GAGNES CONDITION OF LEARNING into sub skills (part skills), which are performed
Reported by: Jimelyn Estorco simultaneously or in sequential order to produce
CATEGORIES OF LEARNING
Intellectual skills
Intellectual skills involve the procedural knowledge (how to
do things). The intellectual skills are subdivided into
different levels of learning: discrimination, concrete concept,
defined concept, rule, and problem-solving (Gagne et al.,
1992).
Discrimination is the ability to differentiate objects based on
one or more of their physical characteristics, features,
and/or dimensions.Concrete concept is the ability to identify
an object as a member of a group based on common
physical characteristic, feature, property, attribute, and/or
dimension (e.g., colors, shapes, length, position, etc.). For
example: identify whether tomatoes are considered
vegetable. Learning concrete concept is more complex than
learning discrimination. The latter only requires responding
to a difference. The former requires the ability to identify an
object correctly based on its main properties. For example:
regardless of color, thickness, or/and size (irrelevant
properties), students correctly identify different figures as
triangles. Students must learn discrimination before they
learn concrete concepts. Concrete learning is believed to
be a prerequisite to abstract learning (defined concept,
described next). To enhance learning of this skill, present
different examples of an object (concept) with a wide variety
of irrelevant characteristics and ask students to identify a
correct answer.
Defined concept is the ability to understand the meaning of
an object, event, or/and relation. It requires more than
stating a definition or defining a concept. For example:
Understand the meaning of family, justice, community,
mass, acceleration, force, etc. Although defined concept
may overlap concrete concept, the former represents more
abstract learning. To enhance learning of this skill, first ask
students to recall all components within the definition of a
concept, including the relations among those components.
Have students watch a demonstration, video, or film on how
the concept works.
Cognitive strategy
Cognitive strategy is another type of intellectual skills for
learning and thinking. Learning strategies include rehearsal
(verbally repeat, underline, or copy materials), elaboration
(associate new information with the existing one through
paraphrasing, summarizing, note-taking, and questions and
answers), and organizing (arrange material in an organized
and meaningful order through outlining, concept mapping,
advance organizer, etc.). The metacognitive strategies
(thinking) involve students setting learning goals, tracking
learning progress, and modifying strategies to achieve the
goals. The affective strategies are used to focus and
maintain attention, to control stress and anxiety, to manage
time effectively, and so on.
Verbal information
Verbal information is concerned with the declarative
knowledge (e.g., facts, information, names, places, etc.). To
assist learning of verbal information, the instructor may
teach students different mnemonic techniques (e.g.,
keyword, loci, imagery, etc.) and help students relate new
information to what already exists in memory to make
learning meaningful and memorable. Use one of the
learning strategies (rehearsal, elaboration, and organize)
and provide distinct cues to assist memory.
Motor skills
Motor skills (also called psychomotor skills) are sequences
of motor responses or movements, which are combined into
complex performances. These physical performances are
assessed by rapidity, accuracy, force, or smoothness. For
example: dancing, skateboarding, fly-fishing, skiing, writing
with a pencil, etc. The motor skills can be further divided
performances. These skills are best learned by repeated
practice. To teach the part skills, provide clear instruction to
learn the skills. Provide a checklist, picture, or diagram to
guide learning. Encourage students to practice the skills
repeatedly, accompanied by timely and appropriate
feedback from the instructor.
Attitude
Attitude is an internal state that affects personal choices
and actions over an object, person, event, and so on.
Although it is a complex human state, it can be measured
by observing the person's choice or action. The
measurement of attitude is often seen in a form of a self-
reported questionnaire, which may use Likert-scale and/or
open-ended questions. Using a role model has been known
to teach attitude effectively. Other methods involve using
reinforcement to encourage a desired behavior and using a
conditioned response method to promote certain attitudes.
To change attitude, help students recall a situation to which
the attitude applies, present an appealing and credible role
model, use the model to communicate or demonstrate the
desired choices or actions for the given situation, and
communicate or demonstrate satisfaction the model obtains
as a result of the selected choices or actions.
The following nine steps have been adapted from
Gagné, Briggs, and Wager (1992).
1. Gain attention of the students
Ensure the learners are ready to learn and participate in
activities by presenting a
stimulus to gain their attention.
2. Inform students of the objectives
Inform students of the objectives or outcomes to help them
understand what they
are to learn during the course. Provide objectives before
instruction begins.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning
Help students make sense of new information by relating it
to something they
already know or something they have already experienced.
4. Present the content
Use strategies to present and cue lesson content to provide
more effective,
efficient instruction. Organize and chunk content in a
meaningful way. Provide
explanations after demonstrations.
5. Provide learning guidance
Advise students of strategies to aid them in learning content
and of resources
available.
6. Elicit performance (practice)
Activate student processing to help them internalize new
skills and knowledge and
to confirm correct understanding of these concepts.
7. Provide feedback
Provide immediate feedback of students’ performance to
assess and facilitate
learning.
8. Assess performance
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional
events, you must test to
see if the expected learning outcomes have been achieved.
Performance should
be based on previously stated objectives.
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job
To help learners develop expertise, they must internalize
new knowledge.