Gagne & Briggs Learning Theories - Varieties of Learning and Conditions of Learning

EDER 673 L.91 Course Home Page

With Participants from Ontario to British Columbia - Both Live and Asychronously

Instructional Design - Gagne & Briggs - A Summary

Winter 2002
Eugene G. Kowch
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Education

A. Learning - Theory Background: Gagne & Briggs

Gagne and Briggs contributed greatly in answering three questions:

1. What is known about human learning that is relevant for the instructor?
2. How can that body of knowledge abe organized for application by designers of instruction?
3. What procedures should be followed in applying knowledge of human learning to the design of instruction?

It is Question 2 that we explore here...

A.1 Varieties of Learning

For Gagne, learning occurs when an individual aquires a particular capability to do something. Because the learned capability is not observable, we observe the learner's behavior. Gagne emphasizes that different learned capabilities result in different learned outcomes. When these outcomes are aniticipated an planned, they are stated as instructional objectives.

Gagne then developed the Five Varieties of learning, giving a guide of performances that could correspond to certain learned capabilities.

Learned Capability	Performance
Intellectual Skill	Using concepts and rules to solve problems; responding to tclasses of stimuli as distinct from recalling specific examples.
Motor Skill	Executing body movements smoothly and in proper sequence
Verbal Information	Stating information
Cognitive Strategy	Originating novel solutions to problems; untilizing various means for controlling one's thinking / learning process
Attitude	Choosing to behave in a particular way

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A.2 Conditions of Learning

Gagne was the first to say that a different set of conditions needed to exist for certain learning outcomes to occur. He related the type of learning, to the internal and external conditions that promoted success in that type of learning.

Internal Conditions: Certain previous learnings must be recalled (as learning prerequisites) before som intellectual skills can be learned. For example, a person needs to know more to be able to use a rule than just to state the rule.

External Conditions: For a concept to be learned, a person must have opportunities to practice distinguishing correctly between examples and non examples. The following table summarizes the conditions of learning Gagne and Briggs founded.

Type of Learning	Internal Conditions	External Conditions
Cognitive Strategy	Recall of relevant rules and concepts	Successive presentation (usually over an extended time) of novel problem situations with class of solution unspecified). Demonstration of solution by student
Verbal Information	Recall of larger meaningful content	Present new information in a larger context.
Attitude	Recall of information and intellectual skills relevant to the targeted personal actions	Establishment or recall of respect for "source" (usually a person).
Motor Skill	Recall of component motor chains	Establishement or recall of executive subroutines (rules) Practice of total skill

A.3 Subcategories of Intellectual Skills

Gagne showed that to the essential internal condition (prerequisite knowledge) must be known for us to observe learning. In the intellectual skills domain or learned capability, Gagne and Briggs found that there are sub categories of intellectual skiolls that can be observed by the following performances:

Type of Intellectual Skill	Performance visible
Higher order rule	Generate a new rule for solving a problem
Rule	Demonstrate the application of a rule
Defined Concept	Classify objects, events or states using verbal descriptions or definitions
Concrete Concept	Indentify instances of the concept by pointing to examples
Discriminations	Descriminate between stimuli that differ along one or more physical dimensions

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B. Selecting Instructional Objectives and Sequencing Instruction

B.1 Prerequisites

There are essential prerequisites and supporting prerequisites that facilitiate learning. Essential prerequisites are those subordinate skills that must have been previously learned to enable the learner to reach an objective. They also become a part of what is subsequently learned. For example, if a learner must learn how to add numbers, he must first learn the numbers themselves. Supporting Prerequisites are those that are useful to facilitate learning but are not absolutely essential for the learning to occur.

B.2 Though this establishment of a hierarchy of intellectual skills G & B found that they could offer guides for selecting objectives and sequencing instruction for intellectual domain learning:

B. 3 Selecting Objectives for Intellectual-Skill Outcomes:

These intellectual skills were determined to fit into learning hierarchies. In other words, Gagne showed the instructor what to teach in order to derive an expected specific outcome. Various skills identified as prerequisites (internal conditions) had to be met for external conditions to be observable.

B. 4 Sequencing Instruction:

In addition to telling instructors what had to be taught, he identified competencies that were prerequisites to higher level skill attainment. For example, prereqisites for learning the rule for writing and instructional objective using Gage and Briggs are the following concepts: situation, learned capability, object, action and tool sor constraings. The order in which each of these concepts is learned is not critical, but all have to be learned in order to write an obective embodying the concepts.

C. Instructional Events

C. 1 Definition

Instructional evenets are classes of events that occur in a learning situation. Each event functions to provide the external conditions of learning. Therefore, we design instruction in part by ensuring that the events used in instruction are planned to satisfy the necessary conditions of learning.

	Essential and Supportive Prequisites for the Five Kinds of Learning Outcomes (Gagne & Briggs, 1979).
Types of Learning Outcomes	Essential Prerequisites	Supportive Prerequisites
Intellectual Skill	Simpler component intellectual skills (rules, concepts, discriminations)	Attitudes Congitive Strategies Verbal Information
Verbal Information	Meaningfully Organized sets of information	Language Skills Congnitive Strategies Attitudes
Cognitive Strategies	Specific intellectual skills	Intellectual skills Verbal information Attitudes
Attitudes	Intellectual Skills(sometimes)	Other attitudes Verbal Information
Motor Skills	Part Skills (sometimes) Procedural Skills (sometimes)	Attitudes

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So Gagne and Briggs proceeded to define specific instructional events to satisfy the essential conditions of learning. This was the first time that kinds or types of instructional events were linked to specific learning outcomes.

The following table lists the 9 Instructional Events and provides definitions for each:

Instructional Event	Definition
1. Gaining attention	An initial task in any instruction is to gain the learner's attentiion so that other instructional events can occur properly.
2. Informing the learner of the objective	The puprose of communicating the objective to the learner is to enable the person to answer the question " Ho wiwll I know when I have learned?".
3. Stimulating the recall of prerequisite learnings	As a condition of learning, Essential capabilities must be available for recall before new learning can occur. Sometimes, the instructor's reminder might be enough - otherwise, formal review might be required.
4. Presenting the stimulus material	The range of stimulus materials is varied, as the range of instructional objectives vary. Stimulus material may be in the form of questioning, goal-based inquiry or motivation (Keller).
5. Providing learner guidance	The function of learning guidance is to help the learner acquire the particular capabilities specified in the objectives. For example, in teaching a concept, the learning guidance would ensure that the learner understood the critical attributes of the concept; in teachin gthe procedure to follow for diagnosing trouble in a piece of manufacturing equipment, for example, the learning guidance might be in the form of a checklist to teach teh steps to follow.
6. Eliciting the performance	Asking the learner to perform an overt action, like answering a question verbally or doing an act.
7. Providing feedback about performance correctness	This crucial instructional event should be informative and specific and friendly.
8. Assessing the performance	This event is to determine if the learner obtained the objective and can consistently perform what was intended.
9. Enhancing the retention and transfer	We cannot assume, as instructional designers, that learners will be able to transfer learning from one situation to another. For intellectual skills, providing spaced reviews helps. for verbal information, providing the linkages between information learned at different times is recommended.

The following table links everything in this section - the instructional events and the corresponding conditions of learning for each of the five types of learned capabilities are outlined here:

		-------------------	*Type of Capability*	------------------
Instructional Event	Intellecutal Skill	Cognitive Strategy	Information	Attitude	Motor Skill
1. Gaining attention	introduce stimulus change	introduce stimulus change	introduce stimulus change	introduce stimulus change
2. Informing learner of objective	Provide description and example of the performance to be expected	Clarify the general nature of the solution expected	Indicate the kind of verbal question to be answered	Provide example of the kind of action choice aimed for	Provide a demonstration of the performance to be expected
3. Stimulating recall of prerequisites	Stimulate reacll of subordinate concepts and rules	Stimulate recall of task strategies and associated intellectual skills	Stimulate recall of context of organized information	Stimulate reacll of relevant information, skills, and human model identification	Stimulate recall of executive subroutine and part skills
4. Presenting the stimulus material	Persent examples of the concept or rule	Present novel problems	Present information in propositional form	Present human model, demonstrating choice of personal action	Provide external stimuli for performance, including tools or implements
5. Provide learning guidance	Provide verbal cues to proper combining sequence	Provide prompts and hints to novel solution	Provide verbal links to a larger meaningful context	Provide for observatio of model's choice of actioin, and of reinforcement received by model	Provide practice with feedback of performance achievement
6. Eliciting the performance	Ask learner to apply rule or concept to new examples	Ask for problem solution	Ask for information in paraphrase, or in learner's own words	Ask for learner to indicate choices of action in real or simulated situations	As for execution of the performance
7. Providing feedback	Confirm correctness of rule or concept application	confirm originality of problem solution	Confirm correctnes of statement or information	Provide direct or vicarious reinforcement of action choice	Provide feedback on degree of accuracy and timing of performance
8. Assessing performance	Learner demonstrates application of concept or rule	Learner originates a novel solution	Learner restates information in paraphrased form	Learner makes desired choice of personal action in real or simulated situations	Learner executes performance of total skills
9. Enhancing retention and transfer	Provide spaced reviews includin ga variety of examples	Provide occasions for a variety of novel problem solutions	Provide verbal links to additional complexes of information	Provide additional varied situations for selected choice of action	Learner continues skill practice

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This concludes the Gagne & Briggs conditions of learning, capability and instructional event summary. Consider what type of capability, what type of instructional event and what conditions of learning you want in your instructional design situatin (and model).

This summary is provided as a short, modified excerpt from:
Reigelugh, C. (1983). Instructional Design Theories and Models. Lawrence Erlbaum & from
Gagne, R. M & Briggs, L. (1979). Principles of Instructional Design. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

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EDER 673 L.91 Course Home Page With Participants from Ontario to British Columbia - Both Live and Asychronously
Instructional Design - Gagne & Briggs - A Summary	Winter 2002 Eugene G. Kowch Assistant Professor Faculty of Education