Analyzing Learning Outcomes for Electronic Fundamentals Using Bloom’s Taxonomy

Abstract

Engineering education must enable students to acquire discipline specific knowledge with the important ability to apply theory in practice. This fusion of theory and practice enables students to progress to higher levels of cognitive development, where logical reasoning and critical thinking may be promoted. Bloom’s Taxonomy describes six levels of cognitive development ranging from simple memory recall to complex reasoning abilities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the learning outcomes of an Electronic fundamental module offered in Romania and in South Africa within the framework of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Documentary analysis is used in this descriptive qualitative study which is designated as a non-experimental research design. Results indicate that the two lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (knowledge and comprehension) contribute approximately 58% to the total learning outcomes at both universities. The third lower level, termed application which features the illustrative verb calculate, accounts for approximately 27% of the learning outcomes. The highest two levels, synthesis and evaluation, make up the remaining 15%. A key recommendation of this research is to encourage more collaboration between academics offering similar modules at different universities in order to determine the degree to which they promote higher level cognitive development.