APPLICATION OF GAGNE’s 9 INSTRUCTIONAL EVENTS

Pre-Instructional Phase (Appetizers)	1. Gain Attention	* Begin the lesson with a question or conflict. * Begin the lesson with a demonstration or experiment. * Use humor, vary media, get students involved
	2. Inform Learners of the Objectives	* Review course objectives that are relevant to the lesson. * Explain how meeting the objectives is useful to the. student in terms of real-world applications
	3. Stimulate Recall of Prior Learning	* Pre-test prior knowledge and prerequisite skills. * Ask students to share their current perceptions of the topic. * Create a concept map of prior knowledge
Instructional Phase (Meat and Potatoes)	4. Present the Stimulus	* Lecture in small chunks whenever possible. * Use a variety of media and methods in presenting information. * Show examples and non-examples to clarify concepts
	5. Provide Learner Guidance	* Highlight important ideas, concepts, or rules. * Use repetition. * Provide students with learning strategies such as pneumonic memory aids
	6. Elicit Student Performance	* Allow for several practice sessions over a period of time. * Provide role-play, case studies, or simulations
	7. Provide Feedback	* Feedback should be immediate, specific, and corrective. * Allow additional practice opportunities after feedback is given.
Post-Instructional Phase	8. Assess Performance	* Provide independent activities that test student knowledge/skill acquisition
(Dessert)	9. Enhance Retention and Transfer	* Apply learning in real-world scenarios. * Highlight connections with other subject areas or events.

Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction/Learning

Instructional Event	Internal Mental Process
1. Gain attention In order for any learning to take place, you must first capture the attention of the student. A multimedia program that begins with an animated title screen sequence accompanied by sound effects or music startles the senses with auditory or visual stimuli. An even better way to capture students’ attention is to start each lesson with a thought-provoking question or interesting fact. Curiosity motivates students to learn.	Stimuli activates receptors
2. Inform learners of objectives Early in each lesson students should encounter a list of learning objectives. This initiates the internal process of expectancy and helps motivate the learner to complete the lesson. These objectives should form the basis for assessment and possible certification as well. Typically, learning objectives are presented in the form of “Upon completing this lesson you will be able to. . . .”	Creates level of expectation for learning
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning Associating new information with prior knowledge can facilitate the learning process. It is easier for learners to encode and store information in long-term memory when there are links to personal experience and knowledge. A simple way to stimulate recall is to ask questions about previous experiences, an understanding of previous concepts, or a body of content.	Retrieval and activation of short-term memory
4. Present the content This event of instruction is where the new content is actually presented to the learner. Content should be chunked and organized meaningfully, and typically is explained and then demonstrated. To appeal to different learning modalities, a variety of media should be used if possible, including text, graphics, audio narration, and video.	Selective perception of content
5. Provide “learning guidance” To help learners encode information for long-term storage, additional guidance should be provided along with the presentation of new content. Guidance strategies include the use of examples, non-examples, case studies, graphical representations, mnemonics, and analogies.	Semantic encoding for storage long-term memory
6. Elicit performance (practice) In this event of instruction, the learner is required to practice the new skill or behavior. Eliciting performance provides an opportunity for learners to confirm their correct understanding, and the repetition further increases the likelihood of retention.	Responds to questions to enhance encoding and verification
7. Provide feedback As learners practice new behavior it is important to provide specific and immediate feedback of their performance. Unlike questions in a post-test, exercises within tutorials should be used for comprehension and encoding purposes, not for formal scoring. Additional guidance and answers provided at this stage are called formative feedback.	Reinforcement and assessment of correct performance
8. Assess performance Upon completing instructional modules, students should be given the opportunity to take (or be required to take) a post-test or final assessment. This assessment should be completed without the ability to receive additional coaching, feedback, or hints. Mastery of material, or certification, is typically granted after achieving a certain score or percent correct. A commonly accepted level of mastery is 80% to 90% correct.	Retrieval and reinforcement of content as final evaluation
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job Determining whether or not the skills learned from a training program are ever applied back on the job often remains a mystery to training managers – and a source of consternation for senior executives. Effective training programs have a “performance” focus, incorporating design and media that facilitate retention and transfer to the job. The repetition of learned concepts is a tried and true means of aiding retention, although often disliked by students. (There was a reason for writing spelling words ten times as grade school student.) Creating electronic or online job-aids, references, templates, and wizards are other ways of aiding performance.	Retrieval and generalization of learned skill to new situation