Abstract: This presentation reports a study investigating the process of designing assessment criteria aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy. The setting of the study is in a large urban university in the United States. Graduate students in an online discussion-based course participate in the study. It is a design-based study, integrating three essential elements: design, implementation, and investigation. The assessment criteria are designed based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. The design is applied in authentic learning context. Student discussion postings are archived. The content analysis is utilized to analyze student postings. The insights gleaned through the investigation are the stepping stone for the next cycle of re-design. The presentation will discuss detailed design process, implementation issues and the results of analysis of student discussion postings.