Using Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning to Upgrade Training

How can you ensure that your planned training will work and the learning will actually stick? One answer is by using Bloom's taxonomy to help you plan.

Training is a key part of personal development, enabling people to achieve their career ambitions and deliver value for the organisation they work for.

But many industries are also required to deliver mandatory training courses to ensure compliance with regulations – in areas such as health and safety, and financial crime. It’s not only the risk of fines for non-compliance to consider; failure to deliver effective training can cause serious harm to individuals.

For example, Valencia Waste Management Limited was fined £3m after two workers died following a health and safety incident, where the investigation highlighted inadequate training.

Research shows nearly half of adults in the UK have engaged in learning in the last few years, so the drive to improve knowledge is clearly there. There are plenty of learning approaches, strategies and theories that you might adopt to train your team, depending on preference and what you're aiming for. But Bloom’s Taxonomy is a framework that helps learning stick.

What is Bloom's Taxonomy?

Bloom's Taxonomy is a set of three hierarchical models used to classify learning objectives.In simple terms, it’s a model that breaks down the ways we think and learn, so educators/trainers can plan teaching around how students take in information. The concept was initially introduced in the ‘50s by Benjamin Bloom, and it’s still widely used today.

The three hierarchical models are:

1. Cognitive domain – knowledge
2. Affective domain – emotion
3. Psychomotor domain – actions

This article explores the first level of learning, the cognitive domain (knowledge-based hierarchy), which aims to develop skills in critical thinking, problem-solving and creating a knowledge base.

What is Bloom's cognitive domain?

Bloom’s Taxonomy was revised in 2001 as learning and teaching methods evolved – one of the biggest changes was adding another dimension to represent knowledge and cognitive processes.

There are 6 levels of objectives in the Cognitive Domain (renamed in 2001).

1. Cognitive Domain Level 1: Knowledge
2. Cognitive Domain Level 2: Comprehension
3. Cognitive Domain Level 3: Application
4. Cognitive Domain Level 4: Analysis
5. Cognitive Domain Level 5: Synthesis
6. Cognitive Domain Level 6: Evaluation

Learners move up each successive level of cognition as they master learning. Broadly, the higher the pyramid they go, the closer they are to mastery of a subject. Bloom's Taxonomy’s higher-order skills include analysis and evaluation, alongside basic information recall.

1. Knowledge

Knowledge includes recall of material, from specific facts to complete theories, laws or policies. But recalling information is the lowest level of learning in this framework.

As such, it is the lowest level of learning.

Example: Recalling key points of our anti-bribery policy, picking out the name of the UK's anti-bribery law, remembering the gift threshold is £50 in our Gifts and Entertainment policy, etc.

2. Comprehension

Comprehension is the ability to understand the meaning of learning materials. It goes beyond simple recall of facts and may involve translating it from one form to another, interpreting material, explaining or summarising.

Example: Classifying specific behaviours or examples (e.g. intermediaries, places, etc.) as high or low risk, distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, interpreting a risk map or global corruption index, etc.

3. Application

Application is the ability to use and apply learnings to new situations. It includes applying rules, methods, principles, laws and theories – and it demands a higher level of understanding than the comprehension stage.

Example: Deciding what course of action to take in a given situation (e.g. when facing a demand for a facilitation payment, when you're given a lavish gift by a client, or when a government official subtly requests a kickback) to comply with our anti-bribery policy.

4. Analysis

Analysis is the ability to break down information into key elements to understand its structure. It involves understanding the relationship between different parts, how they relate to each other, the principles involved, making inferences or assumptions and evaluating what is relevant. It demands a higher level of understanding than Comprehension or Application.

Example: Presenting a scenario on the process for conducting due diligence - where learners analyse specific information on a client, use their knowledge of enhanced due diligence checks and determine a recommended course of action, having weighed up the outcome of all the decisions available; or a scenario where learners are given material information about the corruption risk profiles of different countries and analyse it to ascertain which country is being described.

5. Synthesis

Synthesis is the ability to bring elements or parts together to create something new. Typically it involves compiling information in a different way (e.g. a communication, a presentation or speech, a strategy or plan), integrating learning from different areas to solve a problem or formulate a new scheme.

Example: Creating a risk map of different jurisdictions in which we operate, producing a presentation to showcase our anti-bribery strategy, writing a risk assessment on a given client, etc. (Note: This is not generally testable in e-learning.)

6. Evaluation

Evaluation is the ability to judge the value of materials (such as a report, statement or course of action). Evaluation is the highest level of understanding in Bloom's hierarchy, as it contains elements from all the other levels.

Judgments may be based on clearly defined criteria set internally (e.g. by a business unit or company) or externally (e.g. by a regulator or law).

It may involve judging the value of a piece of work or critiquing someone's performance based on internal criteria or standards of excellence. For example, did they do the right thing, was this the best response, or should they have done something else instead, what aspects were right, where they should improve, etc.?

Example: Critiquing how a colleague performed when onboarding a new client at a bank in accordance with our internal policy. Or presenting a situation where a bribe was solicited, exploring the responses of three different colleagues and determining whose response was best.

What are the next steps in workplace learning?

Of course, individuals learn differently. The model isn’t perfect with arguments, it's too artificial and in the real world, we don’t learn in neat categories.

The distinction between lower and higher-level learning can be misleading and undervalues the importance of fundamental knowledge. If you don't know the red flags, you aren't going to be effective in preventing bribery, right? Others claim it is better suited to learning skills rather than content.

But, whether you like it or not, you can't deny the impact Bloom's work has had on education and training and its continuing influence on instructional designers and game developers today. All those who draw on the same 'levelling up' ideas to build their training interventions.

The question is, are they on your level? Have you stopped to consider what level of mastery your staff need with the latest piece of training? Is basic recall enough, or are you looking for a deeper understanding with, say, a refresher module? The decision is yours.

Looking for more compliance insights?

Bloom’s Taxonomy in learning definitely demonstrates the different layers to learning, for example, retaining information alone may not be enough, you may want teams to apply it – especially when it comes to compliance. 

We have created a series of comprehensive roadmaps to help you navigate the compliance landscape, supported by e-learning in our Essentials Library.

We also have additional free resources such as e-learning modules, microlearning modules, and more.