The extent of use of Bloom’s Taxonomy in the evaluation of selected undergraduate degree programmes at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Learning in higher education is often associated with Bloom’s Taxonomy; levals of active learning are determined, recommended and used by degree programmes in keeping with this hierareliy o f verbs. It is our aim to analyse the extent and. out come o f the use o f this Taxonomy in selected undergraduate studies o f the Faculties of Management Studies and Social Sciences and Languages o f the Sabaragamuwa University o f Sri Lanka. We shall consider as to how far the academics of these given disciplines consciously employ-Bloom’s Taxonomy in setting questions for end semester formal evaluations., with the hypothesis that this clasification is currently being employed by such faculties Our sample has been derived from the Faculties o f Management Studies and Social Sciences and Languages out of a total population o f five Faculties at the Sabaragamuwa University. As methodology we have followed random sampling in comparing the: verbs o f the Bloom’s Taxonomy with those o f the questions set by the academics for end of semester eva|uations in the academic year 2006/2007 Among the findings o f the study is the fact that while around twenty five percent o f the academics have consciously and effectively employed Bloom’s Taxonomy in evaluations, others have used, some verbs o f the classifieation (eg. ‘analyse’ , ‘calculate’, -distinguish’ ‘evaluate’, ‘ iIlustrate’) or not used them, with lesser understanding of the alignment necessary between the learning objectives and assessment methods. This study is significant. since constructive alignment of teaching / learning / assessment with the learning objectives of an undergraduate course o f study is vital in maintaining the quality of each programme the maintaining o f which is the responsibility of all academies.The content o f this paper shall enable academics in general to look back on what has been achieved by them with Bloom’s Taxonomy as a source o f guidance and what the future may hold in relation to it.