1. Basic Assumptions:
-There are many different types of learning.
-Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes.
-Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the conditions of learning (Gredler, 2001).
2. Components of the Theory:
-The five types of learning are; verbal infomation, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes (Gredler, 2001).
-Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction.
-A task analysis must be done prior to instruction in order to identify prerequisites that must be learned in order to facilitate learning at each level.
3. Instructional Assumptions:
-Instruction does not produce learning, it supports it.
-Instructional decisions must take into consideration the skills to be learned.
-Instruction must be; geared toward the individual, both immediate and long-range, systematic and organized, and informed by knowledge of how people learn.
4. Components of Instruction and Instructional Strategies:
-The following nine events, with specific examples in parenthesis, are a guideline for instruction; attending (gaining learners attention through a question), expectancy (informing learner of daily objective), retrieval (linking learning to prior learning through discusion), selective perception of stimulus features (presenting the distinct steps of a mathematical formula), semantic encoding (student processing of a mnemonic device), retrieval and responding (performance of a mathematical problem), reinforcement (teacher's praise of learner), cueing retrieval (a summative test), generalizing (learner uses new skill as a step in solving a more complex problem) (Gagne, 1977a).
-The events of instruction are divided into three phases; preparation of learning, acquisition and performance, and transfer of learning.
5. Other Educational Issues:
-Learner readiness, motivation, and differences must be a consideration of instruction. These may be overcome by providing tutoring, small group instruction, and incentives for motivation.
-Learners must take part in problem solving of novel problems in order to learn through discovery (Gredler, 2001).
-All social context decisions should be made based upon their impact upon instruction.
