GAGNÉ’S HIERARCHY OF LEARNING THEORY

In 1956, the American educational psychologist Robert M. Gagné proposed a system of classifying different types of learning in terms of the degree of complexity of the mental processes involved known as Hierarchy of Learning Theory. He identified eight basic types and arranged these in the hierarchy.

According to Gagné, the higher orders of learning in this hierarchy build upon the lower levels, requiring progressively greater amounts of previous learning for their success. The lowest four orders tend to focus on the more behavioural aspects of learning, while the highest four focus on the more cognitive aspects.

GAGNÉ’S CONDITIONS OF LEARNING

According to this notion, there are various kinds or stages of learning. These divisions are important since each category necessitates a different approach to instruction. According to Gagné, learning can be divided into five main categories: verbal knowledge, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes. For each form of learning, certain internal and external variables are required. For instance, in order to learn cognitive methods, learners must have the opportunity to practice coming up with novel solutions to problems; similarly, in order to learn attitudes, learners must be exposed to a reliable role model or persuasive arguments.

Gagné 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, and 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.

Let us now take a closer look at Gagné’s eight categories of learning.

1. Signal Learning. This is the simplest form of learning, and consists essentially of theclassical conditioningfirst 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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 generalise, classify etc.

7. 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.

8. 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. This is also aims at Enhancing retention and transfer to the job.

SCOPE AND APPLICATIONOF GAGNÉ’S THEORY

Although Gagne’s theoretical framework addresses every facet of learning, its main focus is on intellectual abilities. According to Gagné and Driscoll (1988), the theory has been used to design education across all subject areas. Military training environments received special consideration in its original formulation (Gagne, 1962). The function of instructional technology in education is discussed by Gagné (1987).

Example:

A teaching sequence that corresponds to the nine instructional events for the aim, “Recognize an equilateral triangle,” is shown in the example below:

1. Attract attention by displaying various triangles created by computers.
2. Define the goal by asking, “What is an equilateral triangle?”
3. Review previous knowledge by going over the definitions of triangles.
4. Give an explanation of what an equilateral triangle is as the stimulus.
5. Show examples of how to make equilateral triangles to aid learners.
6. To elicit performance, have students come up with five distinct examples.
7. Offer comments and mark all instances as correct or incorrect.
8. Evaluate performance and offer feedback and correction
9. To improve recall and transfer, encourage students to locate equilaterals in photographs of items. For each type of learning outcomes, Gagne (1985, chapter 12) presents examples of related occurrences.

EDUCATIONAL PRINCIPLES OF GAGNÉ THEORY:

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.