On the sixth day of Christmas…
…my true love gave to me a six step taxonomy.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me a six step taxonomy, Bloom’s taxonomy. The impact of understanding this educational concept within my presentation work has been huge. It summarised so many issues that are clearly wrong with so much in presentations and underpins the value of effective teaching. The six steps in Bloom’s taxonomy are the stairway to the best presentation ever.
Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification of thinking, describing learning. It offers a framework to consider teaching and learning and is possibly the most succinct way of explaining why ”Your presentation sucks because science.” An effective presentation should offer recipients progression through the six steps of Bloom’s taxonomy.
The aim of a presentation must be more than simply delivery of knowledge; a text will do this more efficiently and effectively. Ideally, it should offer the audience a journey towards higher-order thinking on the topic be that inspiration, surgery for Hirschsprung Disease or the 4th quarter business plan. Those steps might be viewed as verb descriptors: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating and creating new knowledge.
A great presentation must begin with new knowledge but must also progress beyond that to higher-order thinking. It is by application of these six steps that learning will take place, not simply data retention. Effectively, a textbook will always know more on discipline than a learner but it is the effective application of that knowledge that defines a practitioner, an effector or an inspired audience. Application of the gift of the sixth day of Christmas, the six steps of Bloom’s taxonomy, will lead to the best presentation ever.