Classifications of Learning

How they relate to learning outcomes

Lev­els and process­es of learn­ing have been clas­si­fied in var­i­ous ways. The­ses clas­si­fi­ca­tions (tax­onomies) of learn­ing help with writ­ing learn­ing out­comes because they pro­vide a frame­work for artic­u­lat­ing what you want stu­dents to learn.

There is no one right way of writ­ing learn­ing out­comes, and no one ‘best’ clas­si­fi­ca­tion of learn­ing. Choose the clas­si­fi­ca­tion that make sense to you and what you are teach­ing, and work from there.

This sec­tion explores:

• the most com­mon learn­ing ‘tax­onomies’
• how to apply them when writ­ing learn­ing out­comes
• pros and cons of each ‘tax­on­o­my’

If you’re new to writ­ing learn­ing out­comes, Bloom’s Tax­on­o­my of Learn­ing is often a good place to start as there are lots of exam­ples of how to use it.