Robert Mills Gagné was an American educational psychologist who, in 1965 published his book
“The Conditions of Learning”. In it, he discusses the analysis of learning objectives and how the
different classes of objective require specific teaching methods.
He called these his 5 conditions of learning, all of which fall under the cognitive, affective and
psycho-motor domains discussed earlier.
Gagné’s 5 Conditions of Learning.
● Verbal information (Cognitive domain)
● Intellectual skills (Cognitive domain)
● Cognitive strategies (Cognitive domain)
● Motor skills (Psycho-Motor domain)
● Attitudes (Affective domain)
Gagné’s 9 Levels of Learning.
To achieve to his five conditions of learning, Gagné believed that learning would take place
when students progress through nine levels of learning and that any teaching session should
include a sequence of events through all nine levels. The idea was that the nine levels of
learning activate the five conditions of learning and thus, learning will be achieved.
1. Gain attention.
2. Inform students of the objective.
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning.
4. Present the content.
5. Provide learning guidance.
6. Elicit performance (practice).
7. Provide feedback.
8. Assess performance.
9. Enhance retention and transfer to the job.
Benefits of Gagné’s Theory.
Used in conjunction with Bloom’s taxonomy, Gagné’s nine levels of learning provide a
framework that teachers can use to plan lessons and topics. Bloom provides the ability to set
objectives that are differentiated and Gagné gives a scaffold to build your lesson on.