GAGNE’S THEORY OF INSTRUCTION

by: Primrose Campbell, Stacy-Ann Cooper and Melrose Green

 ROBERT GAGNE (1916 - 2002)
Conditions of Learning
 Biography

Robert Gagne's distinguished career began with a

bachelor's degree from Yale in 1937, and a Ph.D. in 1940
from Brown University. He served on the faculties of
Connecticut College (1940 - 1949), Penn State
University (1945 - 1946), the US Air force (1949 - 1958),
and at Florida State University until his death in 2002.
Gagne's major contributions were as an experimental
psychologist who worked with learning and
instructional methods. His landmark book, "The
Conditions of Learning" was published in 1965. He also
co-authored "Principles of Instructional Design".
Theory
Gagne linked learning outcomes with
instructional designs.
 Gagne’s Conditions of
Learning Theory
Five major types of learning levels
are identified:
 verbal information
 intellectual skills
 
cognitive strategies
motor skills

attitudes
 According to Robert Gagne, there are nine
events that activate processes needed for
effective learning. Gagne believed all lessons
should include this sequence of events.
 He believed that basic concepts must be
understood first before moving to a higher level.
 The theory outlines nine instructional events and
corresponding cognitive processes.
Events:
 Gaining attention (reception)
 Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
 Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
 Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
 Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
 Eliciting performance (responding)
 Providing feedback (reinforcement)
 Assessing performance (retrieval)
 Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).
 Implications for learning

Since lessons are tailored for

students (student centered):
 Students become actively involved in
lessons.
 Learner will feel motivated.
 Learner will be more focused on the
content.
 Implications for teaching .

 While Gagne's theoretical framework

covers all aspects of learning, the focus of the
theory is on intellectual skills. The theory has
been applied to the design of instruction in all
domains.

 These events should satisfy or provide the

necessary conditions for learning and serve as
the basis for designing instruction and
selecting appropriate media.
 The role of the teacher.

Instructors begin by identifying learning

outcomes desired for the course.

 In theory, the teaching objectives you

identify for your course should fall into
one of the following forms of learning:
verbal information, intellectual skills,
cognitive strategies, attitudes, or motor
skills.
The role of the
teacher continued.

 Once student learning outcomes are

established, context must be considered
—specifically the conditions needed for
learning to occur (both internally and
externally). It is important to remember
that special conditions must be met for
different types of learning.
 Contextualize Instruction
Description:
Allow the learner to take ownership of the lesson
by providing a customized, meaningful
learning experience.
Strategies:
Ways to contextualize instruction for
learners include:
 Gain attention of the learner
 Relate instructional goals to the learner
 State the outcomes of the instruction
 Present overviews and organizers
 Adapt content of the instruction to the learner
 Provide cases related to the content
The role of the
teacher continued.

 A teacher should give frequent written

and oral tests .
 A teacher should employ a variety of
instructional strategies in classroom.

 A teacher should use Gagne

conditions for learning in lesson
planning.
Disadvantages:
 The theory is very systematic and rigid at
most points. The systematic nature of the
theory may be a turn-off for many teachers,
particularly those who like to be creative.

 The theory is not always easy to implement.

Many times it is difficult to take the goals a
teacher had for students, put them into the
correct learning outcome category, and then
create objectives using Gagne's standard verbs.
 Advantages:

 The domains of learning helps

teachers better organize their thoughts
and the objectives of the instructional
lesson (it is a good way to put more
structure into the objectives of lesson
plans).
The domains of learning helps teachers to
better understand what types of
learning to expect to see from
their students.