Learning Theories

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Still a very broad topic, but I have tried to start to put together a quick overview of some of the most important learning theories for quick reference:

• ​Bloom's taxonomy

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Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a categorisation of learning objectives when teaching.
It was first described by a group of educators, led by Benjamin Bloom, in 1956.
This was revised in 2001 by Anderson and Krathwohl et al. which improved on the Taxonomy to make it two dimensional - it is this categorisation that I describe below as I think it is the most useful.

The taxonomy has two dimensions; the knowledge domain, and the cognitive domain.
The knowledge domain refers to the subject of the learning object (Krathwohl described it as the ‘noun’ of the learning objective).
The cognitive domain refers to what is to be done to that subject (described as the ‘verb’ of the learning objective).
E.g. The student will remember (cognitive domain) the dose of aspirin (knowledge domain).
The student will understand (cognitive domain) the causes of shock (knowledge domain).

Knowledge Domain

This categorisation allows a description of the subject of the learning.
It can be split into 4 main categories:

1. Factual Knowledge - the basic elements of the topic
   
   1. Knowledge of terminology
      
   2. Knowledge of details and elements
      
2. Conceptual knowledge - how the basic elements of a topic relate to each other
   
   1. Knowledge of classifications/categories
      
   2. Knowledge of principles
      
   3. Knowledge of theories/models
      
3. Procedural knowledge - how to do something
   
   1. Knowledge of subject specific skills
      
   2. Knowledge of subject specific techniques/methods
      
   3. Knowledge of criteria for using specific techniques
      
4. Meta-cognitive knowledge - knowledge of cognitive processes, including one’s own
   
   1. Strategic knowledge
      
   2. Knowledge about cognitive tasks
      
   3. Self knowledge
      

Cognitive Domain

This categorisation allows a description of the approach to that subject.
It is split into 6 different levels (with subdivisions) with increased complexity with each level:

1. Remember - retrieve factual knowledge from long term memory
   
   1. Recognise
      
   2. Recall
      
2. Understand
   
   1. Interpret
      
   2. Exemplify
      
   3. Classify
      
   4. Summarize
      
   5. Infer
      
   6. Compare
      
   7. Explain
      
3. Apply - carrying out in a given situation
   
   1. Executing
      
   2. Implementing
      
4. Analyse - breaking it down into its constituent parts and detecting the relationship
   
   1. Differentiating
      
   2. Organising
      
   3. Attributing
      
5. Evaluate - making judgements
   
   1. Checking
      
   2. Critiquing
      
6. Create - putting elements together in a novel way
   
   1. Generating
      
   2. Planning
      
   3. Producing
      

Although all aspects of the cognitive domain are important, it is perhaps the higher ones that are more the target of higher education, and this is particularly true of medical training programmes.
The cognitive domain is also commonly represented as a pyramid, to demonstrate the increasing complexity and may also be compared to degrees of competence.

In terms of applying Bloom’s taxonomy to medical education, demonstrating the two domains in table form can be very useful.
When plotting the learning objectives on this, is can visually demonstrate these outcomes nicely.

Links & References

1. Krathwohl, D. A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: an overview. 2002. Theory into Practice. 41 (4). 212-216

Last updated: 3rd March 2017