Week 4: Everybody's Talking About Gagne



Prior to this week, I had seen Gagne's theory in educational theory courses in the past.  Most of these focus on Bloom's taxonomy, but Gagne's theory is from a different perspective - what is the CONTENT doing TO the learner - for example, gaining attention or providing feedback.  Bloom focuses on what the learner can do with the information gained based on the depth of understanding.  Gagne's theory addresses the fact that the learner has to interact with material in multiple ways to gain understanding - and it also acknowledges the ever important "hook" - if a learner isn't engaged or paying attention, no learning can take place.  As I believe I mentioned in a previous blog post, the learner has to be a willing participant, it cannot be forced as it is completely singular in it's task.  You learning something has no effect on my knowledge of it and vice versa. 

I want to also talk about the last step - enhancing retention and transfer.  One of the comments from our guest Rachel Koblic this week was about reflection and how learners need to have a post learning reflection to really solidify information.  I know this is true for me, as much as I hate to take time for the step.  I'm a note taker, and if I review them shortly after a lecture or completing a reading, and summarize, I'm more likely to have easy recall more than just a few minutes later.  Gagne's theory supports this.  I imagine his theory to be a little like a wine tasting.  You are told about the wine, you're presented the bottle for examination.  A bit is poured, swirled, observed.  You use all senses to experience it - much like learning something new if you want to retain it.  Smell, taste, discuss, reflect.  

Comments

  1. DreamCatFebruary 6, 2022 at 12:14 PM

    Kathryn,

    Thanks for sharing your reflection this week. I love your attitude of taking a note. It is a great way of revisiting what you heard or learned, and improving your memory performance. From the cognitive view, your attitude is good for improving learning.

    Wine example is a quite interesting. Wine tasting can attract more people to smell and taste the new wine. We may use this approach for designing instruction. By providing interesting point to students, they can be more interested in it and willing to take it. It may be the similar way of free-trial that we do before buying the official version. Wine tasting can pique people's curiosity. So, how can we keep learners interested and engaged in class?

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    Replies
    1. KatieFebruary 13, 2022 at 9:41 AM

      I see teaching as a bit of an art form - keeping students engaged takes connecting information to relevant events in their lives NOW and in the future. I had a calculus teacher that used examples using superheroes and it definitely made it more interesting to calculate the rate that the Green Goblin would fall if he was 12 stories high, etc. I also saw my role as a bit of a performer - take the information and deliver it in a way that is interesting and appealing to learners. I think the emergence of Hamilton is really fascinating - in 2 hours many people learn more about a historical time than they ever knew, and are loving it.

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  2. KarriMarch 7, 2022 at 1:27 PM

    Hi, Katie,

    You hit the nail on the head in terms of the biggest difference between Gagne and Bloom. I recall a discussion I had with a history professor who said, "Who is this Bloom, and why does he get to decide how my learning objectives need to be written?" I had to laugh because her point was well taken. You mention a limitation of Bloom's being that it doesn't address motivation, and I agree wholeheartedly that a measurable skill/objective is only as good as the learner's willingness to demonstrate it. And if a learner can demonstrate a skill once, did they really learn, or are they just able to parrot it long enough to insinuate they've learned? I think you answered this in your wine tasting analogy; it takes repetition and reflection to truly have the full experience. I'm always harping on about "meaning making," but it's so true, especially when it comes to reflection. Our brains need time to contextualize new information and figure out how it does (or does not) fit within the knowledge we already have. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
    Take care,
    Karri

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