ANALYSIS OF TURKISH HIGH-SCHOOL CHEMISTRY-EXAMINATION QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO BLOOM’S TAXONOMY

Abstract

Improving students’ conceptual understanding depends on the question types asked in exams by the teachers. In the related literature, in order to analyse the cognitive levels of the questions, Bloom’s Taxonomy has been mostly used. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the chemistry questions asked in exams at different schools in two cities in Turkey in terms of the levels of cognitive domain of Bloom’s Taxonomy. The study was carried out in three types of high schools (student age: 14-17): ‘Ordinary’, ‘Anatolian’, and ‘Vocational’, from the cities of Trabzon and Amasya, with 17 chemistry teachers in 2000-01. 403 questions set in school examinations were analysed. It was found that 96% of the questions were of the lower-order cognitive skills (LOCS) type. Statistical tests showed that the question types were related to school type. On the other hand, more than half of the questions asked in the university entrance examination (OSS) were of the higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) type. This contradiction causes a problem between the assessment at high school and that at the OSS. Recommendations for overcoming this problem are made. [Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.: 2003, 4, 25-30]