What should our graduates know?

We ask this question when designing Our lectures A test A laboratory exercise for students Out of class assignments A quiz An entire course An entire major An entire degree program

What should our students know?

Being able to answer this question is important for us and for communication to others.

It is a key component of the Bologna Process, because it will help other countries know what is accomplished by students and teachers at SAUA

One important aspect to answering this question is to know the level or the depth of understanding our students should have

When people learn, they must have many levels of understanding

One of most influential studies of these different levels was by Bloom

What should our students know?

Bloom’s taxonomy Often, the first level is memorizing Then students come to understand what they have

memorized When they can take something they understand and

apply it to a new situation, they show greater depth of learning

Further learning is demonstrated when they break something down to component parts (analyze)

When they take those component parts and put them together in a new way, they comprehend

Highest level is considered to be evaluation

Let’s look at these six components

What are they? How are they characterized? What are some examples of this level of learning in your

discipline? What are some key words that are used to teach or

assess each of these components?

Knowledge

Memorize and be able to recall information and data

Key words: define, describe, identify, know, list,

match, name, outline, recall, recognize, select

Knowledge

Examples: Name the components of animal food ration List the compositions of the major soil types

in Armenia Describe the stages of mitosis Identify the land tenure system in this region.

Comprehension:

Understand the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words

Key words include: comprehends, converts, distinguishes,

estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives examples, interprets, paraphrases, predicts, summarizes

Comprehension

Examples: Describe key principles of land ownership Explain the basic principles of precipitation Give examples of food formulations Predict structure strength of various

metals

Application:

Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place

Key words include: applies, changes, computes, constructs,

demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, predicts, relates, solves, uses.

Application

Examples: Predict the water retention in various soil

types Relate the differences in price to use of

various fertilizers Demonstrate how an incubator works

Analysis

Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.

Key words: analyzes, compares, contrasts, diagrams,

distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates.

Analysis

Examples: What are the relationships between food

ingredients and their functional properties Compare tools used to measure tensile strength

of materials Identify plants most suited to improve organic

matter Identify differences in cattle breeds in Armenia

Synthesis

Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or structure

Key words: categorizes, combines, composes, creates,

designs, explains, generates, organizes, plans, relates, reorganizes, summarizes, tells, writes

Synthesis

Examples Design an irrigation system for certain

situations Modify the existing food safety program Develop a marketing plan for an Armenian

food product

Evaluation

Make judgments about the value of ideas or materials

Key words: appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts,

criticizes, critiques, defends, describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes, supports.

Evaluation

Critique the use of food safety programs for food exports

Evaluate the use of fertilizers for crop production

Justify the use of the Bologna Process for your department’s teaching program