Principles for assigning course numbers:
Courses that are labeled as 100, 200, 300, or 400 should reflect the Principles of Bloom's Taxonomy.
The basic idea behind Bloom's Taxonomy is that knowledge and skills build across time. We can consider that the skills and knowledge expected of students in 100-level courses will be lower on the taxonomy scale than what 300/400 levels.
Most institutions separate course work for students into upper and lower division courses. Lower-level (100-200) courses tend to be introductory in nature, either introductions to the major or to the discipline, and broad in their scope (the site of the so-called "survey courses"). Upper-level courses, on the other hand, are the places where the knowledge and skills of students can be deepened, with the higher levels of expertise we come to expect of students who have had wide and deep experiences in their majors/minors. In many cases the upper division courses are most appropriate for majors and minors, but not in all.
The Basic Principles in Bloom's Taxonomy
| KNOWLEDGE |
Remember Information |
| COMPREHENSION |
Explain the meaning of information |
| APPLICATION |
Use abstractions in concrete situations |
| ANALYSIS |
Break down a whole into component parts |
| EVALUATION |
Make judgments about the merits of ideas, materials, or phenomena |
How 100-400 levels can be organized:
| 100 Level |
Initial immersion in experience with the discipline without expectation of previous exposure |
Bloom: Knowledge and Comprehension |
| 200 Level |
Secondary immersion with the discipline to deepen familiarity with more focused study |
Bloom: Knowledge, Comprehension, and Application |
|
300 Level |
Tertiary immersion, now with special attention to application and analysis within the discipline |
Bloom: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and analysis |
| 400 Level |
Synthetic evaluative experience with the discipline, including disciplinary inquiry and methodology |
Bloom: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, and Evaluation |
**Adapted from George Boger, Department of Philosophy