Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction

Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction
By: William Campf

Robert M. Gagne (1916-2002) was an American Psychologist who was concerned with instruction.  In the beginning of his career he was employed by the US military concerned with training air force members. 

In many ways his career was shaped by a shift in technology and learning theories. Within his life cutting edge learning research transitioned away from behaviorism toward cognitivist learning theory.  The invention of MRI’s and brain scans allowed an internal look at the active brain, and this new science led to advancements from Lev Vygotsky and his theories of brain Schema. Gagne continued to use some behaviorist vocabulary he still refers to stimuli and learning outcomes (response). 

Gagne felt that for learning to take place many stimuli would have to be controlled, and the steps for training or learning could be broken down into 9 standard steps that would work for all students provided that specific conditions for learning outcomes were accounted for.   The following steps developed by Gagne lead to positive learning outcomes.

1. Gain attention- This should involve a stimulus of some type to create a felt need to engage with the material.

2. Inform learners of objectives- This lets the learner know what they should be able to do after learning the material.

3. Stimulate recall- Remind students of what has been learned previously, it is best when this activity is student led with teacher assistance.

4. Present the stimulus-  This is also known as present the content.  The instructor provides an example, model, or reading. 

5. Provide “learning guidance”-The teacher works to guide the students through the content, and works to make sure that this new information is incorporated into long term memory. 

6. Elicit performance (practice)- Students complete an activity to display their abilities with this new skill.

7. Provide feedback- Instructor tells the student how they did with the new skill, and offers guidance for improvement. 

8. Assess performance- The assessment can be completed through portfolios, performances, or projects.

9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job-  Automaticity and fluency can be gained by repeating steps 5,6, and 7 so that the learner is able to take this new information and apply it to novel situations.   

Family Tree

Gagne’s 9 events falls under the cognitivist umbrella, more specifically Gagne was interested in cognitive information processing (CIP), as well as theory of instruction.  Gagne’s work represents a shift from stimulus response thinking of a black box model, to thinking of the mind as a computer that would input data and output learning.

Reflecting on Gagne’s work with the Air Force, medical training comes to mind when thinking about the application of Gagne’s 9 events theory.  Gagne’s work transfers well to technical simulations, and the achievement of concrete skills such that you might learn in a career or technical school.

An example of Gagne's 9 events in a classroom

• The teacher states that the dummy has stopped breathing and has no heartbeat (1. present the stimulus).  

• The teacher will state that by the end of this learning session the students will know how to save a life through CPR (2. State objective).  

• The teacher will ask what the students already know needs to be done to complete CPR (3. Access Prior Learning)

• The teacher will present the content of how to appropriately complete CPR (4. Present the stimulus) 

• Provide access to a dummy simulating an unresponsive victim.  Guide the student through the process of CPR (5. Provide learning guidance.)

• Have the students work independently on resussatating the dummy (6 practice)

• Provide feedback on how to improve approach (7 provide feedback)

• Have students work CPR on a dummy simulating from the point of finding an unresponsive victim, and calling for help.  Give a final assessment though a checklist.  (8. Assess performance)

• Enhance retention by repeating the task every week for a month (9 enhancing retention and transfer).
  
  
  Links
  University of Florida Education professor breaking down the 9 events.
  http://citt.ufl.edu/tools/gagnes-9-events-of-instruction/
  
  Don Clark has a blog based on instructional design and Gagne's 9 events.
  http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/nine_step_id.html
  
  This website gives a concise overview of the work of Gagne.
  http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/conditions-learning.html
   

  Fast forward the following video to the 4:40 mark to learn about the 9 events in action.

 

References

Clark, D. [Table]. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/nine_step_id.html

Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technology (p. 191). New York, NY: Routledge. 

Sanford, T. (2013, October 24). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOIGhyiCwpU

Wikipedia. (2012). Gagne [Photograph].