There are three different ways to view the revised model, with thanks again to David A. Sousa in How The Brain Learns:
- Cognitive Processing:
- The lower three levels (Knowledge, Comprehension and Application) describe a convergent thinking process in which the learner recalls and focuses what is known and understood to solve a problem through application.
- The upper three levels (Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation) describe a divergent thinking process in which the learner’s processing results in new insights and discoveries that were not part of the original information.
- Overlapping Levels:
- The upper three levels, which constitute higher level thinking, are seen as fluid and overlapping. This differs from the original view of the Taxonomy, in which the levels were cumulative and distinct from each other.
- Skill Sets:
- The first two levels (Knowledge and Comprehension) involve skills designed to acquire and understand information.
- The second two levels (Application and Analysis) involve skills for applying and transforming information through deduction and inference.
- The last two levels (Evaluation and Creation) involve skills to generate new information by appraising, critiquing, and imagining.