🌟 Editor's Note
Welcome to EmberWise Lab’s first blog post! We're excited to discuss our thoughts on learning and would love to get to know yours.
What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?
Developed in 1956 by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and updated in 2001, Bloom’s Taxonomy breaks down learning into six levels of cognitive complexity known as Taxonomies of Learning. It is one of the most widely known and used frameworks globally, and continues to be highly referenced and applied. It continues to evolve with new perspectives and revisions by those seeking clarity in cognitive levels.
The 6 Steps
Think of it like a pyramid where each step builds on the one before it.
Remember – Recall facts, definitions, or concepts.
Example: Listing the planets in our solar system.Understand – Explain ideas or concepts in your own words.
Example: Describing why Earth’s seasons change.Apply – Use information in new situations.
Example: Calculating the gravity on Mars using a formula you learned.Analyze – Break information into parts to explore relationships.
Example: Comparing two historical events to see what caused different outcomes.Evaluate – Make judgments based on criteria or evidence.
Example: Deciding which renewable energy source is best for a city based on cost, efficiency, and environmental impact.Create – Generate new ideas, products, or perspectives.
Example: Designing your own experiment to test a scientific hypothesis.
Why is this important for self learners?
Most people stop at remember and understand because that’s what typical education rewards - passing tests. Mastery and real-world skill comes when you reach the tip of the pyramid. To create requires an amalgamation of all the cognitive levels. If you’ve ever felt like you “know” a topic but can’t apply it in real life, you’ve probably been stuck in the lower tiers before.
Bloom’s Taxonomy gives you a clear structure to:
Diagnose where you are in your understanding of a topic
Plan your next steps in moving toward mastery
Avoid plateaus by challenging yourself at higher levels of thinking
Example:
At the Knowledge level, you might memorize key anatomy terms in biology.
At Application, you might use those terms to explain how a muscle injury affects movement.
At Synthesis, you could design a recovery plan based on multiple systems interacting.
At EmberWise, we believe learning and knowledge should push you upwards toward the tip of the pyramid, toward independent and creative problem-solving.
How did EmberWise leverage Bloom’s Taxonomy?
Our cognitive gyms are designed to train your cognitive abilities, much like going to a commercial gym to train your body. Each “workout” leverages one or more of Bloom’s cognitive levels to ensure your learning goes beyond the first two levels.
A few examples of what EmberWise’s cognitive gyms involve:
Recall Mode: Active recall drills to improve retention over time. Perfect for building your foundation.
Cross-Domain Scenarios: Practice applying what you’ve learned in different scenarios.
Spaced Repetition: Strengthen your memory and application through spaced repetition.
Final Thoughts
We’ve been through the struggles of trying to learn something new, losing momentum, and getting stuck without a clear path forward. Over time, we’ve created systems and frameworks to make learning more engaging and applicable. Before learning about the official term Bloom’s Taxonomy, we had been learning at various cognitive levels. Now, we want to give you all a structured, repeatable system that makes self-learning as intentional and impactful as strength training.
Learning isn’t just about remembering topics and collecting knowledge. It’s about transforming knowledge into action, insight, and innovation. Truly, knowledge is power and that’s what EmberWise helps you achieve.
Till next time,
EmberWise Labs
Ready to train your mind?
Key References
Harvard University. (2019). Taxonomies of Learning. Harvard.edu. https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/taxonomies-learning
Shabatura, J. (2022, July 26). Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives. Uark.edu; University of Arkansas. https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/