Hello Reader, Today I have a little story to share with you*. Once upon a time, there was a group of professors who sat together to discuss the goals of the educational system. If we judge by current academic meetings they probably had some cheap coffee and chewy sandwiches. After long discussions and feeling happy about their exchange of ideas, they all left for their respective Universities to live on with their lives. One of them though was too excited to just go back to business as usual. That was Benjamin Bloom. Probably after delegating a few boring tasks to his TA (teaching assistant - an underpaid PhD student who does all the boring tasks a professor doesn’t feel like doing), he sat down to write. Little did he know that, on that day, he would change the course of education. Bloom summarised the group’s discussions and work and wrote an article about it. That article became forever known as the Bloom’s Taxonomy. Everything was well and fine until one day (45 years later) someone who was part of the original meetings stood up, with more a comment than a question, and said “Well.. actually…”. That was David Krathwohl. Together with Lorin Anderson, he revised the work published by Bloom and decided they would publish their own paper. Now they have a modified perspective of what came up from those meetings, their own reflections and analysis based on 45 years of practice, and their own Anderson and Krathwohl’s Taxonomy that would forever change the world of education!! Right!? 😃 Well, almost... It did change things, but it became known as the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. 😆 And here it is. The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is a pyramid that represents different types of cognitive thinking at an increased level of complexity. Some people call these levels “mental acts”, others call them “thinking skills” (you may have heard about this last one). The skills at the bottom of the pyramid (Remember, Understand, and Apply) are often referred to as “Lower Order Thinking Skills”, and the ones at the top (Analyse, Evaluate, and Create) are referred to as “Higher Order Thinking Skills”. When you hear someone mentioning Critical Thinking, they are talking about the top 3 levels in the pyramid.** As researchers are, by my definition, anyone who uses critical thinking for knowledge creation, you won’t be surprised that the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is what gave rise to the 6 PKM for Research Skills. Each PKM Skill indicates proficiency in the mindsets, methods, and tools that support demonstrating a given thinking skill. Active Note-Taking helps you Remember what you come across by activating your self-expression and making information personal. Active Reading improves Understanding by making you aware of which interpretation lens you use when reading a source. As you become aware, you can choose which lens to use each time you read. Idea Management helps you Apply your knowledge by giving you quick access to ideas and sources you have come across (in your notes), and by making you aware of the context in which a given idea exists. Networked Reading helps you Analyse information from multiple sources and connect them into a unified knowledge structure. It gives you a perspective of the whole. Argumentation invites you to Evaluate the knowledge you have acquired and that you are communicating to a given audience. It helps you answer: How truthful and credible is your argument? Knowledge Creation guides you to Create new knowledge from the knowledge you already have. You don’t need to read yet another source to come up with new ideas; instead, you can tap into ideas you already know about. These are the 6 skills you can use to create an evidence-based curriculum (I call it a Knowledge Portfolio) that demonstrates you can remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, and create knowledge in your area of expertise. That’s what we should have learned in school, but despite teachers’ best efforts, the school system has never heard about Personal Knowledge Management (yet..). The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy clarifies the “mental acts” we may want to develop and express, but it still has limitations. What about meta-cognition? What about self-awareness (and self-regulation)? What about knowledge-driven practice? So, as I work to make each PKM skill into separate self-paced courses, my practice and research have already set sail to more turbulent waters. That doesn’t mean I am trashing the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Instead, I am expanding it (and, with it, my set of products and services). I share my experiments within the Mentorship programme first, but I will keep you up to date as any new developments get more stable 😉 Meanwhile, please let me know if you have any comments or questions. Please, don’t feel shy! I may take some time to answer but I read and answer all emails. Talk to you soon. Until then, take care. Bianca * All life and mind-reading details of this story are made up 🙃. Ops, I should say it is "artistic license". But the agreement by the group of university professors is real, the Bloom's Taxonomy is real, and the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy is also real. ** The story about Critical and Creative Thinking is a bit more complex than just pointing at the 3 top levels in the pyramid. I have been studying the nuances for a while, but for practical purposes (and to get us started) pointing to the top of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy is a very good start. |
Everyone can be a researcher. Weekly tips on how to beat perfectionism, manage your knowledge, and create your original contribution.
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