GAGNES THEORY OF LEARNING

FIVE TYPES OF LEARNING

One of the themes of Gagné’s theory is distinguishing the types of outcomes
that learning has:
-The categories of learned capabilities
 – observed as human performances
 – That has common characteristics.
Gagné describes five categories of human performance established by
learning

Intellectual Skills   “knowing how” or having procedural

knowledge
1 (k/a procedural skills)
 They include concepts, rules and
. procedures 
 Reading, writing, and handling of numbers
are the other abilities which come under
this variety of skill.
 These abilities range from the simple to the
complex.
Verbal Information   Learner is able to declare/ state ideas (what
2 (declarative knowledge) h/she has learned),“knowing that”
.  Previously learned information aids the
learning of new information.
 it is the organized body of knowledge that
we acquire.
Cognitive  having certain techniques of thinking, ways
strategies
3 of analyzing problems, and having
approaches to solving problems
.
 Internal process by which learner plans,
control and monitor personal ways of
learning, thinking, remembering guide and
act.
 They are learned over long periods of time.
4 Motor skills  Motor skills are physical skills
   These include the ability to perform a.
.
sequence of physical movements
5 Attitudes  mental states that influence the choices
. of personal action
 Our attitudes strongly affect our motivation
for learning

The five categories of learning outcomes provide the foundation for

describing how the conditions of learning apply to each category.
Varying the conditions of Gagné's five types of learning can increase learner
outcomes. 

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NINE EVENTS OF INSTRUCTION

Gagné’s (1985) nine events of instruction attempts to

relate the external events of instruction to the outcomes
of learning by showing how these events lead to the
enhancement of internal learning processes

The events of instruction are the external events that help learning
occur.
Gagnés numbers the instructional events from one to nine, showing
a sequential order.
 
The nine events are as follows

 Activate the learner attention/ interest

1. Gaining attention with use of stimuli like simulation,
comedy, video, open discussion
 Use various elements like,
multimedia, scenarios, comedy, open
discussion.

Informing the  Inform the learner of the purpose and

2. learner of the expected outcomes of the learning
objectives material.
 discuss, either verbally or through
documentation
 Associate new information by
3. Stimulating recall recalling skills or knowledge learners
of prerequisite have previously learned. 
learning
4.  Presenting the  Present the new information to the
content(stimulus) group in an effective manner.
 -  Teach the lesson and emphasize
important topics for learning; utilize
teaching tools like YouTube,
Podcasts,
5. Provide guidance-  Make the learning process simpler at first
by providing instructional support and
models.
 Include cheat sheets, tip boxes, additional
references, role plays, assistance, engage
in critical thinking and information recall.
Eliciting  Allow learner to practice the
6. performance theoretical knowledge they learned.
 Include scenario based discussion,
role play, quizzes etc.
Providing  reinforce the newly acquired learning.
7. performance  Acess the correct performance
feedback-  Include de-briefing the degree of
correctness or incorrectness of the
performance, provide constructive
criticism etc.
Assess  evaluate learner to verify that learning
8. performance has occurred.
 activate retrieval
 Done through traditional written exams or
through performance-based assessment of
the learner.
Enhance  Provide opportunities to allow learner
9. performance to recall and apply what they have
learned

These nine events can be performed by the instructor in order to stimulate

or facilitate new learning and build upon old learning. 
EIGHT CONDITIONS OF LEARNING
HIERARCHY
Gagne's hierarchy of learning

Robert Gagne was an American educational psychologists, best known for

his book “The conditions of learning”.
He has proposed a hierarchy of learning in which learning tasks are
organized based on their complexity level.
This learning hierarchy is divided into eight intellectual levels and nine
events of instruction. It implies the idea that:

 There are different kinds of learning which require different kinds of

instructions.
 An individual has to first master a lower intellectual level in order to
acquire higher intellectual level skills.
 The lowest four orders tend to focus on the behavioral learning and
highest four on cognitive learning.
1. Signal learning-   This is the simplest form of learning known as
classical conditioning.
 Leaner learns to produce a desired (involuntary)
response to a signal or stimulus. The learning is
involuntary.
  Ex. a salivation (condition) at the sound of a bell
(stimulus) 

2. Stimulus-response  This form of learning is also known as Skinner’s

learning- operant conditioning.
(S-R learning)   The individual shows a certain Response(R) to a
discriminated stimulus (S).
 the correct' response is rewarded

3.  Chain learning/  This is a more advanced form of learning.

Psychomotor Connection  Learner learns to connect two or more
learning/ previously learned stimulus-response
connections into a linked order/sequence.
 Ex. Learning how to tie shoestrings or buttoning a
 shirt.

4. Verbal association-  Occurs when the learner makes associations

using verbal connections
 Is one of the important processes in the
development of language skills.
 For example a child identifies an object and calls
it by its proper name (e.g. 'the rd ball'),

5. Discrimination learning-   Learner learns to perform different responses to

a series of similar stimuli that may differ in a
systematic way.
 This process is made more complex by the
phenomenon of interference
 For example a patient complaining of abdominal
pain after abdominal surgery. The student must
learn how to differentiate this pain from that of
gas, intrabdominal bleeding, incisional pain or
infection

6.
Concept learning-   It is a type of learning; one learns to provide a
common response to a class of stimuli.
 It is the learning to respond to a stimulus
according to abstract characteristics such as
position, shape, color and not according to the
concrete physical characteristics.

.    Rule learning is also known as learning of

7.    Rule learning –  principles.
 In learning a rule we relate two or more
concepts.
 For example: 'at 100°C water will boil'. Here
temperature and boiling-point are two
concepts related by a rule.

.      It involves developing the ability to invent a

8.  Problem solving- complex rule or procedure, for the purpose of
solving the problem.
 It thus required higher mental and cognitive
 abilities for making use of concept and rules
for solving a problem.

Educational implications of Gagne's theory of learning

We present here three broad educational implications of Gagne's theory of
learning.

i) Prerequisite behavior: GagnC advocated that processes of learning

move from the simple to the complex. The learner has to develop,
prerequisite capabilities before s/he acquires new terminal
behavior. Thus the use of a hierarchy of learning and task analysis
are integral parts of instructional transactions.

ii) Learners' characteristics: Learners' individual differences, readiness

and motivation to learn are the important issues to be considered
before designing instructional activities.

iii) Cognitive process and instruction: The transfer of learning, the self
Management skills of the learner, and teaching learners the skills of
problem solving are integral parts of the internal conditions of
learning, applicable to instruction. The skill of learning 'how to
learn' should be developed in the learner and the emphasis should
be on the learner's individuality.

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