Two taxonomies are better than one: towards a method of analysing a variety of domains and types of thinking in an assessment

Jackie Greatorex, Jo Ireland and Victoria Coleman

Abstract

It has been established practice to analyse the domains and types of thinking involved in undertaking educational activities using a taxonomy. Many taxonomies focus mainly on cognition and are therefore unsuitable for analysing non-cognitive domains, these are often assessed by means other than traditional written assessments. The aims of this research were to find a taxonomy suitable for analysing a variety of domains and types of thinking which might in turn be suitable for use across a variety of assessment tasks and to ascertain whether assessment experts perceived it to be useable. To find a suitable taxonomy, several were evaluated against pre-defined suitability criteria. While no individual taxonomy met the criteria, the taxonomies of Marzano and Kendall (2008) and Hutchins et al. (2013) were merged to form a combined taxonomy which was used for analysing domains and types of thinking. Six assessment experts analysed selected assessments including a written examination, a presentation and a reflection using these taxonomies to inform the research. Findings included the taxonomic analysis facilitated comparisons between different assessments, all of the assessments tested a high level of thinking but the interpersonal domain was only evident in the presentation and reflection assessments. The experts generally found the combined taxonomy accessible and suitable for analysing the domains and types of thinking and it could be used successfully to research the alignment between assessment(s) and/or classroom activities.

 

Greatorex, J., Ireland, J. and Coleman, V. (2019) Two taxonomies are better than one: towards a method of analysing a variety of domains and types of thinking in an assessment. Educationalfutures, [online] Vol. 10(1). Available at: https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=10816 [Accessed 25 Apr, 2024].

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