Critical Thinking in the Management Classroom: Bloom's Taxonomy as a Learning Tool

This article discusses the use of Bloom's taxonomy as a metacognitive framework for the student-centered management class, or what contemporary education researchers call scaffolding. The taxonomy is a six-level classification system that uses observed student behavior to infer the level of cognitive achievement. The article surveys thinking within general education and within management education, which draws on Bloom's taxonomy, and then describes suggested uses of the taxonomy. Empirical evaluation of its effect on student achievement follows, as do thoughts about ways colleagues might use this tool to empower their management students as self-responsible learners in the classroom.