Critical Thinking and the Cognitive Learning Domain

1685 Words7 Pages
Critical Thinking and the Cognitive Learning Domain W. T. Wilkes, Sr., Ph.D. In 1948, Benjamin Bloom led a committee of educators in developing educational thinking objectives (Forehand, 2005). These objectives were completed in 1956 (Huitt, 2004) and are now known as “Bloom‟s Taxonomy,” comprising three learning dimensions: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor (Atherton, 2005), each having progressive levels of attainment. While most accredit Bloom with all three domains, Huitt accredited Bloom with the Cognitive but claimed the affective and psychomotor domains were developed by others (p. 1). Atherton, however, accredited Bloom with all three, but regarding the psychomotor stated: Bloom never completed work on this domain, and there have been several attempts to complete it. One of the simplest versions has been suggested by Dave (1975): it fits with the model of developing skill put forward by Reynolds (1965), and it also draws attention to the fundamental role of imitation in skill acquisition. (p. 3) Bloom‟s work is viewed as seminal in promoting critical thinking among students. Wakefield (1998) stated: “Critical thinking theory finds its roots primarily in the works of Benjamin Bloom as he classified learning behaviours in the cognitive domain” (p. 1). The levels, especially in the cognitive domain, demonstrate the level of thinking skills employed by the student and should be fostered by the educator through assessment questions, encouraging the student from simply dwelling in the lower levels of thinking to the higher levels of thinking skills. Although Bloom‟s work has remained an educational assessment staple for more than fifty years, there have been revisions to the taxonomy (Forehand, 2005), and according to Dettmer (2006), “It is time to review the original version for ways it might be made more relevant and

More about Critical Thinking and the Cognitive Learning Domain

Open Document