A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing by Lorin W. Anderson

The Librarian August 28, 2025

📝 Bloom’s Taxonomy for Testers — Designing Better Tests, Trainings, and Thinking

🔍 Introduction

While A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing isn’t a software testing book per se, it’s incredibly useful for QA professionals, test analysts, trainers, and ISTQB students who design tests — of systems and knowledge.

This revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy helps clarify different levels of cognitive learning — from remembering facts to evaluating abstract systems.
If you’ve ever struggled to write test objectives, learning goals, or even test questions, this book will sharpen your skills.

📚 What You’ll Learn

The six levels of cognitive processes: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create
How to structure assessments or interviews based on mental complexity
Examples of measurable learning objectives — ideal for training QA teams
Insights into how testers (and users) process, retain, and use information
A framework you can use to write better test cases and learning materials

✅ Who Should Read This

QA trainers, mentors, and team leads
Test analysts preparing exam-style assessments or training sessions
ISTQB coaches or content creators
Anyone designing onboarding programs or internal QA workshops

💡 My Top 3 Takeaways

Not all testing is created equal — use cognitive levels to define test depth.
You can use Bloom’s Taxonomy to evaluate tests themselves, not just learners.
High-quality test design isn’t just technical — it’s pedagogical too.