About Robert M. Gagne and his theory
Robert Gagné began as an instructional psychologist training personnel in the air force. He dealt with determining what skills and what knowledge are required to be effective at a job and then determining how those are best learned. The development of his theory spanned over 20 years and in that time it evolved from a behavioral theory into a predominantly cognitive theory. His first edition of The Conditions of Learning was published in 1965 and his fourth in 1985. His theory is one of instruction, meaning it is not a learning theory and is based on the implication that a learning task involves both external situations and behaviors that interact with it. The instructor knows that learning has occurred because they can observe the outcome or effect; we should be able to compare the student before and after learning and a difference should be seen. The instructor is the one who provides instruction to promote learning. There are three major components of Gagné’s theory: taxonomy of learning outcomes, learning conditions that are required to attain each outcome, and nine events of instruction.
A presentation by Pamela Montgomery as an assignment for Texas Woman's University Nurs5203..57