Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Training Players

Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy to Training Players
By Damianos Contopoulos (Deer Park, N.Y., Long Island Volleyball Club/Garden Empire Region)

Coaching is Teaching
Coaching is the highest form of teaching. Players must make important decisions with split second timing during the course of a match all while physically executing their plan based on those decisions. Coaches must educate their players to make the correct decision in every situation that arises. In a match, each of these decisions are immediately assessed resulting in a positive or negative outcome.

If coaching is teaching, then it is surprising that general educational theories are not often applied in training programs. A coach can use a fundamental educational theory, called Bloom’s Taxonomy, to train high-level players. This article will show how this idea can be used to develop a quality setter. The first section of this article will explain what Bloom’s Taxonomy states. Next, it will list the author’s biases when it comes to the characteristics of a quality setter. This article will then show how various responses to a simple question shows various levels of understanding. Finally, the author will suggest some methods to use in practice to improve player’s cognitive abilities.

Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy was developed in 1956 by an educational committee chaired by a man named Benjamin Bloom. It is a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important for learning. A revised version of the taxonomy was created in 2000. The most recent version will be used in this article, which exchanges the top two tiers of cognitive learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy identifies three “domains” of learning. These domains are the cognitive (how people think) domain, the affective domain (how people react emotionally), and the psycho-motor (what people do) domain. Each of these domains is broken down into a range of low to higher levels of understanding. It may be beneficial for coaches to review the contents of the psycho-motor domain when teaching a particular skill or technique. However, coaches must not neglect the cognitive domain during practice.

The cognitive domain is broken down into six categories: Remembering, Comprehending, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating. Table 1 lists each of the increasing understanding levels along with their application in a classroom. Also included in Table 1 is the author’s interpretation of each level as applied in the gym.

Table 1

Characteristics of a Quality Setter
By identifying the author’s biases and beliefs of what makes a superior setter, the reader will be able to appreciate the value of this educational theory without judgment of the tactics it is used to teach. In addition, the reader can adjust the application of Bloom’s Taxonomy to suit their own beliefs.

An ideal setter must be smart and decisive. A quality setter can think quickly on his feet. He must understand the offensive systems and tactics being employed by the team. He must know the strengths, weaknesses and tendencies of all of his teammates. He must also know the strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of his opponent. A quality setter should be able to take in and interpret all of this data and use it to identify mismatches that will give his team an advantage.

Responses to the question “Why?”
John Kessel, USA Volleyball's managing director of Region Services, stresses the importance of asking our players “Why?” This gets them to think about the game. Coaches must be aware that players could answer this question with that a range of answers that show various levels of understanding of the game.

Assume your team is playing in a tournament against a rival team. Your team is trailing 23-19 and is currently receiving serve. Your libero passes the ball outside the 3-meter line in the center of the court. Your setter sets a high outside ball. Your outside hitter proceeds to get stuff blocked. You call a time out and ask your setter "Why did you set the ball outside on that play?"

One of the simplest answers that a setter can give to this question is “I don’t know.” This response is not on the spectrum of understanding according to Bloom because it shows absolutely no understanding of the game. This answer should not be accepted as a valid response.

A possible reply to the question is “Because you told me to set the outside hitter when the ball is passed outside the 3-meter line.” This is an example of Remembering. The player recalled some information that was given to him/her at an earlier time and simply regurgitated that information by making the decision that he/she did.

Yet another response could be “Our outside hitter is our best hitter and I thought that set would give us the best opportunity for a point.” This is an example of Applying. This setter now understands the abilities of his/her teammates, along with his/her own abilities, and attempts to maximize his/her own team’s strengths.

Your setter could say “The last two times we were out-of-system, I set back row. I did not want to be predictable or establish a pattern so I set the front row outside hitter.” Another version of this answer could be. “I set the outside hitter the last three sets. No one would have thought I was going to set him/her again.” This is an example of Analyzing. This now shows that the setter is aware of himself/herself, his/her teammates, and now, previous tendencies and patterns.

“Before I set the ball, I noticed the opposing middle blocker cheating over to block our right side hitter.” This answer is an example of Evaluating. The setter is self aware, understands his/her own teammate’s abilities, but now also takes in information during the play about his/her opponent. Although this is a very difficult skill to attain, it shows a higher level of understanding of the game overall.

Finally your setter could say “Before the serve, I looked at our lineup and the opponent’s lineup and identified a blocking mismatch on our left side. The ball was passed and I saw that we were out-of-system. I noticed the middle block cheating to our right side, so I decided to set what I believed was our best opportunity to get a point.” This is an example of Creating. This setter has formulated a plan prior to the serve and executed that plan using available information during the play. If any setter gave this answer to the question of “Why?”, a coach could be completely confident that his/her setter has a high understanding of the game.

Training for Understanding
How do we coach our players to reach higher levels of learning? First, it must be said that players will naturally attain higher levels simply through age, maturity, and perhaps most importantly, experience. Therefore coaches must give players as many opportunities as possible to play and learn from the game itself. Coaches should talk less and players should play more. In addition, drills should be designed in practice to be game-like and the skills learned must be directly transferable to matches.

Secondly, coaches should refrain from being a dictator. Coaches who attempt to tell their players exactly what to do and when to do it are not developing self sustaining players that fully understand the game. Players that simply do what they are told will never ascend from the Remembering level to the Creating level.

Coaches should continue to ask their players “Why?” Once the player answers and shows what level of Bloom’s Taxonomy they are on, coaches should use the Socratic method of asking the right questions to guide them to the next level. Simply giving them a better answer to the question is not as effective as getting them to better answer the question themselves. It is not recommended to skip one or more levels unless the coach deems that the player is ready to do so.

Another idea is to have players teach their teammates or younger players a skill or tactic. This will allow them to break down the information into simple parts for themselves. They must create a model of the information that is easily understood by someone else. They will find that simply remembering and regurgitating the explanation that was given to them when they originally learned the skill, will most likely not work. Also, the player must be prepared if their own student decides to ask them “Why?” This method indirectly forces the player to justify every component of a skill or tactic in their own head.

Finally, take advantage of modern technology. Use video of matches and practice to guide players during discussions of answers to your question of “Why?” Show the player what they can be looking for (on both sides of the net) before and during a play that will give the team the best opportunities to score points.

Conclusion
Volleyball is a game of decisions. Players must make important decisions throughout the game. Decisions like who to set, to hit line or angle, where to serve, or where to stand on defense are made constantly even without the player realizing that they are deciding on them. By fully understanding Bloom’s Taxonomy and using the suggestions mentioned above, coaches can develop high functioning, self sufficient players that make effective decisions before and during rallies.

References
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blooms_taxonomy
odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm