Lesson L4: Learning Principles and

Events of Instruction

Contributors

Dr (Mrs.) Kiran Saksena

Professor (Retd.), Department of Technical and Vocation Education
&
Dr K. K. Jain
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering Education

Editor: Dr Joshua Earnest, Professor (Retd.), Dept. of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Education

National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research

Shamla Hills, Bhopal M.P. - INDIA 462 002
Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

Lesson L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instructions

Learning outcomes: At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
LO 1. Explain the various principles of learning.
LO 2. Differentiate the events of instruction.
LO 3. Use nine events of instruction while planning classroom teaching.

Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3
2.0 CONCEPT OF LEARNING .............................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Principles of Learning .................................................................................................................. 4
3.0 INSTRUCTION............................................................................................................................... 5
4.0 GAGNE’S NINE EVENTS OF INSTRUCTION ................................................................................... 5
5.0 MAXIMS OF TEACHING (AND LEARNING) ................................................................................... 9
6.0 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................... 9
7.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 9

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

Lesson L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

1.0 INTRODUCTION

People learn in different settings and in different ways which could be broadly categorised
into formal and informal learning. Formal learning occurs in any formal education set up
such as in schools, universities and other higher education institutes and follows a set of
prescribed rules, regulations and norms. In contrast to this informal learning occurs
everywhere depending on the characteristics and interests of the learner. To ensure
effective learning happens, the teacher must be aware of the learning principles so that they
can integrate the same during the various teaching-learning (T-L) processes. Learning has
been broadly understood as acquiring new information, exhibiting a change in attitude,
behaviour or performing a new skill that pertains to different learning domains i.e. Cognitive,
Affective and Psychomotor domains as discussed in Module 1. This lesson is intended to help
you to understand the ‘learning principles’ and 'Events of Instruction' so that you will be able
to ‘teach’ (instruct) effectively and efficiently.

2.0 CONCEPT OF LEARNING

In module 1 the concept of learning has already been discussed in detail. But it is worth
recalling that learning’ can be said to be is a process of Acquisition, Organisation, Retention,
Recall, Application. Some other educationists (Richard, 2015) say’s ‘learning’ is the process of
acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, or preferences.
Robert Gagne defines learning as ‘a change in human disposition or capability that persists
over a period of time and is not simply ascribable to processes of growth’ (Robert M. Gagne,
1992). This definition has two indicators. Firstly, the duration of the change is long-term
rather than short-term. Secondly, the cause of the change is the learner’s experience in the
environment rather than fatigue, motivation, drugs, physical condition or physiologic
intervention state. Among a plethora of definitions, learning is also popularly defined among
the engineering education fraternity as ‘a relatively permanent change in a person’s
knowledge or behaviour due to the experience or teaching that happens voluntarily or
involuntarily’.

Understanding how the human brain processes the information, stores it and retrieves the
same whenever needed is often required to be known by the teacher. The kind of internal
processing that occurs in a learner at the time of learning could be summarised as follows:
(Robert M. Gagne, 1992). These processes together with the principles of human learning
will greatly help to design and implement the learning experiences in the classroom,
laboratory, workshop, field and other locations effectively and efficiently.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

a) Attention: Determines the extent and nature of reception of the learning material.

b) Selective perception (or pattern recognition): Transforms the above-received

learning material in the form of object features, for storage in short-term memory.
c) Rehearsal: Maintains and renews the learning material stored in short-term memory.
d) Semantic encoding: For long-term storage, the learning material is semantically
encoded for future retrieval which may be some form of cues that differs from person
to person.
e) Retrieval, including search: Whenever the learnt material is required by the learner,
the semantically encoded material is brought to the working memory from the long-
term memory.
f) Response organization: The retrieved material that is brought to the working
memory is required for response (i.e. performance) for that particular situation.

2.1 Principles of Learning

The three major ‘principles of learning’, also referred to as ‘laws of learning’, which are
generally applicable to the learning process have been well researched, tested, and used by
educationists over the years. These are:
a) Principle of Readiness (or in other words Principle of Motivation): This is based on
the fact that Individuals learn best when they are physically, mentally, and
emotionally ready to learn. For example, the teacher can tell a story with a positive
ending, use a video clip with a motivating theme as a ‘starter’ and so on.
b) Principle of Exercise: This is based on the proof that when things are repeated, they
are best remembered and this is also the basis for ‘redundancy' in several teaching-
learning situations, ‘tutorials’ and ‘drill-and-practice’ sessions.
c) Principle of Effect: This is based on the emotional reaction of the student which is
accompanied by a pleasant or satisfying feeling due to positive reinforcement. Rather
than punishing, the teachers should provide feedback in a manner (such as saying
“good, very good, and others) so that the students get a good feeling and are
encouraged to learn more and more.

There are some other broadly accepted principles of learning as well, such as the:
d) Principle of Primacy: Things that are learned for the first time are more durable and
last longer. They are ‘absorbed’ by the student and create a durable and long-lasting
impression on the student. For example, at the beginning of the session, inform
students that how the topic will help them when they will start work in the industry.
e) Principle of Intensity: This states that a student will learn more from the real thing
than from a substitute. For example, a student will understand the construction of a

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

real small transformer brought to the class, rather than crudely drawn figures on the
board.
f) Principle of Freedom: This implies that things ‘freely’ (against forcefully or coerced)
learned are best learned. Learning should be ‘fun’. Students need to be given the
choice to choose, to act and also bear the consequences of the act whereby better
learning will occur. The greater the freedom enjoyed by individuals within a society,
the greater the intellectual and moral advancement enjoyed by society as a whole.

3.0 INSTRUCTION

The purpose of instruction is to provide support to the processes of learning. Teaching or

Instruction is already seen in module 1, which ‘is the process in which one individual teaches
or instructs another individual’. Teaching is considered the act of imparting instructions to
the learners. A teacher is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or
virtue. Similar to learning, teaching can occur in different settings and different locations.

Although there are many definitions of instruction, Romiszowski [1981] says, ‘By instruction,
we shall mean a goal-directed teaching process which is more or less pre-planned’. The great
educationist Robert M. Gagne, [1971] defines instruction as ‘a set of events external to the
learner which are designed to support the internal processes of learning’. This definition
indicates that the concept of instruction has the following elements:
a) It is a set of events.
b) It is external to the learners,
c) These events of instruction are designed by the teachers, and
d) These events of instruction support (facilitate) the internal processes of learning.

4.0 GAGNE’S NINE EVENTS OF INSTRUCTION

In teaching-learning (T-L) situations, the processes involved in learning as mentioned in

section 2 are influenced by external events called instruction. For effective instructional
planning, R. M. Gagne [1992] proposed nine instructional events which are popularly known
as ‘Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction'. These nine events are applicable in various places
such as designing instructions, writing a paper, authoring a book and also in the T-L
situations. These events of instruction need to be deliberately arranged by the teacher for
the learning to occur. The functions served by the various events of Instruction during
learning are listed in Table 1.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

Table 1 Instructional Events and Their Relation to Process of Learning

(Robert M. Gagne, 1992)
S. No. Instructional Events Relations to Learning Processes
1. Gaining attention Reception of patterns of neural impulses
(learning material or stimulus)
2. Informing the learner of the Activating the process of executive control
objective
3. Stimulating recall of prerequisite Retrieval of prior learning to working
learning memory
4. Presenting the stimulus material Emphasizing features of selective
perception
5. Providing learning guidance Semantic encoding; cues for retrieval
6. Eliciting the performance Activating response organization
7. Providing feedback about Establishing reinforcement
performance correctness
8. Assessing the performance Activating retrieval; making reinforcement
possible
9. Enhancing retention and transfer Providing cues and strategies for retrieval

For a better understanding, each of these nine events of instructions is discussed briefly with
some sample external activities that need to be planned by the teacher.

4.1 Gaining Attention

This event may be also called 'hooking the attention' so that the student's far away thoughts
are brought into the classroom. Some of the techniques for gaining student's attention are:
a) showing a video clip as a ‘starter'
b) showing a picture
c) telling a story related to the topic of instruction
d) clapping the hands
e) asking thought-provoking questions and the like.

4.2 Informing the Learner of the Objective

This event is perfectly in tune with the present engineering education situation in the
country where all teaching activities have to be undertaken so that some observable and
measurable outcomes are seen in the students at the end of the session. These outcomes
are also called Instructional objectives. Some of the methods for stating the learning
objectives/outcomes are:
a) The students have to be explicitly told 'After completing the lesson you will be able
to............(do something such as explain, calculate and such others)'.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

b) Action verbs of terminal nature have to be used in formulating these objectives/

outcomes.
c) Describe required conditions.
d) Describe criteria for standard performance.

4.3 Stimulating Recall of Prerequisite Learning

Recalling earlier learned concepts or principles is always helpful. Prior knowledge provides a
foundation for building up the next level of learning. Revision or recall of previous relevant
instructional content helps the students to understand new information or teaching points.
Some of the techniques to accomplish this task such as:
a) Asks questions about previous learning.
b) Show some video/PowerPoint presentations of the previous lesson and the like.

4.4 Presenting the Stimulus Material

By now the student is ready to receive the new concepts or principles that you as a teacher
expect the students to learn. Present the new subject matter to develop the already stated
outcomes, which can be broken down into smaller steps to gradually and sequentially built
up such as:
a) Present the learning material using real things, videos, ppts and such others
b) Provide suitable examples.
c) Use different instructional methods and strategies depending on the subject matter.

4.5 Providing Learning Guidance

This activity means that the teacher should provide cues and learning guidance or
alternative approaches to understand the concepts so that the students can encode them,
retain the information and retrieve them as and when required. Some of the techniques to
provide learning guidance are:
a) Show real things.
b) Show videos.
c) Use analogies and visual images.
d) Conduct role plays depending on the subject matter.
e) Explain the concept with suitable examples
f) Use non-examples-to help students see what to do and what not to do
g) Provide Graphical representations.

4.6 Eliciting the Performance

For confirmation of the learning performance, eliciting the performance provides an
opportunity for students to confirm their correct understanding. This is basically for
providing feedback for consolidating the right learning. At this stage, the teacher ascertains
whether or not the students have learnt and to what extent. In this event, the students are

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

further required to do the repetition to confirm their correct responses. Some strategies for
eliciting student performance are:
a) Ask relevant questions to test the achievement of the learning outcomes.
b) Ask the students to solve numerically.
c) Conduct a short quiz.
d) Ask students to narrate or demonstrate new knowledge /skills.
e) Ask students to elaborate or explain details of some principle, procedure or
application.

4.7 Providing feedback

This event is very much required after eliciting the response from the students for cementing
the correct learning to occur. This can also be called 'Immediate knowledge of results' (IKR).
It is better if the feedback is given at every interim stage of the learning process. The types
of feedback at this stage can be for:
a) Confirmatory feedback or
b) Corrective and remedial feedback
When the correct responses are reinforced through the feedback, confidence is generated in
the students as the reinforced responses are likely to be repeated.

4.8 Assessing the Performance

This event that usually happens at the end of the session is generally used for grading and
certifying whether already stated learning outcomes in the third event are achieved by the
student. The students should be provided with the knowledge of these results as well. Some
of the assessing techniques are:
a) Tests of different types
b) Short questionnaires
c) Quizzes

4.9 Enhancing Retention and Transfer

This is the last of the instructional events, by which retention of the correct learning
outcome is enhanced and further cemented when the student can transfer this to new
learning outcomes or skills in some other new or different situations. For this to happen,
some of the techniques for enhancing retention are:
a) Giving relevant practice tasks and
b) Assignments and such other tasks.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

5.0 MAXIMS OF TEACHING (AND LEARNING)

Combined with above mentioned major principles of learning and events of instruction,
learning in the students can be maximised if some of the following rules of instructions/
teaching also adhere. They are also called Maxims (derived from the word ‘maximisation’) of
Learning:
a) Known to Unknown paths
b) Simple to Complex concepts
c) Concrete to Abstract Concepts
d) Whole to part and part to whole
e) Particulars to generalisations.
f) Provide immediate knowledge of results (IKR), especially during classroom sessions.

6.0 CONCLUSION

You must have noticed that this lesson is of utmost importance to every teacher, as
classroom and laboratory teaching are the 'lifeline' of every engineering teacher throughout
his/ her entire career. The principles of learning and events of instruction discussed are an
indivisible part of the teaching profession. Therefore, in various teaching-learning situations
understanding and practising the salient features of these two major functions is required
for designing, developing, implementing, and monitoring lessons and instructional materials
which lead to effective and efficient learning in the students.
**********
7.0 REFERENCES

[1] experiential_learning. (2019). Retrieved from

www.niu.edu/facdev/resources/guide/strategies/experiential_learning.pdf
[2] Gagne, R. M. (1977). The Conditions of Learning ( 3rd ed.). Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
[3] Gagne, Robert M.& Briggs, Leslie, J. (1979). Principles of Instructional Design (2nd ed.). New
York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
[4] influential-theories-of-learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from
www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/quality-
framework/technical-notes/influential-theories-of-learning/
[5] kolb_learning. (2019). Retrieved from
changingminds.org/explanations/learning/kolb_learning.htm
[6] principles12. (2019). Retrieved from
www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/support/pages/principles12.aspx
[7] Richard, G. (2015). Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 7th Edition. Hachette, UK:
Hodder Education.
[8] Robert M. Gagne, L. J. (1992). Lesson 10 - The events of Instruction. In Principles of
Instructional Design (pp. 185-201). Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
[9] Romiszowski, A. (1981). Designing Instructional Systems. . Kogan Page Ltd., London.
[10] Thorndike, E. (1999). Education Psychology. New York: Routledge.

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Unit 4.4.1: Curriculum Analysis for Session Planning L4: Learning Principles and Events of Instruction

ASSIGNMENTS

Match the events of instruction in Column A with the given situations in Column B
Column A Column B
1 Gaining attention A. The Teacher discusses classroom assignments
with all the students
2 Informing the learner of the B. The teacher gives a classroom assignment.
objective
3 Stimulating recall of C. The teacher organizes a Quiz at the end of a
prerequisite learning session.
4 Presenting the stimulus D. The teacher showing a video programme on a
material new theme.
5 Providing learning guidance E. The teacher is asking questions in the beginning
to ensure the learning of the last session
6 Eliciting the performance F. Teacher explaining a new concept with the help
of a diagram
7 Providing feedback G. The students solve the problems in home
assignments based on teacher inputs in the class
8 Assessing the performance H. The teacher narrates the learning outcomes at
the beginning of the session.
9 Enhancing retention and I. Greeting the students in the class
transfer

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