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Robert M. Gagne was an educational psychologist consdiered to be the father of a "systematic approach to instructional design and learning theory (Kruse, para. 1)."

Overview:

Robert Gagne is perhaps most widely recognized for his "Nine Events of Instruction." According to Gagne, there are several different styles of learning that can occur and that each of those learning styles are triggered by a different instructional methodology. By better understanding the nine events of instruction proffered by Gagne, lessons can be designed to create the most desirable conditions for learning.

Nine Events of Instruction:

1. Gain attention
• Gagne felt it was important to grab the students' attention at the beginning of each lesson in order to prepare them for the upcoming lesson. By incorporating some type of video clip, audio clip, or other attention-getting display, the instructor is able to focus student learning from the outset.
2. Inform learners of objectives
• Gagne felt that if learners knew the objectives of the lesson from the outset, then they would be able to set a framework within which the learning process would occur. Students' would have a general idea of what was expected of them and they could adjust their thinking accordingly.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning
• Gagne felt that if students could relate new lesson content to past knowledge, retention rates of the new information would increase.
4. Present the content
• Gagne stressed the importance of organization the data in such a way as to make it easily understaood by the learner. Information should be organized into comprehensive blocks that make sense as a unit to the student.
5. Provide "learning guidance"
• Gagne felt that "learning guidance" should be provided by te instructor to ensure high retention of lesson content. Some guidance could be offered in the form of multimedia presentations of case studies, representative images, and other examples of the lesson at hand.
6. Elicit performance
• Gagne iterated the importance of practicing the new lesson content and the application of newly acquired knowledge in order, again, to increase retention and to ensure proper applicability skills.
7. Provide feedback
• Quick and in-depth feedback on student practice is also an essential element in ensuring student understanding and retention.
8. Assess performance
• A final assessment should be administered, without the assistance of the instructor, in order to ensure mastery of the subject.
9. Enhance retention transfer
   • Finally, Gagne stressed the importance of applying newly acquired knowledge to practicable, real-life situations.

The influence of Gagne's "Nine Events of Instruction" can be seen in the constructivist learning theory of Andragogy referenced in this learning theories web page.