All ITIL Service Management qualifications use the
Bloom’s taxonomy in both the construction of the learning units and
in the examination which is based on this syllabus.
These levels apply to the cognitive, affective and
psychomotor domains of learning but in the ITIL Qualification
Scheme, we deal only with the cognitive sphere.
Bloom defines six levels of learning in the
COGNITIVE domain which are both sequential and cumulative. They move
from the simple to the complex. This implies that in order to
achieve the sixth level of learning, for example, the instructor
must ensure that the previous five levels have been mastered.
Level 1 - The KNOWING level: The candidate
is able to bring to mind or remember the appropriate material. The
examination questions associated with this level tax the candidate’s
memory and include such tasks as defining, recalling, listing,
recognizing, describing and naming.
Level 2 - The COMPREHENDING stage: The
candidate is able to understand or grasp the meaning of what is
being communicated and make use of the idea without relating it to
other ideas or materials and without seeing the fullest possible
meaning or translation of the idea. Examination questions at this
level would include scenarios giving examples of, illustrating,
inferring, summarizing and interpreting. These actions involve the
knowing which has taken place at the first level.
Level 3 - The APPLYING level: The candidate
should be able to use ideas, principles and theories in new,
particular and concrete situations. Examination questions at this
level involve both knowing and comprehension and might include
choosing appropriate procedures, applying principles, using an
approach or identifying the selection of options.
Level 4 - The ANALYZING level: The candidate
is able to break down a communication (rendered in any form) into
constituent parts in order to make the organization and significance
of the whole clear. Breaking down, discriminating,
diagramming, detecting, differentiating and illustrating are
important tasks at this level and can be seen to include the
previous levels of knowing, comprehending and applying. Here the
significance of the constituent parts of an entity are examined in
order to understand the whole more fully.
Level 5 - The SYNTHESIS level: At this level
the candidate is able to put back together again the various parts
or elements of a concept into a unified organization or whole. This
putting together again and making sense of small parts is a crucial
factor in intelligence and learning. Examination questions at this
level would include scenarios involving creating, writing,
designing, combining, composing, organizing, revising and planning.
This level of learning in order to occur must include the first four
levels – knowing, comprehending, analyzing and applying. This level
of learning is probably the most intense and exciting for the
candidate.
Level 6 - The EVALUATING phase: In this
phase the candidate is able to arrive at an overview and to judge
the value and relative merit of ideas or procedures by using
appropriate criteria. At this level of learning the candidate will
be able to compare, judge, appraise, justify, criticize and contrast
theories, procedures, methods and concepts. This level involves
mastery of the five previous levels of knowing, comprehending,
applying analyzing and synthesizing.
For the purposes of the ITIL Qualifications Scheme,
the Blooms level appear in each syllabus module to identify the
highest level of cognitive difficulty that course content should
deliver to meet the learning outcome and competence to meet the
examination level of difficulty.
