Journal Relating to Bloom's Taxonomy

Journal Entry

A course that I found relates to Bloom’s taxonomy was my Critical Media Studies course from college. Although I find my teacher managed to touch upon all of the levels of the taxonomy, she mainly focused on the analysis level. She would give each person from a small group a different section to read from the textbook and then gave us time to get together and summarize the concepts we learned to our peers in our group. This involved the first two levels of the taxonomy which were to remember and understand. We would then be showed an advertisement and asked to apply our knowledge to point out the key features the brand used. Finally, throughout the semester, she would ask us to break down and analyse different ads we would see outside of class, examining what type of people would be attracted to the brand’s products. I think she would do this in order for her students to analyze the media world around them and think critically about it to realize how influential really media is.

This class really made a significant difference to my learning and development. By analyzing the subject and integrating the concepts I learned about on different situations, not only do I remember theories and information learnt in a class I took years ago but I also apply this knowledge whenever I come across a commercial or advertisement. I was able to obtain critical thinking skills that I have used in other courses in regard to problem solving. I also find myself questioning a lot more than I used to such as researching whether or not facts about a product or a certain theory are in fact true. This approach of learning indeed allowed me to critically examine various information and draw conclusions from it.

         I found that the learning objectives for the Literacy Peace Project correspond with the higher, more complex levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. By providing English teachers with the proper tools and methods such as “video playlists, suggested readings, poems, and workshop activities” as Sarmista Das mentioned in her video, it enables teachers to establish an environment that is collaborative and creative. Although the lower levels of remembering, understanding and applying the theory of extremism is present. With the use of poetry, for example, students are able to first analyze different types of poetry and distinguish the various methods people can express themselves. Secondly, when they were given prompts to write about something specific, they were able to evaluate themselves on what they wrote about, examine whether it was a major issue regarding extremism and were able to collaborate with other students. Lastly, when given a broad subject of extremism, through a medium they have experimented with several times, they were able to freely create something they were passionate about. Students were being put in situations they may not be comfortable taking about outside of class and incorporating this into their learning environments, they are better able to critique subjects and talk openly in intuitive ways.