom was instrumental in thedevelopment of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The IEAresulted in ‘the operationalization of educationalobjectives’ and ultimately Bloom’s Taxonomy. As mentioned previously,it was Bloom’s quantifiable research which aided in the implementation of Head Start programs. Bloom also provided the effective Mastery Learning Model and published Talent in Young People which helped educators and society understand the some key elements in the development of talent in young people.

One of Bloom’s most recognized contributions to the field of education is Bloom’s Taxonomy. In 1948 Dr. Benjamin Bloom, along with a group of educators, was charged with the task of developing a classification system for educational goals and objectives. The result was the classification system for three domains: the cognitive, the affective, and the psychomotor. In 1956, Dr. Benjamin Bloom completed his work in the cognitive domain which he referred to as Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain (Bloom et al., 1956). The taxonomy was developed so that researchers could categorize the objectives of the learning system. Bloom detailed how learning is arranged in a hierarchy from less complex to more complex. Although modifications have been made to this hierarchy, the original taxonomy was structured in the following order: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. It is important to note that Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised by one of Bloom’s former students in 2001. Changes included switching the names of the levels from nouns to active verbs and reversing the order of the highest two levels. Knowledge was changed to Remembering, Comprehension changed to Understanding, Application changed to Applying, and Analysis was revised to Analyzing(Krathwohl, 2002).The revised taxonomy provides additional aspects of evaluation (Bumen, 2007). An illustration of Bloom’s original Taxonomy follows below.It provides a list of sample verbs that can be used to identify learning at each level.

Bloom also created the Mastery Learning model, an instructional method that presumes all children can learn if they are provided with the appropriate learning conditions. Bloom noted that both instructional methods and time variations should be better matched to the individual student’s needs. According to this model, instruction may include group, individual, peer to peer or independent learning. When, applying the Mastery Learning model in a classroom setting, all students should begin with the same topic. In this model, once mastery has occurred the learner is provided additional learning opportunities aligned to the same objective until the entire group demonstrates proficiency and is ready to move on to the next “unit”. The model also calls for constant feedback and frequent diagnosing of progress, utilized in turn are utilized to prescribe remediation procedures. These are some of the general aspects of the model. Bloom explains in great detail the role of the instructor, the student, the material and the diagnostics (Bloom, 1978). Bloom also indicated that the model’s variation and differentiation could impact other aspects of learning including: school attendance, class involvement, attitude towards learning and confidence (Bloom, 1978).

The following is an example of how Bloom’s Mastery Learningmodel can be applied by a teacher to ensure her autistic students master the skill of independently and appropriately dressing oneself.A classroom center consisting of a play closet with play clothes which may include articles such as a shirt, pants, shorts, socks, shoes, a raincoat and a baseball cap may be utilized to teach children how to independently and appropriately dress themselves. A teacher with knowledge of Bloom’s Mastery Learningmodel will begin by designing instructional units. The teacher could prepare unit objectives that are aligned to the different stages of Bloom’s taxonomy. For example, her first unitgoal may be that the learner correctly names each of the items in the play closet. Shortly after the unit has been introduced, the teacher would administer a short diagnostic to determine if intended knowledge was mastered. Students demonstrating mastery may be allowed to further explore this unit’s content. For example, those students may be encouraged to play with the clothes or be provided a clothing catalog and asked to identify items found in the closet. The teacher will also know to continue working with those students that did not successfully complete the diagnostic. Corrective activities and further reinforcement will be applied for those students followed by a second diagnostic. Once the group has demonstrated mastery of the unit, they will proceed to unit two and conduct it in a similar manner. Additional learning opportunities will be provided for those that demonstrate mastery while corrective and formative evaluation would be applied for those having difficulties. The model will be applied until each unit has been met by all learners. This learning model increased the learner’s opportunity of mastering any given objective.

Benjamin Bloom’s work has greatly impacted, not only the field of education but as noted, the implementation of programs designed to ensure academic progress and success for all.Application of Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy and Mastery Learning model continues to be utilized by many educators today and has positively changed the lives of its recipients.

References

Anderson, L. (2002). Benjamin Samuel Bloom (1913 – 1999). American Psychologist, 63.

Bloom B. S. et. All (1956).Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New

York: David McKay Co Inc.

Bloom, B.S. (1978). New views of the learner: Implications for instruction and curriculum. Paper

presented at a general session address at the ASCD 1978 Annual Conference, San Francisco.

Brandt, R.S. (1985). On talent development: A conversation with Benjamin Bloom. Educational

Leadership, September, 33-35.

Bumen, N. T. (2007). Effects of theoriginal versus revised Bloom’s Taxonomy on lesson planning skills: A

Turkish study among pre-service teachers.Review of Education, 53, 439-455.

Eisner, E. W. (2000, September). Benjamin Bloom 1913 -1999. Prospects: the quarterly report of

comparative education, 30(3).

Guskey,T. R. (2007). Closing achievement gaps: Revisiting Bloom’s “Learning for Mastery”.

Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(1), 8-31.

Halawi, L.A., McCarthy, R.V.,Pires, S. (2009, July/August). An evaluation of e-learning on the basis of

Bloom’s Taxonomy: An exploratory study. Journal of Education for Business, 374-380.

Hanna,W. (2007). The new Boom’s Taxonomy: Implications for music education. Arts Education Policy

Review, 108 (4), 7-16.

Krathwohl, D.R. (2002, Autumn) A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview. Theory and Practice,

41(4), 212-218.

Lynch, D.R., Russel, J.S., Evan, J.C., Sutterer, K.G. (2009, January). Beyond the cognitive: The affective

domain, values, and the achievement of the vision. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering \ Education and Practice, 47-56.

Image Source: