Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist who categorized learning into several levels or domains. He suggested that learning is hierarchical, encompassing both lower level learning and higher level learning. This hierarchy is visually represented in the inverted pyramid below. It illustrates why learning in university is more demanding than learning in high school, and the distinctions between undergraduate and graduate level learning. While you will likely encounter learning at all levels throughout your academic journey, it helps to consider this hierarchy when considering how your work in grad school will be assessed.
Drag and Drop the labels high school, undergraduate and graduate studies to match the levels of learning most predominantly associated with each of these levels of study.
Instructors typically view graduate students as mature, committed, skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable. Consequently, graduate students are commonly assigned heavy reading loads, given demanding tasks and assignments, and are expected to perform at a high level. Additional expectations may include regular lab hours or work as a teaching or research assistant.
Graduate-level work tends to emphasize originality, creativity, and innovation; in short, students are tasked with regularly developing new knowledge and insights while simultaneously deepening their subject expertise. Students are not just expected to know the material but to do something with it.
What does this look like in practice?
Students may be required to
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