Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Creating Effective Multiple-Choice Exams

The Bloom’s Taxonomy application helps teachers design more effective multiple-choice tests by categorizing cognitive levels from remembering to creating. NineQuiz supports test creation, question shuffling, and result statistics, enabling flexible and easy implementation of Bloom’s.

What is Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Bloom’s Taxonomy is an educational theoretical framework designed by Benjamin Bloom and colleagues to classify learners’ cognitive levels from low to high. The levels include: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create.

Bloom’s Taxonomy has become an excellent tool to help teachers design lessons, syllabi, and exams that foster learners’ thinking skills, overcoming rote memorization and mechanical learning.

Why should Bloom’s Taxonomy be applied when creating multiple-choice tests?

1. Increases differentiation

When creating multiple-choice tests based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, teachers ensure that the exam includes various levels, helping to classify students’ abilities from average to advanced.

2. Develops sustainable thinking

Learners are encouraged not only to memorize but also to deeply understand, apply knowledge, and know how to self-assess and create.

3. Increases grading and assessment efficiency

When each question is clearly linked to a Bloom’s level, analyzing and evaluating results becomes more objective and scientific.

Bloom’s Taxonomy helps explain the human learning process when acquiring and practicing new knowledge:

  • Before you UNDERSTAND knowledge, you must first REMEMBER it.
  • You can only APPLY knowledge once you UNDERSTAND it.
  • You need to clearly ANALYZE knowledge to have a basis for EVALUATION.
  • Making reasonable, CREATIVE decisions requires accurate EVALUATION of ideas.

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Creating Effective Multiple-Choice Exams

Bloom’s Taxonomy – Hierarchical scale of objectives in training and learning

Guide to creating multiple-choice tests according to Bloom’s Taxonomy

Level 1: Remember

Objective: Recognize and recall learned knowledge
Question type: "Who? What? When?"
Example: "In which year did Vietnam gain independence?"

Level 2: Understand

Objective: Interpret, summarize, illustrate knowledge
Question type: "Interpret"; "Explain why? What is the significance?"
Example: "Grade 10 Biology: What role does photosynthesis play in the carbon cycle?"

Level 3: Apply

Objective: Apply knowledge to new situations
Question type: "Solve problems, apply rules..."
Example: "Given triangle ABC, with AB = 5cm, AC = 6cm, angle A = 60°. Calculate the area of the triangle."

Level 4: Analyze

Objective: Analyze structure, relationships
Question type: "Analyze, group, classify"
Example: "What type of sentence is the following? Explain your choice."

Level 5: Evaluate

Objective: Comment, critique, choose arguments
Question type: "Evaluate, compare, contrast"
Example: "In your opinion, which artistic device in the poem is more effective?"

Level 6: Create

Objective: Create products, plans, solve problems
Question type: "Plan, design, rewrite..."
Example: "Write a paragraph describing the tree in front of your house."

Suggested ratio for test creation according to Bloom’s

  • Remember + Understand: 40% (assessment for average students)
  • Apply + Analyze: 40% (develop thinking skills)
  • Evaluate + Create: 20% (differentiation, encourage good and excellent students)

Guide to using NineQuiz to create tests according to Bloom’s Taxonomy

NineQuiz is an online platform that helps teachers create and manage multiple-choice tests efficiently. Although NineQuiz has not yet integrated an automatic question classification feature according to Bloom’s Taxonomy, teachers can apply their knowledge of Bloom to design questions and use NineQuiz’s features to organize and manage tests.​

Steps to follow:

  1. Identify learning objectives: Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, determine the cognitive level you want to assess.​

  2. Design questions: Compose questions appropriate to the selected level.​

  3. Use NineQuiz to create the test:

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Creating Effective Multiple-Choice Exams



  • Go to NineQuiz and log in to your account.​
  • Create a new test and enter your prepared questions.​
  • Use features such as shuffling questions, setting time limits, and sharing the test via link or QR code.​

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Creating Effective Multiple-Choice Exams

Why is NineQuiz a suitable tool for implementing Bloom’s Taxonomy?

Although NineQuiz does not yet automatically analyze cognitive levels according to Bloom, the platform provides all the features teachers need to effectively apply Bloom’s Taxonomy:

  • Quick test creation: You can easily design multiple-choice questions according to each predetermined cognitive level and upload them to the system for students to take online.
  • Test result statistics and analysis: After students complete the test, NineQuiz displays detailed statistics such as average scores and questions most frequently answered incorrectly, helping teachers clearly identify each student’s abilities.
  • Automatic test and question shuffling: Helps prevent students from sharing answers during the test, and supports assessment at differentiated levels as suggested by Bloom’s Taxonomy.
  • Flexible test sharing: Via link or QR code, making it easy for teachers to distribute tests and track results anywhere.

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy in constructing multiple-choice tests not only ensures good differentiation but also promotes deeper and more comprehensive thinking among students. Although NineQuiz does not yet automatically classify Bloom’s levels, it is an ideal tool for teachers to easily, quickly, and effectively implement this method.

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