بررسی و تحلیل سؤالات آزمون‌های نهایی درس فارسی پایة دوازدهم علوم انسانی بر اساس طبقه‌‌‌بندی شناختی بلوم

The purpose of the present study is to identify and analyze the final examination questions of the Grade 12 Persian language course in the humanities stream according to the different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. This study, using the content analysis method, examined the questions of the national Persian final exams administered between 2014 and 2024 (1393–1403). First, the questions were categorized based on the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy—knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and creation—and their frequencies were determined. Then, the data were analyzed and examined statistically using the Chi-square test and Fisher’s Exact Test. The findings indicate that in the early years, most of the questions were concentrated in the lower cognitive levels (knowledge and comprehension), with the main focus of the exams on basic concept learning and information reproduction. In contrast, the proportion of questions at higher levels such as synthesis and evaluation was very limited. This demonstrates that, during the examined period, the Persian final exams placed less emphasis on developing students’ analytical skills, critical evaluation, and creativity. Furthermore, the results show that there have been significant changes over time in the distribution of Bloom’s cognitive levels. In particular, higher levels such as application and analysis have increased in recent years, indicating a change in the assessment approach and a greater focus on higher cognitive levels. Compared with earlier years, lower-level questions have decreased, reflecting a shift in educational expectations and evaluation practices. Therefore, in recent years, notable changes have been observed in the structure and content of the Persian final exam questions, moving toward strengthening critical thinking and analytical skills.
Extended Abstract:
Introduction
Examinations are essential instruments for evaluating students’ progress and the effectiveness of educational systems. In Iran, the final national exams (“Azmoon-e Nahayi”) play a central role in assessing students’ academic achievements at the end of high school. However, the cognitive depth of these exams — that is, how much they assess different levels of thinking — has often been questioned.
This study aims to evaluate the cognitive levels of the final exam questions in Persian language for 12th-grade humanities students over a ten-year period (2014–2024 / 1393–1403 in the Iranian calendar). The research specifically applies Bloom’s revised taxonomy to classify and analyze the questions according to six cognitive levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and creation. By doing so, the study seeks to determine the extent to which these exams measure higher-order thinking skills, such as critical analysis, reasoning, and creativity, rather than simple memorization and recall.
Bloom’s taxonomy (1956) and its revised version (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001) provide a hierarchical model for categorizing cognitive processes in education. The taxonomy’s six levels — from simple recall of facts to creative synthesis and evaluation — offer a structured approach to designing and analyzing educational objectives and assessments.
According to this framework, lower-order skills (knowledge and comprehension) emphasize memory and understanding, while higher-order skills (application, analysis, evaluation, creation) involve reasoning, synthesis, judgment, and innovation.
This research builds on the idea that balanced assessment across all levels is essential for nurturing critical thinking (Facione, 1990; Halpern, 1998) — a skill recognized as fundamental for academic success and informed citizenship. The study assumes that exams heavily weighted toward lower cognitive levels may promote rote learning and limit students’ analytical and creative abilities.
The study addresses four key questions:

What cognitive levels do the national Persian exams for 12th-grade humanities students primarily assess?
Do these exams adequately cover all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy?
Which levels are most and least represented in the exam questions?
What changes or improvements can be made to design exams that better promote higher-order thinking?

Methodology
This study employed a descriptive–analytical design using the method of content analysis to examine the final national examination questions in the Persian language for 12th-grade humanities students in Iran from 2014 to 2024 (1393–1403). The data set included all official exam papers issued by the Ministry of Education, collected through the national assessment archives. Each question was carefully coded and classified according to the six cognitive levels of Bloom’s taxonomy — knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and creation — in order to identify their frequency and distribution. To ensure accuracy and reliability, two independent raters reviewed and cross-checked the classification results, and discrepancies were resolved through consensus. The categorized data were entered into SPSS version 25 for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the frequency and percentage of each cognitive level, while Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact tests were employed to examine the significance of changes across years. This systematic procedure provided both quantitative and qualitative insight into evolving trends in exam design and cognitive emphasis.
 Results
Across the ten-year period, the results show a strong dominance of lower-level cognitive skills. Table 1  shows the results of  842 questions which were analyzed in this study.




Blooms’ Taxonomy levels


Frequency in Percentage




Knowledge


 26.84%




Comprehension


 63.18%




Application


 1.54%




Analysis


 7.84%




Evaluation


 0.36%




Creation


 0.24%




As Table 1 indicates, approximately 90% of all questions belong to the two lowest cognitive levels (knowledge and comprehension). In contrast, questions that require students to apply, analyze, evaluate, or create are extremely limited.
The Chi-square and Fisher’s Exact tests revealed a statistically significant relationship between exam year and cognitive level distribution (p < 0.001), suggesting some evolution over time. Specifically, questions at the “application” and “analysis” levels have modestly increased in recent years, particularly after 1400 (2021–2022). However, this growth remains limited, and the majority of questions still measure basic recall and understanding.
The findings clearly demonstrate a misalignment between educational objectives and assessment design. Despite the widespread advocacy for promoting critical thinking and analytical literacy within national curricula, the Persian final exams continue to prioritize memorization-based knowledge. The prevalence of low-level questions confirms the persistence of a memory-oriented examination culture, which reinforces surface learning rather than deep understanding.
This pattern echoes earlier studies (Philosofinejad et al., 2016; Shohamy, 2013), which found similar tendencies in Iranian and international contexts. The lack of higher-order questions means that students are rarely challenged to interpret, critique, or generate new ideas based on literary and linguistic content.
On the other hand, the gradual rise in “application” and “analysis” questions in later years suggests a slow shift in exam design philosophy, perhaps reflecting the influence of recent educational reforms and professional training for teachers and exam writers. However, these shifts are not yet substantial enough to change the overall assessment landscape.
Conclusion
Over the decade studied, national Persian exams for Grade 12 humanities students have predominantly assessed knowledge and comprehension, with minimal attention to analysis, evaluation, or creation. Although minor improvements are evident in recent years, the general pattern indicates a sustained emphasis on surface learning.
To move toward a more dynamic and cognitively rich assessment system, Iran’s educational policymakers and exam committees must consciously redesign their question frameworks to promote critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving. Such transformation will help prepare students not just to recall information, but to apply, interpret, and evaluate it in meaningful contexts.
The predominance of lower-order cognitive questions in the national Persian exams has significant implications for the broader educational process. Such an assessment pattern reinforces rote learning, encouraging students to memorize rather than to think, analyze, and apply their knowledge critically. Consequently, learners are deprived of opportunities to engage in deeper forms of understanding, such as interpretation, synthesis, and creative expression. This imbalance not only limits the development of higher-order thinking skills but also diminishes motivation among students who might otherwise excel in analytical and evaluative tasks. Moreover, it narrows the educational outcomes by producing graduates who are adept at recalling information but insufficiently prepared for the intellectual demands of higher education and professional life.
To address these shortcomings, exam designers and curriculum planners need to adopt a more balanced and progressive approach to assessment design. Examinations should increasingly incorporate questions that target complex cognitive processes, including analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Such reform would align testing practices more closely with the goals of the national curriculum, which aspires to nurture critical and creative thinkers. Furthermore, teacher training programs should emphasize strategies for constructing higher-order exam questions and for assessing reasoning and interpretive skills effectively. Periodic review and content analysis of national exams are also essential to ensure that all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy are adequately represented. By embedding these changes into the structure of exam design, the education system can move beyond memorization-based evaluation and cultivate a learning culture centered on inquiry, reasoning, and intellectual growth.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.