THE QUELLMALZ TAXONOMY

THE QUELLMALZ TAXONOMY

Classification	Definition	Illustration
Recall Analysis Comparison Inference	Most tasks require that students recognize or remember key facts, definitions, concepts, rules and principles. Recall questions require students to repeat verbatim or to paraphrase given information. To recall information, students need most often to rehearse or practice it, and then to associate it with other, related concepts. The Bloom taxonomy levels of knowledge and comprehension are subsumed here, since verbatim repetition and translation into the student's own words represent acceptable evidence of learning and understanding. In this operation, students divide a whole into component elements. Generally the different part/whole relationships and the parts of cause/effect relationships that characterize knowledge within subject domains are essential components of more complex tasks. The components can be the distinctive characteristics of objects or ideas, or the basic actions of procedures or events. This definition of analysis is the same as that in the Bloom taxonomy. These tasks require students to recognize or explain similarities and differences. Simple comparisons require attention to one or a few very obvious attributes or component processes, while complex comparisons require identification of the differentiation among many attributes or component actions. This category relates to some of the skills in the Bloom level of analysis. The separate comparison category emphasizes the distinct information processing required when students go beyond breaking the whole into parts in order to compare similarities and differences. This is akin to the Bloom level of synthesis. Both deductive and inductive reasoning fall into this category. In deductive tasks, students are given a generalization and are required to recognize or explain the evidence that relates to it. Applications of rules and “if then” relationships require inference. In inductive tasks, students are given the evidence or details and are required to come up with the generalization. Hypothesizing, predicting, concluding and synthesizing all require students to relate and integrate information. Inductive and deductive reasoning relate to the Bloom levels of application and synthesis. Application of a rule is one kind of deductive reasoning; synthesis, putting parts together to form a generalization, occurs in both inductive and deductive reasoning.	Who was the main character in story? What are the different story parts? How was this story like the last one? What might be a good title for this story?

Examples of Verbs and Qustions Used With Quelmalz Taxonomy

The first key to expanding the range of questions you can pose is to focus on the trigger or action verb used to describe the problem to the students. Start with these and add some of your own if you can:

If you want to measure:	Use these key words		Illustration
Recall Analysis Comparison Inference Evaluation	define identify label list name subdivide breakdown separate compare contrast deduce predict . . infer speculate evaluate judge assess appraise defend	repeat what when who categorize sort differentiate distinguish anticipate what if . apply conclude argue recommend debate why critique	List the names of the main characters in the story. Break the story down into different parts. Compare the themes of these two stories. How might we make this character more believable? Evaluate this story. Is it well written? Why or why not?

The second key to expanding the range of questions you can pose is to plug these action words into a growing list of generic questions. Again, consider these and add some of your own if you can:

Recall

Define the work ______________________________
What is a ___________________________________ ?
Label the following ____________________________.
Identify the in this _____________________________
Who did ____________________________________ ?

Analysis

What are the basic elements (ingredients) in a _________________________?
What is/are the function(s) of _____________________________________?
Inventory the parts of ___________________________________________
Categorize the of _____________________________________________
Sort the _____________________________________________________
Analyze the following ___________________________________________

Comparison

Compare the before and after _____________________________________.
Contrast the to the _____________________________________________
Differentiate between and ________________________________________

Inference

Hypothesize what will happen if ____________________________________
Predict what would be true if ______________________________________
Conclude what the result will be if __________________________________
What if had happened instead _____________________________________ ?
What does this information suggest _________________________________ ?
Given this situation (problem), what should you do ______________________

Evaluation

|What do you believe about ________________________________________?
Decide if was worth it. Explain _____________________________________.
Judge the best way to solve the problem of ___________________ Why did you decide that ________________________?
Evaluate whether you would or in this situation ________________. Why _______________________________________?