Benjamin Bloom and Education

Benjamin Bloom (1913-1999) was an American educational psychologist famous for the creation of Bloom's Taxonomy, a basic classification of learning objectives utilized in education. Born in Pennsylvania, Bloom attended the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Chicago, where he obtained his Ph.D. Paper Masters can compose a custom written research paper on Benjamin Bloom and Education that follows your guidelines.

Bloom and Education

Beginning in 1940, Bloom became a staff member of the Board of Examinations at the University of Chicago, and became a university examiner in 1943. In these positions, he developed exams that were designed to determine if undergraduates had mastered the material required for graduation.

In 1956, Bloom edited Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, which first introduced Bloom's Taxonomy. Bloom's Taxonomy divides educational objectives into three domains:

• Cognitive
• Affective
• Psychomotor (sometimes called thinking, feeling, and doing)

With learning, basic skills must be mastered into order to achieve higher level. Bloom's Taxonomy pushes educators to focus on all three of these domains, making education and academic discipline a more holistic endeavor.

Bloom's Work

Bloom summarized his life's work in the 1980 book All Our Children Learning, demonstrating that children can learn at high levels when the appropriate foundations are laid at home and in the schools. Bloom believed that early home experiences greatly impacted a child's educational achievement.