Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

Gagne and Student Organization Officer Training

Luz Barboza
CSU, Monterey Bay
IST 620 Rosalie Strong

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

CSU, Monterey Bay currently has 85 active student club organizations. The minimum
make up of each student organization is 8 members. The department overseeing the management
and success of student organizations is Student Activities & Leadership Development. The
estimated student organization membership population is 1500 with an average age range
between 18-25 years. The number of staff available to manage this population is four. This ratio
reflects the immense need to provide efficient training and access to learning materials at any
time to student organization members.
There is an opportunity for SA&LD to create a new instructional plan to teach student
organization officers an introduction to their responsibilities as leaders of their group. These
responsibilities range from event planning, to keeping a shadow budget to travel. Because
student officers and members can change intermittently, this introduction must be available
electronically for access at any time. There are eleven topics to introduce in total. The first half
will be introduced to new members and the second half will be made available to returning
student leaders who have taken the first five. The goal in the second part of this training outline
is to build on the knowledge of returning student officers from their first training session. For the
purpose of this paper it will focus on applying Robert Gagnes conditions of learning theory to
the instruction provided to returning student officers.
Gagne began his career as an experimental psychologist and became known for his
cognitive based learning theory, Conditions of Learning with its supplemental instructional
theory, Nine Events of Instruction. Gagnes learning theory addresses the idea that learners have
varying depths of knowledge and therefore have varying abilities to process information. In other
words varying levels of cognitive ability (Gredler, 2009).

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

Gagnes framework for learning was based on the following, first to understand the
diversity of human abilities and acknowledge the process of learning is vast and unique to
individuals. Second, learning and how to instruct are not separate, they must be co-created
supporting one another for successful instruction and learning outcomes. From this distinction,
Gagnes foundation of learning consisted of these components, a) a system for accounting for
human capability diversity, b) the process by which the capabilities are acquired and c) the steps
in instruction that support each of the steps in learning (Gredler, 2009, p. 146).
From this framework Gagne went on to distinguish five varieties of learning tied to the
idea that individuals have varying capacities and abilities when acquiring knowledge. The five
varieties of learning are verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills
and attitudes (Gredler, 2009). Gagnes Taxonomy and conditions of learning are the internal
processes occurring in the students mind. Each method of learning responds to a different
external modality presented by the instructor and each signifies a unique manner of encoding
(Tough, 2012, p. 211). While the internal process is unique to each learner based on their unique
knowledge and abilities, the external process is reliant on the learning environment created by
the instructor. The instructor plays a vital role in creating an environment focused on the
engagement of the learners internal conditions of pre-knowledge and/or capabilities.
A feature to Gagnes learning theory is the learning hierarchy of the domain of
intellectual skills. It begins with an order of simple, pre-requisite skills and builds up to complex
skills. Each of the capabilities in intellectual skills is a discrete capability. Also each capability
is a pre-requisite to the next higher skill because it is folded into the learning of that skill
(Gredler, 2009, p. 159). In other words, intellectual skills are mastered by building from the
simple to complex capabilities, with complex skills at the top of the hierarchy. The simplest

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

intellectual skills begin from the bottom. They are Discrimination, Concrete Concept, and
Defined Concepts. These three skills defined are to tell the difference between two or more
stimulus, grouping objects based on physical characteristics and on classifying rules. Acquiring
these skills then moves learners into being able to apply rules, principles or formulas when
encountering problems. This summarizes the last two top intellectual skills, Rule Learning and
Problem Solving. In order to progress and fully acquire the formation of a concept, these
intellectual skills must be obtained in their hierarchical order (Gredler, 2009).
Understanding the significance of how instruction can guide the internal processing of
individuals, Gagne created nine steps of instruction to guide the creation of effective instruction.
They are the following (Gredler, 2009):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Gaining attention
Informing learners of the objective
Stimulating recall of prior learning
Presenting the stimulus
Providing learning guidance
Eliciting performance
Providing feedback
Assessing performance
Enhancing retention and transfer

In the article, Using Gagnes theory to teach procedural skills, the author Charlotte
Buscombe, examines how Gagnes nine steps of instruction can be effectively used to teach the
procedural skill of obtaining a bone marrow aspirate. Initially the instructors acknowledged what
the prerequisite knowledge would be (Buscombe, 2013). The first step was to gain attention,
speaking loudly, post thought provoking questions or use projected related slides to engage
expression. The second was the creation of learning objectives with clear expectations and
measurable learning outcomes. Third was stimulating recall of prior learning, understanding of

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

the disease relevant to the procedure helps contextualize learning (Buscombe, 2013, p. 304).
The fourth included presenting the stimulus material which consisted of learning objectives and
activities. The fifth step provided learner guidance with real time demonstrations on a replica
dummy. The sixth step elicited performance by practicing the procedure in small groups while
the seventh step provided instant feedback on their performance. The eighth step assessed the
performance of the learner without guidance with continued feedback. In the ninth and final step,
developing procedural success was reliant on providing supervised real time practice in the
clinical environment to enhance retention and the transfer of the procedure (Buscombe p. 306).
Similarly Gagnes nine steps of instruction would be used to guide the instruction of student
organization training specifically well focus on student organization use of Community to
request approval of travel. This instruction can begin by 1) Gaining attention of the returning
student officers by asking how they have managed the needs of their student organization with
their officer roles. 2) Informing learners of the objectives by providing expectations of what they
will learn. For example, Upon completing this lesson, you will be able to use Community to
request travel and provide travel details. 3) Stimulating the recall of prior learning by
discussing as a group how they have used Community in the past. For example as new student
members they have used Community to sign up with an organization. 4) Presenting the stimulus
material by giving student officers a travel request scenario and completing it with their
observation in Community. 5) Providing learning guidance as requests in Community are
reviewed together. 6) Eliciting performance by having groups request travel in Community
together. This can encourage discussion of the process and learning from one another.
7) Providing objective, encouraging feedback after groups have completed the request. 8)

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

Assessing performance by having individuals request travel on their own. 9) Enhancing retention
and transfer by continued practice with their real travel requests for fall and spring semesters.
A few real world constraints this instructional plan could face are the self-learning factors
by the student officers. They must be self-motivated to participate and add to the group dynamics
in face to face training. Another constraint is, with online instruction, the group encouragement
and ability to learn from others will not be available instantaneously. It may be available through
forum posts but this would not be instant and in real time. This could discourage student trainees
to complete the course online.
Incorporating Gagnes learning theory and his instructional guide can help create a much
more engaging training session with student officers whether it is in a real life class room or
online instructional lesson.

Running Head: GAGNE AND STUDENT ORGANIZATION TRAINING

References
Buscombe, C. (2013). Using Gagne's theory to teach procedural skills. The Clinical
Teacher, 10, 302-307.
Gredler, M. (2009). Learning and Instruction-Theory Into Practice. New Jersey:
Pearson.
Tough, D. (2012). A Focus on Robert Gagne's Instructional Theories: Application to
Teaching Audio Engineering. MEIEA Journal, 12, 209-217.