Bloom's Taxonomy Level Audit

Overview:

Tool: TerpAI, Notebook LM, or Gemini*

Time: 15–20 min 

What you need: your learning outcomes and major assessment descriptions

How to do it:

1. Copy your learning outcomes and one or two major assignment descriptions into TerpAI, NotebookLM, or Gemini.

2. Paste the prompt below:

   "Here are my learning outcomes and my major assessments. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, categorize the cognitive level required by each outcome and each assessment (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create). Then identify: where are the cognitive levels mismatched? Where does the course ask students to evaluate or create without first building the foundational levels? Please create two parallel lists: one for outcomes, one for assessments."

3. Look for mismatches: if your outcomes ask students to "evaluate," but your assessments only ask them to "identify," that gap is worth considering for a redesign. If an assessment asks students to "create," but you have not provided scaffolding at the "apply" or "analyze" level first, that may be a sequencing problem.

Notes:

AI classification of Bloom's levels is a useful starting point, but should be reviewed against your own disciplinary judgment. Cognitive level is context-dependent and not always obvious from wording alone.

Connect with a member of the TLTC's Academic Innovation team to discuss scaffolding strategies and assignment sequencing.

*We encourage you to exclusively use UMD-approved GenAI tools, which are deployed in alignment with institutional security and compliance requirements.