Clarify the desired levels of learning

It is essential to clearly identify the desired level of learning we want our training participants to attain. This means that we need to decide whether our aim during the course of the workshop is for the participants to: know the information, but not understand it [KNOWLEDGE]; know and understand it [COMPREHENSION]; or know, understand, and use it [APPLICATION]. These are the first three of six progressive building blocks of learning (otherwise known as Bloom’s Taxonomy of Behavioral Objectives).

It is unlikely that a trainer will ever intentionally aim only for the lowest rung, or KNOWLEDGE. At the very least, we want participants to both know and understand what they are taught [COMPREHENSION]. If our intention is to build or strengthen specific skills, APPLICATION must be our minimum desired learning level.

APPLICATION is the launching pad for all higher-level thinking. Once our participants have demonstrated that they know, comprehend, and can apply new information or skills, they are ready for the last three building blocks of learning: ANALYSIS, EVALUATION, and CREATION.

If the participants will need to organizze and reorganize information into categories, the desired level of learning is ANALYSIS. If they will need to make judgments using criteria, then the desired level of learning is EVALUATION. If they will need to create something new, the desired level is CREATION.