Robert Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction provide a framework for effective lesson planning and delivery. In this blog post, we’ll explore how three different teachers implement three of these events – presenting the content, providing learner guidance, and eliciting performance – while teaching the future tense to junior high students. We’ll analyze their approaches, highlighting strengths and weaknesses in their application of Gagne’s principles.
Teacher 1: A Model of Effective Instruction
The first teacher demonstrates a strong understanding of Gagne’s events. She begins by clearly presenting the content using diagrams and examples to illustrate the concept of future tense and the use of “be going to” and “will.”
Next, she provides learner guidance by asking questions throughout the lesson, prompting students to differentiate between past, present, and future tenses. This interactive approach keeps students engaged and helps them actively construct their understanding.
Finally, she elicits performance by having students transform sentences into the future tense. Furthermore, she models the desired outcome by sharing her own writing from when she was younger, connecting the lesson to a personal and engaging context. This teacher also cleverly stimulates recall of prior learning by referencing previously learned tenses.
Teacher 2: Missed Opportunities
The second teacher introduces the two forms of future tense (“be going to” and “will”) but quickly transitions to an activity where students identify future tense sentences. While this activity does elicit performance and practice listening skills, the teacher misses opportunities to present the content more thoroughly with diagrams and examples, and provide learner guidance to ensure comprehension before moving to practice activities.
While the teacher incorporates varied activities – writing, listening, and speaking – she fails to model the exercises, potentially leaving students without sufficient direction.
Teacher 3: The “Teach from the Book” Approach
The third teacher exemplifies a common pitfall: relying too heavily on the textbook. This teacher simply assigns exercises without providing adequate instruction, modeling, or opportunities for group work. Consequently, there is a lack of effective content presentation, learner guidance, and performance elicitation.
Key Takeaways
This analysis of three teachers highlights the importance of thoughtfully applying Gagne’s Events of Instruction. Effective teaching involves more than just assigning tasks, it requires careful planning to:
- Present content in a clear and engaging manner.
- Provide learner guidance through interactive activities and feedback.
- Elicit performance through meaningful practice and application.
By consciously incorporating these events into lesson design, teachers can create more effective and engaging learning experiences for their students. As the instructors in the video point out, even video lessons should strive to gain attention, state objectives, stimulate prior learning, present content clearly, provide guidance, and lead to performance. Whether online or in person, these learning events can give class structure and substance and help learners to engage with the material being presented.
You’re a smart Banana! *sticks gold star on your forehead*
Teacher Lizzy 
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