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INTRODUCTION
- The change from the New Primary School Curriculum (Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah) or KBSR to the New Primary Standard Curriculum (Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah) or KSSR in 2011 beginning with the Year One students are no longer emphasized the importance of knowledge but developing on higher order thinking skills (Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025).
- The Malaysian Education System has made the right move for incorporating critical thinking skills in teaching so as to meet the current needs and challenges of the 21st century.
- One of the aspirations introduced in KSSR is thinking skills. Every student will need to master a range of cognitive skills which include critical thinking, reasoning, creative and innovation skills.
- In relation to this, teachers need to plan and prepare question items that focus more on higher-order thinking skills. Here, Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956) is chosen and used as a general guide.
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY LEVELS
- As teachers, they do not plan and prepare questions at the same level. Some questions are easy to answer where other questions may require a great deal of thinking.
- Bloom (1956) has provided with his taxonomy to assist teachers to compose questions on different levels of thinking. This taxonomy ranges from lower to higher levels of cognitive thinking. The levels are:
- Knowledge
- Comprehension
- Application
- Analysis
- Synthesis
- Evaluation
- The first three levels refer to Low-Order Thinking skills (LOTs) and the second upper three levels refer to Higher-Order Thinking skills (HOTs).
- Dalton and Smith (1986) provide some examples of question stems for each level of Bloom’s taxonomy.
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KNOWLEDGE
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Tell
∙ List
∙ Describe
∙ Relate
∙ Locate
∙ Write
∙ Find
∙ State
∙ Name
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∙ What happened after...?
∙ How many...?
∙ Who was it that...?
∙ Can you name the...?
∙ Describe what happened at...?
∙ Who spoke to...?
∙ Can you tell why...?
∙ Find the meaning of...?
∙ What is...?
∙ Which is true or false...?
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COMPREHENSION
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Explain
∙ Interpret
∙ Outline
∙ Discuss
∙ Distinguish
∙ Predict
∙ Restate
∙ Translate
∙ Compare
∙ Describe
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∙ Can you write in your own words...?
∙ Can you write a brief outline...?
∙ What do you think could of happened next...?
∙ Who do you think...?
∙ What was the main idea...?
∙ Who was the key character...?
∙ Can you distinguish between...?
∙ What differences exist between...?
∙ Can you provide an example of what you mean...?
∙ Can you provide a definition for...?
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APPLICATION
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Solve
∙ Show
∙ Use
∙ Illustrate
∙ Construct
∙ Complete
∙ Examine
∙ Classify
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∙ Do you know another instance where...?
∙ Could this have happened in...?
∙ Can you group by characteristics such as...?
What factors would you change if...?
∙ Can you apply the method used to some experience of your own...?
∙ What questions would you ask of...?
∙ From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions about...?
∙ Would this information be useful if you had a ...?
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ANALYSIS
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Analyse
∙ Distinguish
∙ Examine
∙ Compare
∙ Contrast
∙ Investigate
∙ Categorise
∙ Identify
∙ Explain
∙ Separate
∙ Advertise
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∙ Which events could have happened...?
∙ I ... happened, what might the ending have been?
∙ How was this similar to...?
∙ What was the underlying theme of...?
∙ What do you see as other possible outcomes?
∙ Why did ... changes occur?
∙ Can you compare your ... with that presented in...?
∙ Can you explain what must have happened when...?
∙ How is ... similar to ...?
∙ What are some of the problems of...?
∙ Can you distinguish between...?
∙ What were some of the motives behind...?
∙ What was the turning point in the game?
∙ What was the problem with...?
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SYNTHESIS
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Create
∙ Invent
∙ Compose
∙ Predict
∙ Plan
∙ Construct
∙ Design
∙ Imagine
∙ Propose
∙ Devise
∙ Formulate
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∙ Can you design a ... to ...?
∙ Why not compose a song about...?
∙ Can you see a possible solution to...?
∙ If you had access to all resources how would you deal with...?
∙ Why don't you devise your own way
∙ to deal with...?
∙ What would happen if...?
∙ How many ways can you...?
∙ Can you create new and unusual uses for...?
∙ Can you write a new recipe for a tasty dish?
∙ Can you develop a proposal which would...
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EVALUATION
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USEFUL VERBS
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SAMPLE QUESTION STEMS
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∙ Judge
∙ Select
∙ Choose
∙ Decide
∙ Justify
∙ Debate
∙ Verify
∙ Argue
∙ Recommend
∙ Assess
∙ Discuss
∙ Rate
∙ Prioritise
∙ Determine
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∙ Is there a better solution to...
∙ Judge the value of...
∙ Can you defend your position about...?
∙ Do you think ... is a good or a bad thing?
∙ How would you have handled...?
∙ What changes to ... would you recommend?
∙ Do you believe?
∙ Are you a ... person?
∙ How would you feel if...?
∙ How effective are...?
∙ What do you think about...?
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CONCLUSION
In conclusion, Bloom’s Taxonomy as shown in the table above, provides a strong basis to teachers for tailoring questions. Teachers may adapt and modify questions in order to meet students’ needs. It is suggested that teachers can create more higher-order thinking skills questions to enable students to get familiarized with it. The school management may come up with the questions creating ratio based on the levels. For example, 5:3:2 or 2:3:5.
Disclaimer: This piece of writing is general and is for sharing and reading purposes. It has no concern with any policies stipulated by the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Reference:
1. Dalton, J. & Smith, D.,(1986). Extending Children Special Abilities. Strategies for Primary Classrooms (pp36-37) mandela.ac.za
2. Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025)
3. Anderson, L. W & Krathwohl, D. R., eds. 2001. A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Allyn and Bacon.
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