Robert Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction

“Organization is the hallmark of effective

instructional materials”.

Robert Gagne1916-present

Objectives

Describe considerations in selecting an instructional

delivery system.

Name and use the five learning components of an

instructional strategy.

Develop an instructional strategy.

Select appropriate student groupings and media for

the learning components of an instructional

strategy.

Robert Gagne

Behaviorist roots Extended Skinner’s work into the design of

instruction for humans: Skinner: animal learning → human learning Gagné: human learning → ID similarities in all

human learning circumstances to → ID best practices

“What factors really can make a difference in instruction?”

WWII Training air force personnel Analyzed training tasks & ID’d 3 principles:

Provide instruction on the set of sub skills that build toward the final task

Ensure that each sub skill is mastered before moving forward with the instruction

Sequence the learning of sub skills to logically lead to the final learning

Instructional psychology → Instructional theory (methods most likely to result in learning)

Came to believe learning contributes to individual development learning = environmental stimulation +

learner cognitive processing

Robert Gagné: Instructional Psych.

Learning contributes to individual development. Based on two characteristics of human learning:

1. Human learning isn’t a process of acquiring isolated bits of information – instead, much of human learning generalizes to multiple situations

2. Learning of more complex skills is based on prior learning of less complex skills – human learning is cumulative

If Gagné is correct in suggesting that experience plays a major role in children’s development, what consequences does that imply for society’s obligation to its children?

Based on his feeling that learning is tied to cognitive development, Gagné rejected Skinner’s work as too simple to fully explain complex human learning.

Skinner focus was on behaviour while he focussed on behaviour and cognitive processes

Learning is complex – no simple set of characteristics can define it

Gagné said learning is a mechanism by which an individual becomes a competent functioning member of society.

Instructional theory – what works in education Gagné’s theories evolved over time to incorporate 3

major components of effective instruction:

1. A taxonomy of learning outcomes

2. Specific learning conditions required for the attainment of each outcome

3. Nine events of instruction

Taxonomy of learning outcomes

Different types of knowledge: Declarative (Shakespeare lived in the 16th

century) Procedural (conjugate verbs / balance a budget) Conditional (knowing when and how to apply

declarative or procedural knowledge) Motor skills (write / bicycle / stick shift Affective (feelings toward objects or behaviors)

Gagné – an integrated taxonomy

Robert Gagné: Learning Outcomes

1. Verbal information (declarative knowledge) The vast body of organized knowledge learners

acquire through formal schooling, books, television, and any other means

What individuals recall when playing Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit

Gagné was in agreement with Ausubel, information-processing theorists, and schema theorists: learners organize knowledge in schemata

Robert Gagné: Learning Outcomes

2. Five intellectual skills (procedural knowledge)

1. Discrimination

2. Concrete concepts

3. Defined concepts

4. Rules

5. Higher-order rules

ID right triangles

ID right angles ID triangles

Discriminate right angles

from other angles

Discriminate triangles from other shapes

Robert Gagné: Learning Outcomes

3. Cognitive strategies (personal ways of / strategies for guiding behavior: learning, thinking, acting or feeling)

4. Attitudes (feelings governing behavior)

5. Motor skills ( actions involving the use of muscles)

Robert Gagné: Learning Conditions

Learning conditions: what must be present or included in instruction to support success

Requires clear learning goals Behaviorist perspective

Critique Mixed research findings concerning objectives.

Most studies show a small positive or no effect on intentional learning (relating directly to the objectives) and a harmful affect on incidental learning (information unrelated to the objectives).

Robert Gagné: Learning Conditions

Objectives needed by instructional designers Effective instruction - Alignment Supports systematic planning for instruction

Categorized objectives by learning outcomes Identify extra conditions that critically

influence mastery of the five major types of learning outcomes

Design instruction based on the nine events of instruction

Structured Instruction: Robert Gagné Robert Gagné, an educational psychologist, is known

for his research into a systematic design and approach to instruction and teaching methods.

In 1965, he published The Conditions of Learning. He also developed The Nine Events of Instruction.

Through this what we get is a formula or approach to deliver instruction and to guide the learning process.

Even if you have never heard of Gagné's nine events of instruction, most instructors intuitively employ some of them in their instructional design.

The nine events of instruction offer you a way to reflect on possible strategies to engage your students; however, all nine events may not fit all instructional needs.

(Driscoll, 2000)

Gagne’s Theoretical Background

Robert Gagne is best known for his learning outcomes, learning conditions, and his nine events of instruction.

Gagne’s theories have been applied to the design of instruction in several domains beyond the educational realm, such as the military, Instructional Systems Development, flying, troubleshooting, leadership, medical care, & engineering.

Gagne’s theory should be classified as instructional theory as opposed to a learning theory. A learning theory consists of a set of propositions and constructs that account for how changes in human performance abilities come about. On the other hand, an instructional theory seeks to describe the conditions under which one can intentionally arrange for the learning of specific performance outcomes.

Gagne’s Theoretical Orientation

Gagne’s instructional theory tends to side with behavioristic principles (teacher-centered approach) because he focuses on outcomes/behaviors that result from instruction. Further, he believes that the results of learning are measurable through testing, and that drill, practice, and immediate feedback are effective.

Gagne’s theories became influenced by cognitive theorists. He proposed that the information-processing model of learning could be combined with behaviorist concepts to provide a more complete view of learning tasks (Molenda, 2002):

Gagne (1997): “These [cognitive] theories propose that stimulation encountered by the learner is transformed or processed in a number of ways (i.e., through commitment to short-term memory, conversion to long-term memory, and the retention and retrieval of that

information) by internal structures during the period in which the changes identified as learning takes place.”

(Campos, 1999)

Gagne’s Theoretical Orientation (Cont’d)

In his view, effective instruction must reach beyond traditional learning theories (behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism) and provide support to transition from simple to complex skills, thus using an hierarchical model for learning.

 

Overview of Gagne’s Theories

Gagne’s Taxonomy of Learning states that there are five major categories of learning outcomes: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes; The five subcategories of intellectual skills are hierarchical in nature (low-level skills to high-level skills). Gagne’s hierarchy of intellectual skills follows programmed instruction since one skill must be learned before another can be mastered.

Overview of Gagne’s Theories (Cont’d)

Verbal information: Reciting something from memory  Intellectual skills:

Discrimination: Recognizing that two classes of things differ Concrete concept: Classifying things by their physical features

alone Defined concept: Classifying things by their abstract (and possibly

physical) features Rule: Applying a simple procedure to solve a problem or accomplish

a task Higher-order rule: Applying a complex procedure (or multiple

simple procedures) to solve a problem or accomplish a task Cognitive strategies: Inventing or selecting a particular mental

process to solve a problem or accomplish a task Attitudes: Choosing to behave in a way that reflects a newly-acquired

value or belief Motor skills: Performing a physical task to some specified standard

Overview of Gagne’s Theories (Cont’d)

Gagne’s Theory says that learning hierarchies can be constructed by working backwards from the final learning objective. So, the key question to keep in mind when developing a learning hierarchy is “What are the intellectual skills one needs to have mastered in order to learn the new objective(s)?

The significance of this hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should occur to facilitate learning at each level and to provide the basis for the sequencing of instruction.

(http://www.educationau.edu.au/archives/cp/04d.htm)

 

Overview of Gagne’s Theories (Cont’d)

Gagne developed ideas known as Conditions of Learning, whereby he claimed that there are several different types or levels of learning. Therefore, he posits that each different type of learning requires different types of instruction.

Different internal & external conditions are necessary for each type of learning. The external conditions are the things that the teacher arranges during instruction, while internal conditions are skills and capabilities that the learner has already mastered.

(Driscoll, 2000)

 For example, for cognitive strategies to be learned, there must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to problems; to learn new attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role model or persuasive arguments.

http://www.educationau.edu.au/archives/cp/04d.htm

The Nine Events of Instruction

When the Events of Instruction occur, internal learning processes take place that lead to various learning outcomes.

(Campos, 1999)

The Events of Instruction constitute a set of communications to the student, which have the aim of aiding the learning process.

Instruction consists of a set of events external to the learner designed to support the internal processes of learning.

(Gagne, Briggs, & Wager, 1988)

This theory outlines nine instructional events and their corresponding processes.

The Nine Events of Instruction

 Event of Instruction 1. Gaining attention

Giving learner a stimulus to ensure reception of coming instruction

2. Informing the learner of the objectiveTelling learner what they will be able to do for the instruction

3. Stimulating recall of prior learningAsking for recall of existing relevant knowledge

4. Presenting the stimulusDisplaying the content

5. Providing learner guidanceSupplying organization and relevance to enhance understanding

Learning Process Attention

Expectancy

Retrieval to working memory

Pattern recognition; selective perception

Chunking, rehearsal, encoding

The Nine Events of Instruction

(Cont’d)

Events of Instruction

6. Eliciting performanceAsking learners to respond, demonstrating learning

7. Providing FeedbackGiving immediate feedback on learner's performance.

8. Assessing performanceProviding feedback to learners' more performance for reinforcement

9. Enhancing retention and transferProviding diverse practice to generalize the capability

Learning Process

Retrieval, responding

Reinforcement, error correction

Responding, retention

Retention, retrieval, generalization

The Nine Events of Instruction

(Cont’d)

Keep in mind that the exact form of these events is not something that can be specified in general for all lessons, but rather must be decided for each learning objective. The events of instruction must be deliberately arranged by the teacher to support learning processes.

(Gagne, Briggs, & Wager, 1988)

Instructional Components

Pre-instructional activities Motivating/gaining attention Informing learner of objectives/purposes Telling them what they already need to know

Content Presentation Presenting the content Guiding the learning

Learner Participation Giving the learner opportunities to practice Giving feedback

Assessment Follow-through activities

Components

Selection of Delivery System

Instructional Strategies

Selection of Media

Selection of Delivery System

1. Consider the goal, learner characteristics, the learning and performance contexts, objectives and assessment requirements.

2. Review the instructional analysis and identify logical groupings of objectives that will be taught in appropriate sequences.

3. Plan the learning components that will be used in the instruction.

4. Choose the most effective student grouping.5. Specify effective media and materials that are within the range

of cost, convenience, and practicality for the learning context.6. Select or develop a delivery system that best accommodates

the considerations in step 1 and the decisions made in steps 2-5.

Instructional Strategies

Instructional strategies are used generally to cover the various aspects of sequencing and organizing the content, specifying learning activities, and deciding how to deliver the content and activities.

Content Sequence

The first step in developing an instructional strategy is identifying a teaching sequence and manageable groupings of content.

What sequence should you follow in presenting content to the learner?

It depends on your instructional analysis

Clustering Instruction

The consideration of how to determine the amount of information to be presented.

The age level of your learners The complexity of material The type of learning taking place Whether the activity can be varied, thereby focusing

attention on the task The amount of time required to include all the events

Learning componentsfor various learning outcomes

The basic learning components of an instructional strategy are the same regardless of whether you are designing instruction for an intellectual skill, verbal information, a motor skill, or an attitude.

However, there are distinctions you should consider for each type of learning outcome.

Intellectual Skill

The strategy should provide ways in which the learner can link new content to existing prerequisite knowledge in memory.

Considerations: The congruence of practice to the conditions and behaviors prescribed in the objectives and covered in the instruction. The link between prerequisite knowledge and new skills and progressing from less difficult to more complex problems.

Verbal Information

Elaboration: strategies that link new information to knowledge currently stored in memory.

Organization: strategies that present similar information in subsets and provide direct instruction on the relationship among items in the subsets and among different subsets.

Mnemonic: when information is entirely new and unrelated to prior learning, then the strategy should include a memory device.

Motor Skills

The requirement of some form of visual presentation of the skill.

The categories of content and examples in a strategy usually take the form of a verbal description of the skill followed by an illustration.

Practice and feedback are the hallmarks of psychomotor skills.

Attitudes

Attitude consist of three components: feelings, behaviors, and cognitive understandings.

The content and example portion of the strategy should be delivered by someone or by an imaginary character who is respective and admired by the learners (human model).

The most important consideration in the instructional strategy for teaching an attitude is the adequacy of the components that will promote transfer.

Student Grouping

The type of student grouping (individual, pairs, small group, large group) depends on specific social interaction requirements and is often mixed within and among the learning components in a lesson or unit.

Dick, Carey, & Carey’s Advice on Developing an Instructional Strategy

1. Indicate the sequence of objectives and how you will cluster them

for instruction.

2. Indicate what you will do with regard to pre instructional activities,

assessment, and follow-through.

3. Indicate the content to be presented and student participation

activities for each objective or cluster of objectives.

4. Review your sequence and clusters of objectives, preinstructional

activities, assessment, content presentation, student participation

strategies, and student groupings and media selections.

5. Review the entire strategy again to consolidate your media

selection.

Selection of Media and Delivery System

Clark’s (1983) review of research established the basic argument that it is the design of instruction, rather than the medium used to deliver instruction, that determines student learning.

Selection of Media and Delivery System

Gagne, Briggs & Wager (1992) provide a summary of selection criteria of media based on the type of learning outcome.

Learning Outcome Exclusions Selections

Intellectual Skills Media that has no interactive featurePrinted discourse for nonreaders

Media providing feedback to learner responsesAudio and visual features for nonreaders

Cognitive Strategies Exclusions same as for intellectual skills

Media with same features as those for intellectual skills.

Declarative Knowledge Exclude only real equipment or simulator with no verbal accompaniments. Exclude complex prose for nonreaders.

Media able to present verbal messages and elaborations. Also, select audio and pictorial features for nonreaders.

Attitude Exclusions same as for verbal information

Media able to present realistic pictures of human model and the model’s message

Psychomotor Media having no provision for learner response and feedback.

Media making possible direct practice of skill, with informative feedback.

Closing

“Ingredients” for an instructional strategy (IS) include the results of the learner and context analyses, results of the instructional analysis, the performance objectives, and the assessment items.

An IS is a prescription for developing or selecting instructional materials.

The design of ISs is based on Gagne’s events of instruction.

Different learning outcomes need different ISs.

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Conceptual Learning of Instructional Materials for Preservice Teachers in Zimbabwe. Academic Search Premier Database.  Campos, Tracy. 1999. Gagné’s Contributions to the Study of Instruction

http://chd.gse.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/theorists/cognitivism/gagne.htm Conditions of Learning. http://tip.psychology.org/gagne.html Conditions of Learning: Exponent/Originator http://www.educationau.edu.au/archives/cp/04d.htm Driscoll, M. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction, 2nd edition. New York: Allyn & Bacon. Unit 6: Gagne’s Instructional

Design theory. http://education.indiana.edu/~p540/webcourse/gagne.html Fields, Dennis. (1996). The Impact of Gagne’s Theories on Practice. EDRS-Academic Search Database. Gagne, Briggs, & Wager.1988. Principles of Instructional Design. Holt, Rinehart & Winston: New York. Gagne's Learning Outcomes-- http://online.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/annie/gagne'slearningoutcome.html  Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction --http://online.sfsu.edu/~foreman/itec800/finalprojects/annie/gagne'snineevents.html Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction. http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/gagnesevents/index.htm House, Daniel J. 2002. The Use of Computers in a Mathematics lesson in Japan: A Case Analysis from the TIMSS Videotape

Classroom Study. International Journal of Instructional Media. Vol. 29(1). Academic Search Premier Database. Kruse, Kevin. Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction: An Introduction. www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art3_3.htm Molenda, Michael 2002. A New Framework for Teaching in the Cognitive Domain. ERIC Digest. Academic Search Premier

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http://hagar.up.ac.za/catts/learner/smarks/constructionist-Gagne.htm Wall, Patricia.1998. Say it Naturally. Heinle & Heinle: Boston.