Theory-Informed Course Design: Applications of Bloom’s Taxonomy in Undergraduate Public Health Courses

Thumbnail Image

Files

Blooms Paper_Accepted Version for ScholarWorks.pdf (462.46 KB)

Links to Files

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2373379920979684?journalCode=phpa

Permanent Link

https://doi.org/10.1177/2373379920979684
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/20634

Collections

UMBC Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health Department
UMBC Faculty Collection

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2020-12-17

Type of Work

journal articles postprints
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Callaghan-Koru JA, Aqil AR. Theory-Informed Course Design: Applications of Bloom’s Taxonomy in Undergraduate Public Health Courses. Pedagogy in Health Promotion. December 2020. doi:10.1177/2373379920979684

Rights

This item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
Jennifer A. Callaghan-Koru and Anushka R. Aqil, Theory-Informed Course Design: Applications of Bloom’s Taxonomy in Undergraduate Public Health Courses, Pedagogy in Health Promotion. Copyright © 2020 Society for Public Health Education. DOI: 10.1177/2373379920979684.

Subjects

Abstract

The public health workforce needs an array of knowledge and skills to effectively address current and future public health challenges. While existing competency models establish educational objectives for public health degree programs, there is insufficient guidance on how academic programs should develop these competencies, and workforce assessments continue to identify skills gaps in areas such as critical thinking and problem analysis. In this article, we describe an approach for designing undergraduate public health courses based on the hierarchy of cognitive processes in Bloom’s taxonomy. Course activities are sequenced to provide students with opportunities to attain increasing mastery of course concepts and analytical skills, from remembering new concepts to applying them in case studies and creating original analyses and proposals. This simple approach has been applied to three separate courses taught by multiple instructors over 3 years and has received positive feedback from students. By explicitly communicating the theoretical basis for course activities, this approach also promotes metacognitive knowledge in students that can foster their continued learning success.