Evaluation of Science Teachers’ Exam and High School Entrance Exam Science Questions Based on the Revised Bloom Taxonomy

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate exam questions set by science teachers for eighth grade students and science questions from a central high school entrance exam (HSEE) according to the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (RBT). In this study, document analysis technique was employed, as one of the recognized methods of qualitative research. The HSEE science questions and the teacher-prepared exam questions were evaluated separately in the dimensions of knowledge and cognitive process, and the frequency and percentage distribution of the questions were examined according to the RBT. The science teachers’ exam questions were found to be the most suitable for factual knowledge in the RBT knowledge dimension, and the most appropriate for the remembering and understanding levels of the cognitive process dimension. It was determined that the HSEE science questions were the most suitable for conceptual and procedural types of knowledge in the RBT knowledge dimension, and for the understanding and analyzing levels in the cognitive process dimension. Both the questions prepared by teachers and the HSEE science questions were not homogeneously distributed in terms of the RBT. It was determined that while the science teachers’ exam questions were at the lower level of the cognitive process, the HSEE science questions were at a level higher than those prepared by the teachers.