Application of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives in Formative and Summative Assessments of Kiswahili Language: A Case of Secondary Schools in Meru District Council (Published)
Currently, the educational field emphasizes on the teaching and learning that is competence based. This article examines how Bloom’s Taxonomy is applied in formative and summative assessments of Kiswahili language in secondary schools. The article is guided by Vygotsky’s Cognitive Development Theory. Data were collected through interview, documentary analysis and observation. Kiswahili language teachers were involved in data collection. The findings reveal that in assessment of Kiswahili language, the Lower Order Thinking skills is highly applied in formative assessment while the Higher Order Thinking skills is mostly included in summative assessment. The reason behind this is that many Kiswahili teachers lack enough skills on composing HOTs questions, as well as preparing LOTs and HOTs questions based on competence-based approach. Therefore, Kiswahili teachers need more trainings on Bloom’s Taxonomy application in line with competence-based approach; this could be done through workshops, sharing knowledge between teachers within the school, and interschool cooperation
Keywords: Bloom’s taxonomy, Formative assessment, Kiswahili language, summative assessments
SUDAN ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYLLABUS: EVALUATING READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS USING BLOOM’S TAXONOMY (Published)
This study focuses on reading comprehension as one of the major language skills in learning English language. The problem of the study is based on the hypothesis that SPINE 3 (Sudan Practical Integrated National English) provides learners with a great number of reading texts which aim at promoting learners’ comprehension abilities but they do not focus on High Order Skills. The comprehension questions in SPINE3 do not cover the range of thinking skills according to Bloom’s taxonomy. The major significance of the study is to assist syllabus and material designers in writing comprehension questions so as to improve learners’ comprehension abilities. The study is descriptive analytical in nature, it adopts the content analysis approach. The findings indicate that 89% of the questions in the sample are actually Low Order Thinking Skills questions, 59% are remembering and 30% are understanding. None are geared to the High Order Thinking Skills. The study recommends that a revision of the comprehension questions in SPINE3 has to be done and new language textbooks should take into account that the comprehension questions and activities should confirm with Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. The questions and activities should aim at developing both Low and High Order Thinking Skills.
Keywords: Bloom’s taxonomy, High/ Low Order Thinking Skills, SPINE Series., reading comprehension questions