Robert Gagne and the 9 Events of Instruction

In the post “The Rapid Instructional Design Model”, I explained the importance of having an organized approach when designing instruction, and that’s why we have instructional design models to serve as frameworks to guide our steps. In this post, we are more in the “design or prototyping” stage of the rapid instructional design model. Here, I will share specific design strategies that are aligned to the instructional model of Robert Gagne and the 9 events of instruction.

These 9 steps of instruction are a good way to organize the content and flow of the course.

Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction

Robert Gagne was an educational psychologist who created a 9 step process called “Events of Instruction”. This model is a systematic process that helps educators and instructional designers develop strategies and create activities for training sessions.

Each step supports the learning process.

Snapshot of Each Event of Instruction

Summary of Instructional Strategies

There are many ways to present and reorganize the training material to make it meaningful and relevant to learners. Here you can see some other ways to make your course content shine and engage your learners.

• Case studies, stories, problem solving: detailed explanation of a situation or problem that learners must analyze and offer recommendations or solutions.
• Demonstrations, behavior modeling: using a video or animations to demonstrate tasks and procedures.
• Graphics and illustrations: still or animated graphics, info-graphics, photos, charts and diagrams to reinforce content or illustrate a process.
• Interactions: integrate opportunities in the instruction that allow learners explore content, apply knowledge and check understanding through games, questions and activities.
• Sound: engages and motivates learners. Consider voice over, music and sound effects.
• Simulations: interactive environments that simulate real work experiences and conditions. For technical training or software demonstrations, I recommend using screen simulations, screen captures or screen recordings that can be easily developed with Camtasia.

Applying the Events of Instruction in an eLearning Module

Here is an example of how to apply the 9 events of instruction in an eLearning module that I developed using Articulate Storyline.

But before I explain the example I should provide a little bit of background about this project. This module is about a SCADA system.

SCADA means Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. This system basically has hardware to collect information and signals from any field and industry. It also has a software component that is hosted in servers to process the signals and present them in a monitor to allow operators monitor and control remotely the equipment and processes in the field.

So, with that brief introduction to this module, let’s check it out!

Event 1 – Gain attention:

Here I started grabbing learner’s attention by asking a question relevant to a common problem in the workplace that every time it occurs triggers all the alarms for the operators. Due to the importance of this situation, the learner wants to know more and has an interest in the course.

Event 2 – Inform learners of objectives:

Here I listed the learning objectives and course content. It doesn’t need to have lots of text in the screen. Remember to keep it simple 🙂

Event 3 – Stimulate recall of prior learning:

To connect prior knowledge with the new content, I have mentioned what they already know and how that is relevant to the new information. They know now they will be building on previous concepts (scaffolding).

Event 4 – Present the content:

I have used different ways to present the content, such as drag-and-drop activities, diagrams and click-and-reveal interactions.

I have implemented the multimedia learning strategies discussed in the post “Richard Mayer on Multimedia Learning” such as showing graphics with the components of the system (Systematicity), placing text near their corresponding graphics (Referencing), using a friendly human voice (Sociability) and narrations (Modality and Redundancy).

Event 5 – Provide guidance:

I included tips with the main ideas learners will need to remember after doing the training. Additionally, learners have resources and a glossary section for specific terminology. All these elements serve as guidance to the learners.

Event 6 – Elicit performance:

There are short quizzes after each main topic so learners can practice the ideas discussed on that particular section. This is a good way to reinforce learning before moving on to the next topic and adding new knowledge into our learners’ brain.

Event 7 – Provide feedback:

Every question on the quizzes mentioned before, have instant feedback. Feedback is another great way to reinforce concepts.

Event 8 – Assess performance:

I have included a summative quiz at the end to check understanding of the entire course. The questions in this final quiz are a little bit more complex and are more scenario-based using problems and real situations that learners have in their workplace.

Event 9 – Enhance retention and transfer:

At the end there is a summary section to go through the main concepts they have learned in the module.

Additionally, this course has a face-to-face practical session with the operators to practice in a real simulator how to perform the skills learned in the course. They have these practical sessions after completing this online component.

Summary

In this post, we have visited a very nice and organized approach to build training. The 9 events of instructions developed by Gagne are easy to follow and help you stay focused to keep your course tight and on target. Remember that you don’t want to lose learner’s attention, so it is important to keep the training straight on point. To do this, Gagne’s model ensures you apply different strategies to reinforce learning.

Here you have also learned what specific learning strategies you can implement on each step of this model of instruction. These strategies can be applied in face-to-face, online or blended training.

I have shared with you how I applied the 9 events of instructions for an eLearning module developed in Articulate Storyline.

I hope this information can help you to develop rich learning experiences. Would you like to put in practice this model of instruction? How would you apply it?

Please, leave your comments below.

Thanks for visiting and see you next time,

Thais Gomez 🙂

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