Five Taxonomies of Learning Outcomes
5 major taxonomies of learning outcomes
- Verbal information: This is his cognitive domain for declarative knowledge. Acquired through formal schooling, books, TV, etc. and can be recalled while playing games (i.e. Jeopardy). The person is able to “state” something. This involves both knowledge and comprehension. We can memorize something without understanding the meaning but we can also learn and integrate the knowledge with information we already have.
- Intellectual skills: These are the equivalent to procedural knowledge. There are 5 subcategories – discriminations, concrete concepts, defined concepts, rules, and higher-order rules. One must progress through these subcategories in order.
- Discrimination: A difference is detected based on perceptual characteristics. For example, we can see the difference between a square and a triangle as a child without being able to identify key features of each.
- Concrete concepts: Concepts are distinguishable by perceptual characteristics and are identifiable by name. For a child, knowing different colors and shapes. For an adult, it can be different types of screws.
- Defined concepts: These must be identified by a definition, not just pointed out. One must use the definition to classify new instances.
- Rules: Gagné defines this as using symbols to represent and interact with the environment in a generalized way. What is important is that a student can apply the rule appropriately to a problem, even if it is a new problem.
- Higher-order rules: These are combinations of simpler rules in order to solve a more complex problem. For an example, think of a nutritionist creating a unique plan for a patient.
- Discrimination: A difference is detected based on perceptual characteristics. For example, we can see the difference between a square and a triangle as a child without being able to identify key features of each.
- Cognitive strategies: These entail how a learner guides their own learning, thinking, acting, and feeling. Cognitive strategies help the learner better learn new knowledge. These strategies can be taught or can be arrive by trial and error of the learner. Strategies are not usually immediately evident, we use them without realizing it. Each learner has unique cognitive strategies to come to the same outcome.
- Attitudes: Attitudes are considered an affective domain. Gagné defines attitudes as “acquired internal states that influence the choice of personal action toward some class of things, persons, or events” (Driscoll, 2005, p 363). Attitudes can be a motivating factor for learners. An example of an attitude is someone choosing to eat organic foods because they believe it to be healthier and they will live longer.
- Motor skills: For this, Gagné defines motor skills as the use of muscles for the accurate execution of performances. To be a motor skill, the improvement of the skill can be attained solely by repetition of the skill.