synthesis

   The forming of a new and coherent whole by combining separate parts; and the ability to do so. Or, the complex whole formed this way. Synthesis represents the fifth level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain — the level of understanding just beyond application and analysis. Synthesis may involve the production of a unique communication (work of fine art, writing, or music), a plan of operations (research proposal), or set of abstract relations (scheme for classifying information). Learning outcomes in this area stress creative behaviors, with major emphasis on the formulation of new pattern or structures. Objectives of lessons which will increase a student's ability to synthesize can be stated with such behavioral terms as: assemble, blend, build, categorize, create, combine, compile, compose, construct, constitute, conceive, deconstruct, design, develop, devise, effect, evolve, explain, form, formulate, generate, invent, make up, model, modify, originate, plan, produce, rearrange, reconstruct, reorder, reorganize, revise, rewrite, structure, summarize, tell, and transform. The next higher thinking skill is evaluation. Also see Bloom's Taxonomy, fusion, incongruity, interdisciplinary, original, simulation, syncretism, synergy, transformation, unity, and universal artwork.