Bloom Taxonomy Question Generator
Generate questions across the six levels of the revised Bloom taxonomy for any topic, and check whether an existing question set is concentrated at the recall end.
Last reviewed by the Radiatus Cloud team
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Most question sets sit at the bottom
Writing recall questions is fast, marking them is fast, and they are unambiguous, so assessments drift towards them without anyone deciding to. The result is a test measuring whether students can retrieve facts rather than whether they can do anything with them. Counting how many questions sit at each level is usually enough to reveal the imbalance, because the answer is nearly always more skewed than the person who wrote them expects.
The levels are not a strict hierarchy
The revised taxonomy is often drawn as a pyramid implying that each level requires the ones below it, which is not quite true. A student can evaluate a claim without being able to recall every underlying fact, and creating something is not always harder than analysing it. The levels are usefully different kinds of thinking rather than a ladder, and treating them as a strict sequence leads to withholding interesting work until the recall is perfect.
The verb does not settle the level
"Explain why the reaction is exothermic" is analysis if the student works it out and recall if they memorised the explanation. The same question can sit at different levels for different students, depending on what they have already been taught. Verb lists are a useful prompt for writing varied questions and cannot classify a question on their own, which is why the level of an existing set should be judged with the teaching in mind.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the six levels?
Remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate and create, in the revised taxonomy. The original used nouns and placed evaluation at the top; the revision uses verbs and swapped the top two.
Is it a strict hierarchy?
Not really, although it is usually drawn as one. A student can evaluate without recalling every underlying fact, and creating is not always harder than analysing. They are usefully different kinds of thinking rather than a ladder.
Can a verb list classify a question?
No. "Explain why" is analysis if the student works it out and recall if they memorised the explanation. The same question sits at different levels for different students, so the teaching has to be considered alongside the wording.
What proportion should be at each level?
There is no correct split, and it depends on the subject and the stage. What is worth checking is whether the distribution matches what you intended, since assessments drift towards recall without anyone deciding they should.
Why did the taxonomy change?
The 1956 original used nouns for categories and placed evaluation at the top. The 2001 revision used verbs, which describe what a student does, and moved creation above evaluation on the argument that producing something new draws on more of the others.
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How to Use
Enter a topic to generate questions at each cognitive level.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Results are for educational and utility purposes.