Gagne learning theory

 Robert Mills Gagné (August 21,
1916 – April 28, 2002) was an
American educational
psychologist best known for his
"Conditions of Learning".
Gagné pioneered the science
of instruction during World War
II when he worked with the
Army Air Corps training pilots.
He went on to develop a series
of studies and works that
simplified and explained what
he and others believed to be
'good instruction.’

In 1965 Robert Gagne published his book
entitled The Conditions of Learning. In his
book, Gagne (1965) described the analysis
of learning objectives, and how these
different classes of learning objectives relate
to the appropriate instructional designs.

Signal Learning
 This is the simplest form of learning, and consists essentially
of the classical conditioning first described by the
behavioural psychologist Pavlov. In this, the subject is
'conditioned' to emit a desired response as a result of a
stimulus that would not normally produce that response.
This is done by first exposing the subject to the chosen
stimulus (known as the conditioned stimulus) along with
another stimulus (known as the unconditioned stimulus)
which produces the desired response naturally; after a
certain number of repetitions of the double stimulus, it is
found that the subject emits the desired response when
exposed to the conditioned stimulus on its own. The
applications of classical conditioning in facilitating human
learning are, however, very limited.

Stimulus-response learning
 This somewhat more sophisticated form of
learning, which is also known as operant
conditioning, was originally developed by Skinner.
It involves developing desired stimulus-response
bonds in the subject through a carefully-planned
reinforcement schedule based on the use of
'rewards' and 'punishments'. Operant conditioning
differs from classical conditioning in that the
reinforcing agent (the 'reward' or 'punishment') is
presented after the response. It is this type of
conditioning that forms the basis of programmed
learning in all its various manifestations.

Chaining
 This is a more advanced form of learning
in which the subject develops the ability
to connect two or more previously-
learned stimulus-response bonds into a
linked sequence. It is the process
whereby most complex psychomotor
skills (eg riding a bicycle or playing the
piano) are learned.

Verbal association
 This is a form of chaining in which the links
between the items being connected are
verbal in nature. Verbal association is one
of the key processes in the development
of language skills.

Discrimination learning
 This involves developing the ability to
make appropriate (different) responses to
a series of similar stimuli that differ in a
systematic way. The process is made
more complex (and hence more difficult)
by the phenomenon of interference,
whereby one piece of learning inhibits
another. Interference is thought to be one
of the main causes of forgetting.

Concept learning
 This involves developing the ability to
make a consistent response to different
stimuli that form a common class or
category of some sort. It forms the basis of
the ability to generalize, classify etc.

Rule learning
 This is a very-high-level cognitive process
that involves being able to learn
relationships between concepts and
apply these relationships in different
situations, including situations not
previously encountered. It forms the basis
of the learning of general rules,
procedures, etc.

Problem solving
 This is the highest level of cognitive
process according to Gagné. It involves
developing the ability to invent a
complex rule, algorithm or procedure for
the purpose of solving one particular
problem, and then using the method to
solve other problems of a similar nature.

Gain attention of the students
 Ensure the learners are ready to learn and
participate in activities by presenting a
stimulus to gain their attention.
Methods for gaining learners’ attention include:
 Stimulate students with novelty, uncertainty
and surprise
 Pose thought-provoking questions to the
students
 Have students pose questions to be answered
by other students

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.

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.
Methods for stimulating recall include:
 Ask questions about previous experiences
 Ask students about their understanding of
previous concepts

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.
Ways to present and cue lesson content include:
 Provide examples
 Present multiple versions of the same content, e.g., video,
demonstration, lecture, group work
 Provide instructional support as needed – as scaffolds (cues, hints,
prompts) which can be removed after the student learns the task or
content.
 Ask deep-learning questions, making reference to what students
already know.
 Help students integrate new knowledge by providing real-world
examples.

Provide learning guidance
Advise students of strategies to aid them in learning content
and of resources available.
Methods to provide learning guidance include:
 Provide instructional support as needed – as scaffolds
(cues, hints, prompts) which can be removed after the
student learns the task or content
 Model varied learning strategies –concept mapping, role
playing, visualizing
 Use examples and non-examples – in addition to providing
examples, use non-examples to help students see what not
to do or the opposite of examples
 Provide case studies, analogies, visual images and
metaphors – case studies for real world application,
analogies for knowledge construction, visual images to
make visual associations, metaphors to support learning

Elicit performance (practice)
Activate student processing to help them internalize new skills and
knowledge and to confirm correct understanding of these concepts.
Ways to activate learner processing include:
 Elicit student activities – ask deep-learning questions, make
reference to what students already know or have students
collaborate with their peers
 Elicit recall strategies – ask students to recite, revisit, or
reiterate information they have learned
 Facilitate student elaborations – ask students to elaborate or
explain details and provide more complexity to their responses
 Help students integrate new knowledge – provide content in a
context-rich way (use real-world examples)

Provide feedback
Provide immediate feedback of students’ performance to
assess and facilitate learning.
Types of feedback include:
 Confirmatory feedback – Informs the student they did what
he or she were supposed to do
 Corrective and remedial feedback – informs the student the
accuracy of their performance or response
 Informative feedback – Provides information (new, different,
additions, suggestions) to a student and confirms that you
have been actively listening – this information allows
sharing between two people
 Analytical feedback – Provides the student with
suggestions, recommendations, and information for them to
correct their performance

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.
Methods for testing learning include:
 Pretest for mastery of prerequisites
 Conduct a post-test to check for mastery of content or skills
 Embed questions throughout instruction through oral
questioning and/or quizzes
 Include objective or criterion-referenced performances
which measure how well a student has learned a topic
 Identify normative-referenced performances which
compares one student to another student

Enhance retention and transfer
to the job
To help learners develop expertise, they
must internalize new knowledge.
Methods for helping learners internalize new
knowledge include:
 Generating examples
 Create concept maps or outlines

Verbal information
Reciting something from memory
 state, recite, tell, declare

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
Cognitive strategies are one type of learning
strategy that learners use in order to learn
more successfully. These include repetition,
organising new language, summarising
meaning, guessing meaning from context,
using imagery for memorisation. All of these
strategies involve deliberate manipulation of
language to improve learning.

Motor skills
 A motor skill is an intentional movement
involving a motor or muscular
component, that must be learned and
voluntarily produced to proficiently
perform goal-oriented task, according to
Knapp, Newell, and Sparrow. Performing a
physical task to some specified standard

Attitudes
 Choosing to behave in a way that reflects
a newly-acquired value or belief

Gagne learning theory

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Gagne learning theory