Stage 1: Knowledge: Knowledge requires that students learn to recognize and .produce factual information or specifically taught behavior. For example, the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
Stage 2: Comprehension: Comprehension requires that a student go beyond recognition and recall. Comprehension objectives require translation of information (putting content into the "students own words"), interpretation, and/or extrapolation (i.e., foreseeing likely outcomes). For example, explain in your own words what the Declaration of Independence is.
Stage 3: Application Application requires that a student go beyond comprehension. Application objectives require that a student use the information or behavior in a context or situation in which it was not learned or previously practiced. For example, students write an essay on the origins of the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution and include information on the Declaration of Independence without having been prompted to do so.
Stage 4: Analysis Analysis requires that a student break down the information in a way that has not been taught in order to gain additional information. For example, students write a paper analyzing the social forces leading colonists to declare their independence.
Stage 5: Synthesis Synthesis requires a student to combine information into a new (for that student) whole. For example, students write an essay showing how various economic factors interacted to produce sufficient social pressure to lead colonists to declare their independence.
Stage 6: Evaluation Evaluation requires a student to select and apply evaluative criteria to information, concepts, and performances in order to make judgments about their worth. For example, students write a paper discussing various causes of revolutionary war, develop criteria for selecting among conflicting interpretations, and conclude with a judgement about which causes were likely causes of war.
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updated 9/99