Taxonomies from a cognitive to a digital revolution, focusing on transferable skills

Abstract

The taxonomies that contributed to the cognitive revolution are an important starting point for the interpretation of knowledge. The aim of this article is to analyses Bloom's and related taxonomies in terms of transferable skills from a cognitive to a digital revolution. Benjamin Bloom published his taxonomy in 1956, in which he developed the classification of cognitive objectives, among others. In Bloom's taxonomy, transferable skills appear only indirectly in relation to the application of knowledge in new situations. However, de Block has already considered transfer ability of knowledge an aspect of learning objectives. In the SOLO taxonomy, transfer is accomplished at the relational and extended abstraction levels, when critical thinking and the generalization of the structure are in focus. Later, in Bloom's revised taxonomy, the meanings of each development level were expanded, emphasizing problem-solving skills in higher-order thinking. In today's unfolding digital revolution, collaboration is crucially important, which appears in the digital age learning matrix and also in the digital taxonomy. Consequently, transferable skills as general skills that must be also important among the higher educational objectives that can increase employees' chances to get non-matching jobs compared to their special degrees.