Creating an Empirically Derived Bloom’s Wheel for Use as a Tool of Institutional and Disciplinary Assessment

Bloom’s Taxonomy is ubiquitous in the higher education assessment community. It can be used as a tool for writing learning outcomes/objectives, a mechanism to define levels of learning anticipated across programs, and as a conversation starter in curriculum development. Resources regarding the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy in higher education abound. However, many of these resources are not empirically derived, providing room for improvement. After providing context on the utility and possibilities presented by a Bloom’s Wheel visualization of Bloom’s Taxonomy, this manuscript describes a process for creating an empirically derived Bloom’s Wheel as a tool to guide alignment and the creation of meaningful assessment measures. This tool can be customized for specific disciplines, departments, colleges, etc., to increase applicability utilizing the methodology found herein. Higher education assessment professionals can use this process to create an empirically derived Bloom’s Wheel in the interest of serving as facilitators/guides to their colleagues.