Language Learning - Skinner: Language Acquisition in Children - Behaviorist View of Language Acquisition – Imitation (Skinner)

Robert Gagne's Theory of Instruction- Conditions of Learning

Driscoll (1994) breaks Gagne's theory into three major areas –

1.       The Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes,

2.       The Conditions of Learning, And

3.       The Events of Instruction.

Gagne's taxonomy consists of five categories of learning outcomes - verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills. Gagne, Briggs, and Wager (1992) explain that each of the categories leads to a different class of human performance.

Essential to Gagne's ideas of instruction are what he calls "conditions of learning." He breaks these down into internal and external conditions. The internal conditions deal with previously learned capabilities of the learner. Or in other words, what the learner knows prior to the instruction. The external conditions deal with the stimulus (a purely behaviourist term) that is presented externally to the learner. For example, what instruction is provided to the learner.

To tie Gagne's theory of instruction together, he formulated nine events of instruction. When followed, these events are intended to promote the transfer of knowledge or information from perception through the stages of memory. Gagne bases his events of instruction on the cognitive information processing learning theory.

The way Gagne's theory is put into practice is as follows. First of all, the instructor determines the objectives of the instruction. These objectives must then be categorized into one of the five domains of learning outcomes. Each of the objectives must be stated in performance terms using one of the standard verbs (i.e. states, discriminates, classifies, etc.) associated with the particular learning outcome. The instructor then uses the conditions of learning for the particular learning outcome to determine the conditions necessary for learning. And finally, the events of instruction necessary to promote the internal process of learning are chosen and put into the lesson plan. The events in essence become the framework for the lesson plan or steps of instruction. 

To sum up

 1.       Five Domains of Learning Outcomes/ The Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes,

·         Verbal Information,

·         Intellectual Skills,

·         Cognitive Strategies,

·         Motor Skills

·         Attitudes.

Different internal and external conditions are necessary for each type of learning. For example, for cognitive strategies to be learned, there must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to problems; to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role model or persuasive arguments

Hierarchy of Learning Tasks

Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity:

·         Stimulus Recognition,

·         Response Generation,

·         Procedure Following,

·         Use Of Terminology,

·         Discriminations,

·         Concept Formation,

·         Rule Application,

·         Problem Solving.

·         The primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be completed to facilitate learning at each level. Prerequisites are identified by doing a task analysis of a learning/training task. Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction.

Instructional Events and Corresponding Cognitive Processes

·         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).

These events should satisfy or provide the necessary conditions for learning and serve as the basis for designing instruction and selecting appropriate media (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992).

Strengths and of the Theory and its Assumptions

·         As a teacher the domains of learning helps to better organize thoughts and the objectives of the instructional lesson.

·         It provides a good way to put more structure into the objectives of the lesson plans.

·         The domains of learning helps the teacher to better understand what types of learning is to be expected from the students. 

·         The conditions of learning acts as guidelines for content and help in structuring the lesson plans and teaching.

·         The events of instruction give the skeleton on which a teacher could arrange a lesson. The events not only provide a road map to follow, but also a way to look at lesson plans in a more holistic nature.

Weaknesses

·         It is difficult to arrange the identified goals into the correct learning outcome category, and then creating objectives using Gagne's standard verbs. Some goals are easy to classify into the learning outcome categories, but many are not as easy to categorize.

·         Creating objectives using Gagne's standard verbs is also difficult. Because the objectives can’t always be framed in the form that the theory needed. The standard verbs made the process so rigid that it appears like filling in the blanks.

·          It is not possible to write all the objectives in performance terms. The objectives need to be more process oriented than product oriented. It becomes difficult to put these processes into performance terms using the standard verbs.

Application

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 (Gagne & Driscoll, 1988). In its original formulation (Gagne, 1 962), special attention was given to military training settings. Gagne (1987) addresses the role of instructional technology in learning.

Example

The following example illustrates a teaching sequence corresponding to the nine instructional events for the objective, Recognize an equilateral triangle:

1. Gain attention - show variety of computer generated triangles
2. Identify objective - pose question: "What is an equilateral triangle?"
3. Recall prior learning - review definitions of triangles
4. Present stimulus - give definition of equilateral triangle
5. Guide learning- show example of how to create equilateral
6. Elicit performance - ask students to create 5 different examples
7. Provide feedback - check all examples as correct/incorrect
8. Assess performance- provide scores and remediation
9. Enhance retention/transfer - show pictures of objects and ask students to identify equilaterals

Gagne (1985, chapter 12) provides examples of events for each category of learning outcomes.

Principles

1.       Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes.

2.       Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of learning.

3.       The specific operations that constitute instructional events are different for each different type of learning outcome.

4.       Learning hierarchies define what intellectual skills are to be learned and a sequence of instruction.

References

Gagne, R. (1962). Military training and principles of learning. American Psychologist, 17, 263-276.

Gagne, R. (1985). The Conditions of Learning (4th.). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Gagne, R. (1987). Instructional Technology Foundations. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.

Gagne, R. & Driscoll, M. (1988). Essentials of Learning for Instruction (2nd Ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Gagne, R., Briggs, L. & Wager, W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design (4th Ed.). Fort Worth, TX: HBJ College Publishers.

Driscoll, M. P. (1994). Psychology of learning for instruction. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Gagne, R. M., Briggs, L. J., & Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of instructional design. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.