As a practitioner in developing learning programs, I have found Gagne 9 events helpful in sequencing my learning content for my training programs I have conducted in Singapore and Asia. Application of the 9 events has helped me to engage my learners from the Generation Ys to the adult learner. Lets look at the 9 events and I will share with you the approach I take.Moreover, this theory outline by Robert Gagne details nine instructional events and their corresponding cognitive processes.

Team building Singapore

Energizer activity conducted

(1) gaining attention (reception)

(2) informing learners of the objective (expectancy)

(3) stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)

(4) presenting the stimulus (selective perception)

(5) providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)

(6) eliciting performance (responding)

(7) providing feedback (reinforcement)

(8) assessing performance (retrieval)

(9) enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).

Do consider, how you “ gain reception” on part of the leaners you will be engaging. What I mean here, is for you to consider activity driven exercises that you can incorporate in a classroom or in a hall to gain the buy in of your learners to get excited and interested, to your learning content. Some trainers have labeled ice breakers, and energizers as activity driven exercise to meet event 1 described by Gagne. When conducted without any relevance, it deteriorates into a childish game. Energizers and ice breakers when used appropriately can be powerful attention gainers. Even a field visit can achieve a similar out come.

ebnu team 1 Engaging your learners

What I mean here is the field visit initiated by my Lecturer, many years ago, Dr. Ralph Blunden was delivering a lecture on advance learning theory to my class on a Sat morning. Little did he realized that half the class was falling asleep and the other half was just confused as he tried his very best in a monotone lecture to keep us awake. It was a losing battle and it dawned upon him that all the talking that he was doing was not helping us learn one bit. He paused, took a 2 minutes break and he asked all of us if we can commute out to the museum. The bunch who were dosing off were the first to reply. Anything to get them out of class was a temporary reprieve that they embraced. We agreed that we could go to the museum.

In the museum, he carried on with his lecture on advance learning theories. He shared with us the thought processes involvied in drawing a portrait and how some artists even captured the political undertones in the images they drew. That astounded all of us, theoretical knowledge came alive and we learnt.

Gagne Event 1 – Gaining attention

Consider, how you would want to undertake this in the curriculum that you deliver. It will require you to be innovative and it will also require you to plan. In this blog, I would also like to share with you energizers that can you can use. The key here is to make the activity relevant to the learning outcomes you will cover.

Little Known FACTs (Gain attention activity – mass groups), another of our top ten activities

Purpose: To increase the level of personal disclosure

Participants: Min 10 to maximum any number

Time: 10 – 20 mins

Resources: Index cards or stick on “post its”

Activity conduct:

Ask the participants to write about little known facts about themselves, in the index cards or the “post its”. Collect the cards from one group and call them the “confessors”. The cards that have been collected will be given to the other group and they will told not to look at the contents of the card. This group is called “Interrogators”.

All the interrogators are required to stand up and place the index cards against their fore heads, with the written side showing. Interrogators must follow the rule by not reading the written card.

The action begins, the interrogators are to find the person whose card is shown on their foreheads. They are required to walk the room, ask questions and find the confessor. The confessor must say yes, when approached and asked by an interrogator.

Once the confessor has been tracked down, the interrogator will ask a series of questions, close or open ended until the LKF is found out.Switch roles.

Like us on Face book if you had found this useful. Do drop us an e-mail and we will share with you how this activity can be debriefed.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: Ebnu Etheris Ma.IDT, B.Hrd

02ac2a08cbd3a3917203a1586084a30b?s=72&d=mm&r=g Engaging your learners
Ebnu Etheris, holds a Masters degree in Instructional Design and was part of the pioneering team of executives who saw through the start up of Singapore’s first Budget Airline, Valuair. He was responsible for developing the airline’s Crisis planning systems and initiating blended learning in Flight operations. He works as a Partner with Teamworkbound.

Related Posts

Top 10 activities

This blog will showcase top 10 experiential activities that we have conducted in our training programs. Included are models associated with experiential learning, team dynamics, understanding personality and leadership. We will showcase crisp summary of good books we have read on this blog as well.

Ebnu Etheris
MA.IDT and B. Ed & Trn
Founder Teamworkbound

Magazine Feature

Personal Excellence Magazine Aug 2014

Personal Excellence Magazine (Aug 2014 issue) based in Canada featured our article.

HRMag 3 Engaging your learners

Human Resources Magazine (July 2012 issue), featured Teamwork Bound views on what it takes to engage senior managers.

Our Evaluations

Blog articles

Get started with Teamwork Bound

Want to learn what Teamwork Bound can do for you? See for yourself with a free trial, tests and short in house speaking engagements. We will assure you that our program evaluations meet 85% percentile score, failing which we will not charge for our training sessions.