Using Gagne’s Conditions of Learning to Create Learning Objectives

Gagne’s Conditions of Learning is an instructional design framework developed by educational psychologist Robert Gagne. This framework outlines nine instructional events (Gaining attention, Informing learners of the objective, Stimulating recall of prior learning, Presenting the stimulus, Providing learning guidance, Eliciting performance, Providing feedback, Assessing performance, Enhancing retention and transfer) that correlate with and support different learning conditions. These events help educators design effective teaching and learning sequences tailored to five specific types of learning outcomes: intellectual skills, verbal information, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes.

Employing Gagne’s framework in course design supports structured and effective educational practices that cater to different learning needs. It helps you create precise and measurable learning objectives that are directly tied to both teaching strategies and student learning outcomes. This alignment is crucial for ensuring that educational activities are purposeful and that they effectively lead to the desired educational achievements.

Here’s how to apply Gagne’s Conditions of Learning in the development of course learning objectives:

1. Classify the Learning Outcome: First, determine which of Gagne's five categories of learning your course objective fits into. This classification will guide the appropriate instructional strategies.

2. Utilize the Nine Events of Instruction: Gagne’s nine instructional events provide a systematic approach to crafting and delivering your course. Each event supports different aspects of the learning process, from initial engagement to the application of new knowledge or skills. Educators can use these events as a guide to structure their teaching sessions to optimize student engagement, understanding, and retention.These events are:

   • Gaining Attention (Reception):

     • To capture the learner's interest and alert the brain to pay attention, instructors can use surprising elements, engaging questions, multimedia, or dramatic examples.

   • Informing Learners of the Objectives (Expectancy):

     • Clearly communicate what learners will be able to do by the end of the session. This sets expectations and helps students understand the goals and relevance of the instruction.

   • Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning (Retrieval):

     • Ask learners to recall and share previous experiences or knowledge relevant to the new content. This helps to activate an existing cognitive structure for more meaningful learning.

   • Presenting the Stimulus (Selective Perception):

     • Deliver the new information. Use clear and varied instructional strategies to present content, such as multimedia presentations, lectures, demonstrations, or readings.

   • Providing Learning Guidance (Semantic Encoding):

     • Offer supportive content that helps learners encode information for long-term storage. This can include analogies, examples, graphical representations, and mnemonic devices.

   • Eliciting Performance (Responding):

     • Encourage learners to perform the task or demonstrate their understanding through practice. This could involve solving problems, answering questions, or constructing products.

   • Providing Feedback (Reinforcement):

     • Give specific, immediate feedback on learners’ performance. Positive feedback reinforces correct responses, while constructive feedback helps learners understand mistakes and correct them.

   • Assessing Performance (Retrieval):

     • Conduct assessments that allow learners to demonstrate their mastery of the objectives. This could be in the form of tests, quizzes, assignments, or practical applications.

   • Enhancing Retention and Transfer (Generalization):

     • Help learners apply the knowledge or skills in new or varied contexts. Discuss how the new learning can be applied to different situations, or provide additional practice scenarios that broaden understanding and ability to transfer skills.

3. Develop Specific Learning Objectives: For each type of learning identified, write clear and specific objectives using active verbs that describe exactly what the student should be able to demonstrate.

4. Design Instructional Activities: Align activities with the learning type and the corresponding events from Gagne’s framework to ensure effective learning experiences.

5. Define Assessment Criteria: Establish clear criteria for evaluating whether the learning objectives have been met, aligning these with the type of learning and the instructional events used.

College of Education

Objective: "Education students will develop an interactive lesson plan that effectively integrates technology to engage elementary students in learning basic math skills."

Application of Gagne's Nine Events:

• Gaining Attention: Begin with a video showing young students excitedly using tablets to learn math.
• Informing Learners of the Objectives: Explain that the goal is to design a lesson plan that uses technology to teach math in a way that captivates and engages.
• Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning: Ask students to discuss their previous experiences with educational technology either as learners or in observations.
• Presenting the Stimulus: Provide examples of effective technology-based math teaching tools.
• Providing Learning Guidance: Offer guidelines on how to select appropriate software and integrate it into lesson plans.
• Eliciting Performance: Students create their own lesson plan using the tools discussed.
• Providing Feedback: Peer reviews and instructor critiques of the lesson plans.
• Assessing Performance: Students present their lesson plans and justify their design choices based on educational theories.
• Enhancing Retention and Transfer: Discuss how these principles can be adapted for subjects other than math or for students at different educational levels.

College of Arts and Sciences

Objective: "Chemistry students will conduct a lab experiment to synthesize a common pharmaceutical and analyze its purity and effectiveness."

Application of Gagne's Nine Events:

• Gaining Attention: Show a dramatic reaction video from a similar experiment.
• Informing Learners of the Objectives: Clearly define the steps and expected outcomes of the synthesis experiment.
• Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning: Review chemical safety and synthesis techniques previously covered.
• Presenting the Stimulus: Provide the chemical recipe and equipment.
• Providing Learning Guidance: Offer a step-by-step guide for the synthesis process.
• Eliciting Performance: Students conduct the experiment in lab groups.
• Providing Feedback: Instructors provide real-time feedback during the lab session.
• Assessing Performance: Assess the final product's purity through a peer review of lab reports.
• Enhancing Retention and Transfer: Discuss how this synthesis process relates to real-world pharmaceutical production.

College of Cyber and Computer Sciences

Objective: "Students will design and implement a secure network infrastructure capable of defending against a specific set of security threats."

Application of Gagne's Nine Events:

• Gaining Attention: Begin with a news clip about a recent major cybersecurity breach.
• Informing Learners of the Objectives: Outline the goal of creating a secure network that can withstand the outlined threats.
• Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning: Ask students to list potential vulnerabilities in typical network designs.
• Presenting the Stimulus: Provide the specifications for the network design project.
• Providing Learning Guidance: Give examples of successful secure network architectures.
• Eliciting Performance: Students draft and then implement their network designs.
• Providing Feedback: Conduct simulated attacks to test the networks and provide feedback on their effectiveness.
• Assessing Performance: Evaluate the networks based on their resilience in the simulation.
• Enhancing Retention and Transfer: Challenge students to adapt their designs for different types of businesses or threat scenarios.

College of Business

Objective: "Business students will analyze a real-world case study involving a market entry strategy and propose a detailed plan for entering a new international market."

Application of Gagne's Nine Events:

• Gaining Attention: Start with a surprising statistic about the success or failure rates of international market entries.
• Informing Learners of the Objectives: State that the purpose is to analyze a specific case and propose a viable market entry strategy.
• Stimulating Recall of Prior Learning: Have students recall key concepts from international business courses.
• Presenting the Stimulus: Present the case study details.
• Providing Learning Guidance: Offer frameworks and models for market analysis and entry strategies.
• Eliciting Performance: Students work in groups to develop their market entry proposals.
• Providing Feedback: Groups present their plans to the class and receive feedback.
• Assessing Performance: Submit a written report detailing their analysis and proposal.
• Enhancing Retention and Transfer: Discuss how the strategies could be modified for different markets or industries.

• Gagne’s Conditions Of Learning Theory: This article provides information regarding Gagne's theory of instructional learning and instructional events. Visit Resource

• Robert Gagné’s Conditions of Learning: This video provides a break down of these eight types of learning, by using the example of a cooking class.