A Comparative Study of Cognitive Demands Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy in English Exam Questions at Matriculation Level in Pakistan

Abstract

Assessment and evaluation in the educational field play an important role in developing learning strategies and students' academic improvement. The current study aims at comparing subjective type, English Matriculation Examination Questions (i.e., prepared by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Multan) during the years 2014-2015 and thus years 2024-2025 which makes a total of 64 questions in all, 16 for each year with a gap of ten years. Total eight subjective question papers have been included. Each year got two question papers including both paper A and paper B respectively.  This research has been conducted by applying Six Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy levels (1956). Major domains of the model include low levels, such as remembering, understanding, applying, and high levels, such as analyzing, evaluating, and creating, which focus on acquiring critical skills. Furthermore, the research identifies amendments and thus define the proportion of low-order and high-order questions. The methodology comprises a mixed-method approach and seeks to find the alignment with the six different levels. Findings reveal that the paper setters should construct a balanced question paper, adding more high-order questions, which discourages memorization and rote learning among the students.

Keywords: Bloom’s Taxonomy, English Exam Questions, Cognitive Skills, High and Low Order Questions.