DOCUMENT RESUME ED 397 794 IR 017 982 AUTHOR Fields, Dennis TITLE The Impact of Gagne's Theories on Practice. PUB DATE 96 NOTE 14p.; In: Proceedings of Selected Research and Development Presentations at the 1996 National Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (18th, Indianapolis, IN, 1996); see IR 017 960. PUB TYPE Reports Speeches/Conference Descriptive (141) Papers (150) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adoption (Ideas); Behaviorism; Cognitive Psychology; *Curriculum Development; Educational Innovation; Educational Practices; *Instructional Design; Learning Theories; Teaching Methods; *Theory Practice Relationship; *Transfer of Training IDENTIFIERS *Gagne (Robert M) ABSTRACT Robert Gagne's theories and research have had a significant impact on practitioners in general, especially instructional designers. He has influenced teaching and curriculum development and used standard practices as a stimulus for the development of theory. This paper explores Gagne's influence on practice by examining the relationship between theory and practice, especially in relation to instructional design, and then discussing curriculum development and transfer of learning. Gagne wanted to apply theory to practice, and was especially interested in applying theory to teaching and learning to make it more effective and efficient. This paper includes discussions of the literature on Gagne which covers the practical use of his cumulative learning theory, his notion of tLe learning hierarchy in educational curriculums, and the importance of learner outcomes when analyzing content of instructional design literature and practice. The influence of Gagne's theories on instructional design practice spans a gap from a reliance on behaviorism as a foundational theory to the eventual adoption of cognitivism as an underlying theory. Gagne's theories and research have been applied to a wide variety of content areas, age levels, and learning environments. (Contains 50 references.) (Author/SWC) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made A from the original document. ********************************************************************** OF EDUCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT Research arra Improvement Office of Educational INFORMATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES CENTER (ERIC) reproduced as has been 0 This document organization person or received from the originating it. to r have been made 0 Minor changes quality as improve reproduction this opinions stated tn Points of view or t---- necessarily represent document do not c., or policy. rn official OERI position C) Title: LLI The Impact of Gagne's Theories on Practice Author: Dennis Fields Center for Information Media St. Cloud State University -PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY BEST COPY MIAMI 2 218 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INPORMA1 ION CENTER (ERIC)." Robert Gagne's theories and research in instruction and learning have been discussed in other chapters, where their relationships to each other are explored in depth. Gagne's theories and research have had significant impact on practitioners in general and of instructional designers in specific, and this will be the focus of this paper. Given the length of his professional career, and the esteem with which his numerous publications are held, it is axiomatic that he has had an impact. Further examination reveals that he also has influenced teaching and curriculum development through his research and theory. He also used standard practices as a stimulus for the development of theory. Throughout his career, Gagne was always cognizant of the gap between theory and practice, and addressed this gap by directing his investigations toward practical problems. I personally have felt the impact of Robert Gagne during my military training in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These were my earliest experiences as an adult learner and a teacher of adults. Reviewing the Gagne literature for this paper confirmed a suspicion I've had since these military experiences. There seems not only to be a possibility, but also a high probability, that my training was influenced in no small measure by Gagne and his associates in the military. I experienced first hand the effectiveness of military training based upon Gagne's principles as both a trainer and trainee. However, my interest in Gagne's influence on practice is more than an outgrowth of my military experience. That, in conjunction with 25 years as a practicing instructional designer in public schools, colleges and industry has created a somewhat personal relationship to Gagne and his contributions. This paper will explore Gagne's influence on practice by first examining the relationship between theory and practice especially in relation to insh-uctional design, and then discussing curriculum development and transfer of learning. The Relationship between Theory and Practice Gagne typically examined the interaction and dependencies between theory and practice. This is noteworthy given the attention that the application of theory to practice has also received by other researchers. The work of Huberman (1990), London (1973), Battersby (1987), Clark (1988), Schön (1987), and Willis (1993), are but a few examples of researchers who have joined the ranks of researchers who argue that good theory should be applied to practice, and conversely exemplary practice should be examined as a basis for new theory development. Huberman (1990) goes further in linking theory to practice by suggesting that researchers .thould start their research by first contacting practitioners. Furthermore, he notes that ". .. research findings can flow into practitioner settings and craft knowledge can move into research settings as a natural function of the ongoing relationships between both parties feeding more or less automatically into their customary transactions" (p. 387). This kind of relationship, although described by Huberman in 1990, seems to reflect many situations described by Gagne in his early work. For example, Gagne (1962), in his article "Military Training and Principles of Learning" discusses the differences between those learning principles studied in laboratories and their application to military training, and recognizes the difficulties of applying theory to practice. I am not asking, how can a scientific approach be applied to the study of training? Nor am I asking how can experimental methodology be applied to the study of training? The question is, rather, how can what you know about learning as an event, or as a process be put to use in designing training so that it will be maximally effective? (p. 84) Gagne, as early as the late 1950s and early 1960s, had clearly established an interest in and desire to apply theory to practice. He was especially interested in examining the larger issue of applying theory to training, teaching, and learning with the eventual objective of making it more effective and efficient. Gagne's early observations in military training, research, and academic laboratories provided ample evidence of the inadequacy of existing learning theories and principles as vehicles for solving pressing training problems, and the impact of his reactions to these observations was profound. For example, his theory and research findings were applied to the development of training on trouble shooting aircraft electrical systems and electronics. This is one specific area in which I experienced training bearing the earmark of Gagne's theories. The trouble shooting training I participated in (and later taught) was carefully sequenced hierarchically, and component tasks were intended as mediators that directed the instruction and learning process toward the ultimate objective. Military trainees were evaluated for mastery of prerequisite skills and taught or retaught these skills where necessary. All of these strategies reflect the influence of Robert Gagne. 219 Gagne's ever present concern with practice, even in the midst of theory development, continues to benefit education and training. These benefits will be explored here, especially in terms of curriculum development, instructional design practice and transfer of training. Impact of Gagne's Theories on Curriculum Development Practice An examination of curriculum and curriculum development logically begins with a concept definition. Gagne (1966) defines curriculum as of content units arranged in such a way that the learning of each unit may be accomplished as a . a sequence . single act, provided the capabilities described by specified prior units (in the sequence) have already been mastered by the learner. (p. 22) This orientation is a logical extension of his cumulative learning theory and his notion of the learning hierarchy. Contrasting definitions illustrate the diversity of thinking in this area. For example, Bloom (1976) views curriculum as occurring in two formsvisible and invisible. The former being the school subjects one is taught, and the latter being those lessons which teach one his or her place in the world. Gagne's concept is closer to the first view. Further contrasting definitions are offered by Bruner (1966)2, Eisner (1985)3, and Klein (American Society for Curriculum Development, 1993)4. Bruner and Klein provide views that are more traditional and closer to that of Gagne. Eisner. on the other hand, also recognizes the existence of both formal and informal curricula, similar to Bloom. While number of not all theorists agree on the definition of curriculum, Gagne's position has been used as the basis for a important efforts in schools and training. School program design. The most pervasive example of an application of Gagne's theories and research to a large scale curriculum project is Science: A Process Approach (SAPA), which is part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Commission on Science Education. These science curriculum materials were influential in schools and colleges during the 1960s and early 1970s and represent a significantly large scale curriculum effort utilizing Gagne's theories and research in the areas of problem solving and scientific inquiry. Gagne's view of a knowledge base which they process approach to science is scientific inquiry and is based on students having a large subsequently utilize to make and then test inductive inferences. The underlying foundation for the process approach is hierarchical, and presumes that learners have the prerequisite process skills as background. Gagne (1965) maintained that 2Bruner's (1966) definition is "A curriculum should involve the mastery of skills that in turn lead to the mastery of still more powerful ones, the establishment of self-reward sequences. curriculum should be prepared jointly by the subject matter expert, the teacher, and the psychologist with due regard for . a . . the inherent structure of the material, its sequencing, the psychological pacing of reinforcement and the building and maintaining of predispositions to problem solving (pp. 35, 70). 'Eisner (1985) defines three curriculums: null, implicit and explicit. Null: A curriculum in which all of those things not taught and not learned in schools--there simply are no opportunities to learn them. Implicit: (This is similar to Bloom's latent curriculum). A curriculum in which ideas, values, attitudes, and processes are values and not explicitly taught; but they are none-the-less, learned. They are learned through the subtleties of teacher attitudes, as well as the signals sent by the organization as a whole (e.g., where it puts its resources, and what it values sports, academics, fine arts, etc ) Explicit: The curriculum to which students, teachers and administrators must attend to most in schools. It is what parents and society expect students to have learned, and what they try and measure as predictors of suczess. This curriculum offers tangible evidence of its existence through instructional materials, technology, instructional strategies, guides, etc. The explicit curriculum is often perceived as that cumulative knowledge of human kind which is passed on through the generations. `Klein's (American Society for Curriculum Development, 1993) definition is "Curriculum is those activities, processes and structural arrangements as intended for, employed in, or experienced in the school and classroom for the purposes of fulfilling the educative function (p. 2.16). 220 the process approach is a middle ground between the "content approach" and the "creative approach" and "It substitutes the notion of having children learn generalizable process skills which are behavioral specific, but which carry the promise of broad transferability across many subject matters" (p. 4). It can also be said that SPAP and its orientation to teaching elementary science and scientific inquiry, although first published in the sixties, remained immensely influential in science texts and other commercially published science materials well into the 1980s. Andrew Ahlgren of AAAS, co- author of Science for All Americans, provided further testimony to Gagne's influence on science curriculum, as well as his indirect influence on mathematics, and technology curriculum in specific (A. Ahlgren, October 3, 1994, personal communication). He stated that SAPA most certainly had tremendous influence on not only science, but also technology curriculum. Not all see Gagne's influence on science curriculum as positive. Finiley (1983), for example, argues that Gagne's theories, as well as others of like mind, have propelled science curriculum in the wrong direction by advocating a commitment to inductive empiricism.5 He maintains that a presentation of papers by Gagne to AAAS ". . has had a . substantial influence on curriculum, instruction, and research in science education since that presentation" (p. 47). Finiley then selects Gagne, in view of all others writing about science process, as the most influential when he says: "Although many science educators have written about science processes, the view established by Gagne has been most influential" (p. 48). He continues his argument from a philosophical perspective indicating that Gagne, similar to his predecessors like Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton and Hume, embrace the positions of empiricism and induction. Finiley, although in fundamental disagreement with Gagne's approach to teaching science, substantiates the 5Finiley, when discussing Gagne's theories is making direct reference to Gagne's influence on science curriculum through AAAS in general and SPAP in specific. The influence, as mentioned earlier, is centered around Gagne's perspective of a process approach where learners are taught to think and solve problems like a scientist would. In Gagne's (1965) scheme this would be accomplished b5Bruner's (1966) definition is "A curriculum should involve the mastery of skills that in turn lead to the mastery of still more powerful ones, the establishment of self-reward sequences. should be prepared jointly by the subject matter expert, the teacher, and the psychologist with due regard for . a curriculum the inherent structure of the material, its sequencing, the psychological pacing of reinforcement and the building and maintaining of predispositions to problem solving (pp. 35, 70). 5Eisner (1985) defines three curriculums: null, implicit and explicit. Null: A curriculum in which all of those things not taught and not learned in schools--there simply are no opportunities to learn them. Implicit: (This is similar to Bloom's latent curriculum). A curriculum in which ideas, values, attitudes, and processes are not explicitly taught; but they are none-the-less, learned. They are learned through the subtleties of teacher values and attitudes, as well as the signals sent by the organization as a whole (e.g., where it puts its resources, and what it values-- sports, academics, fine arts, etc.) Explicit: The curriculum to which students, teachers and administrators must attend to most in schools. It is what parents and society expect students to have learned, and what they try and measure as predictors of success. This curriculum offers tangible evidence of its existence through instructional materials, technology, instructional strategies, guides, etc. The explicit curriculum is often perceived as that cumulative knowledge of human kind which is passed on through the generations. 5Klein's (American Society for Curriculum Development, 1993) definition is "Curriculum is those activities, processes and structural arrangements as intended for, employed in, or experienced in the school and classroom for the purposes of fulfilling the educative function (p. 2.16). 5Finiley, when discussing Gagne's theories is making direct reference to Gagne's influence on science curriculum through AAAS in general and SPAP in specific. The influence, as mentioned earlier, is centered around Gagne's perspective of a process approach where learners are taught to think and solve problems like a scientist would. In Gagne's (1965) scheme this would be y learning prerequisite skills which transfer to more complex skills, and eventually lead the learner to a level where they are able to carry out scientific thinking which is disciplined and systematic and connected to ". . the process of . science" (p. 4). 221 the overreaching influence Gagne has had on the development of science through SAPA during the late 1960s and into 1980s. Hackett (1971) provides another example of the use of Gagne's theories on a large scale curriculum project in a skills curricula, she public school setting. Although her work was primarily directed toward reading and communication well. Hackett's provides ample evidence of the application of Gagne's theories to social studies and mathematics as the experiments and curriculum projects focused on a performance-based approach which has many similarities to early 1990s. outcome based education movement of the late 1980s and curriculum There are also many examples of smaller scale curriculum efforts that apply Gagne's theory to questioning development projects. Two examples are Gilbert's (1992) use of Gagne's hierarchies in his curriculum on provide evidence of more recent and taxonomies, and Lines's (1988) work with advanced economics. These programs Bell's (1982) article in applications of Gagne's theories to curriculum. One can also examine as evidence Margaret E. She argues that which she makes a persuasive case for the application of Gagne's theories to designing programs. instruction. Bell recommends curriculum design and development has not been as systematic as the efforts of designing development. John that Gagne's five capatilities can be applied to course instruction as well as program or curriculum research area of Flynn's (1992) also adapts Gagne's Events of Instruction to the very high profile and contemporary coopezative learning. directed toward individual School lesson design. When relating Gagne's theories to curriculum efforts that are goal knowledge was lessons many of the examples utilize computer technology. Lesgold's (1987) effort wherein is an example of adapting [and] human activity . . ." intelligent machine . examined as to its significance to ". . . . . this category is the Smaldino and Gagne's theories to curriculum and prerequisite skills in a novel way. Also in technology. These Thompson (1990) research relating the Events of Instruction to science education and computer Instruction" (p. 17). Jonassen (1988) has authors propose designing science lessons focusing on the "Nine Events of He especially utilized many of Gagne's writings, theories and principles in the design of microcomputer courseware. prerequisite skills. Jonassen (1988) also utilizes Gagnes Events of Instruction and his work in the area of hierarchies and lessons to be delivered by computer utilizes Gagne's work with respect to learning outcomes in designing individual courseware. curriculum design in Training curriculum design. Gagne's theories also have been used extensively in training appropriate to start with the the private sector of business, or the non-school sector of governmental agencies. It is most abounds. While many of Gagne's early military and defense related environments where the evidence of Gagne's influence results conducted if. military writings are generously sprinkled with references to military applications and research (1991) and Garavaglia (1993) settings, there are also many current applications made in private sector training. Stepich learners from novice to expert provide two examples. Stephich (1991) examines the idea of utilizing training to move training design. Garavaglia (1993) suggests that status, and proposes a way to apply Gagne's "conditions of learning" to contends that: designers take another look at the design phase of Instructional Systems Development (ISD). Garavaglia achieved and the media necessary to "For each event of instruction you should determine the method for which it can be in conjunction with Kellers achieve it" (p. 28). He continues by expanding on how the Events of Instruction can be used these articles utilize Gagne's ARCS model in what Garavaglia's calls a technical training submethodology. Both of theories lizs theories to develop techniques, methods or practices and each imply that the practice based upon his implications for a larger curriculum effort throughout a training program in the Rrivate sector. Impact of Gagne's Instructional Design Theories on Instructional Design Practice when The profound influence of Gagne's theories on instructional design practice is most easily understood realize that he was positioning them into the context of his early theories of instruction or learning.' It is important to but 'The influence of Gagne's theories on instructional design practice reveals two paths which are not only interrelated, textbooks and nearly inseparable. The first path is an analysis of textbooks and handbooks. The instructional design research and the practice handbooks serve many purposes, one of which is to provide a communication link between theory, important of instructional design in education, educational psychology and training. The argument here is that there are two found within them; and second, goals for texts and handbooks. First, to communicate to the readers' the theories and models training of their readers. to promote these theories in the respective practices of education and which The second path is an examination of the practical research reports, journal articles and curriculum projects instructional design practice. These resources are more report the findings of research, theory development and application to likely to be, in relation to this paper, reports on the application of Gagne's instructional design theories to specific content 6 222 one of the theorists instrumental in bridging the gap between the behaviorists of the 1950s and 1960s and the cognitivists of the 1970s and 1980s. Case and Berither (1984) maintain that when Gagne ". . shifted the focus of . attention from the how to the what of behavior change; that is, he shifted the focus from reinforcement to the nature of the behaviours themselves" (p. 144). Case and Bereither (1984), suggest that Gagne not only moved away fiom reinforcement, but he also recognized learning as a more complex process than previously thought, and they elaborate on Gagne's recognition that learning was not confined to ". . the learning of physical behaviors and simple stimulus-response connections but also the learning . of concepts, rules, principles, intellectual skills and cognitive strategies" (p. 144). Using Gagne's earlier work as background, they suggest that the third and most important part of his work, which catapulted him beyond the behaviorists of that time, was his concept of sequencing intellectual skills and allowing the instruction to move systematically toward higher-order skills all while building on prerequisite skills. Gagne had a part in the paradigm shift from behavioral to cognitive psychology in the early 1960s, and this brought about a predictable change in both instructional design literature and practice. The literature of the field, viewed as a communication link or mediator between theory and practice, is certainly a measure of just how pronounced his influence has been.' Richey (1986) maintains that Gagne has had tremendous influence on instructional design practice through his theories, models and procedures for developing instruction. Instructional designers have embraced Gagne's theories for many reasons; however, one of the most compelling reasons lies in his work with learning outcomes. Gagne (1988) directs the instructional designer to utilize the following learner outcomes when analyzing content: intellectual skills, verbal information, cognitive strategies, motor-skills and attitudes. Subsequent to determining the desired learning outcome, the instructional designer is advised to complete the content analysis based on the expectations for the learner. The documentation of the design process where the designer selects the appropriate learner outcomes, completes the content analysis and develops the appropriate flow diagrams and procedures becomes the core of the instructional design document used to guide the instructional design project to completion. No examination of Gagne's influence on practice would be complete without examining the influence of his theories on teacher education and ultimately on teachers, professors and the entire education enterprise. Furthermore, this examination compels the researcher to delve further into the definition and concepts of influence and change. Short term areas or disciplines within the educational or training arena. Since the author devoted considerable space and cited several sources from this path when examining Gagne's influence on curriculum, no further effort will be made to elaborate on these items. It is clear however, that Gagnes impact on instructional design practice is evident in the enormous number of journal articles, research reports and curriculum projects which refer to his work. The reader is well advised to pursue these resources or to refer to the curriculum section of this paper for further information. No specific effort has been made to identify when resources from one or another path are being highlighted other than to identify items as books, reports or journal articles. 'Textbooks and handbooks are a primary communication link between theory and practice, and as such they are an essential resource for measuring Gagne's influence. Among his texts are the following: the four editions of Gagne's The Conditions of Learning (1965), the two editions. of Gagne and Briggs (1974 & 1979), Principles of Instructional Design and the third edition of the same title by Gagne, Briggs and Wager (1988). These books alone would indicate a monumental impact on instructional design practice since they are cited throughout the instructional design literature that parallels them, and almost all the instructional design literature that follows. They are also texts from which many instructional design practitioners in the 1970s and 1980s learned the theory and practice of instructional design. There are several series of texts which further explain and apply Gagne's theories for practitioners. An example of a multiple series of texts is Dick and Carey's (1978, 1985, 1990), T',0 Systematic Design of Instruction with a fourth edition in press. There are very few practitioners anywhere haven't taken a course where this text was used, applied it to their practice, taught from it, or at least read it in part. Although the Dick and Carey editions can be characterized many ways. they are theotetically "vintage systems theory" with the strong influence of Gagne in their application of instructional design theory to practice. They also model Gagne's desire to be practical by presenting their system for designing instruction as one that accommodates either a "knowledge" or "product" approach. They add that they favor the product approach since it requires students to actually develop instruction as opposed to learning about instructional design as a theoretical concept. There are many other series and single texts which have been influenced by Gagne's theories and research, and one worthwhile consulting to this end. BEST COPY AVAILABLE 223 7 being exposed to Gagne's theories in methods and change in attitudes brought about in pm-service educators evaluations and tests; however, expecting them to media/technology courses may be assessed traditionally in course practice is a different matter. This is especially true when incorporate these theories and concepts into their teaching in an change on professionals who ultimately spend their careers considered from the perspective of initiating permanent the precedence, and accepted methodology, which often reinforces organizational culture which has many years of history, of new teachers. Martin and Clemente (1990) argue that attitudes of experienced teachers, and shapes the attitudes schools because professionals as well as professors of instructional systems design (ISD) has had minimum impact on until (teachers) and the culture of schools. They further argue that ISD haven't considered carefully enough their clients innovation in schools; that the accepting of the ISD approach would be considered an we (ISD professionals) understand in the culture or social setting we will be unsuccessful in therefore, subject to all the usual barriers to accepting change promoting ISD in schools. had little of no influence on teachers, professors and Are we to conclude then that Gagne's theories have there has not been a preponderance of teachers or subsequently education:? Not necessarily! While it is true that evidence that teachers adapt ISD theories to their practice. In so educational systems adopting ISD in its entirety, there is frequently made to ISD theories that often have his far as Gagne's influence is concerned these adaptations are be made that in implicit and often small ways, instructional theories embedded within them. A persuasive argument can procedures adapt them to their and professors exposed to ISD theories, models and over an extended time period, teachers Planning resemblance to both Gagne and general systems theory. practice rather than adopt them. These adaptations bear and flow charting to sequencing content and concepts from proceeds from problem identification writing objectives skills, level intellectual skills as a foundation for higher order simple to complex forming the basis for using lower media is lodged on the premise that the texts used in educational culminating with assessment. Given that this argument by general teachers have been and continue to be strongly influenced and instructional technology courses for preservice and in them, it is recommended that the reader examine these texts ISD theories which have Gagne's theories embedded their potential in relationship to Gagne.8 college and university level, have tremendous Finally, teachers at the K-I2 level, as well as those at the formal than professional designers might be accustomed to or responsibility for instructional design albeit much less this group receives while participating in education courses prescribe. Therefore, the exposure to instructional design design potential to significantly influence the course and unit utilizing the theories of Gagne and other theorists has the States who The large number of pre-service teachers in the United these practitioners engage in throughout their careers. provides evidence for the potential impact of these teachers take media and methods or instructional technology courses design Although, as mentioned earlier, the adapted instructional adapting Gagne's theories and models in their practice. surface, often less systematic and formalized than the practiced by teachers, instructors and professors is, on the nonetheless it does qualify as designing instruction. instructional design models recommended in Gagne's books, advised to consider preservice teachers and their professors as Instructional design theorists and researchers would be well acknowledge designers. In so doing the texts written for them might one of the many types of instructional work and subsequently influences how they design organizational differences within which these professionals the Heinich, Molenda, and Russell editions of 8The flagship texts in terms of practical application to preservice education are (1982, 1985, 1989, 1993). The third edition of the Heinich et Instructional Media and the New Technologies of Instruction accepted and recommended for the design of instruction; al. is the first to mention Gagne's theory explicitly as widely his work in the first and second editions. This, and other books in however, there is also ample evidence of implicit use of the undergraduate level; however, they are also used at the this genre, target an audience of preservice teachers primarily at and instructional media programs. Their goals focus on providing graduate level as introductory texts in teacher education ideas and examples related to instructional media and the use of their audiences with information, techniques, utilization, only by mentioning Gagne's theories (although that is technology in education. These texts have had influence not and trainers of these courses use these texts. As professionals significant), but also by the fact that the professors, instructors their education as well as teaching multiple courses utilizing his they have had wide exposure to Gagne's theories through and writings at least in implicit ways, and sometimes explicitly. work. These books often apply and model Gagne's theories Heinich et al. (1989, pp. 42 & 53) wherein they cite Gagne and This is clearly the case in the third and fourth editions of design model recommended in these texts, and especially in Briggs (1988) and Gagne (1985). Furthermore, the instructional rligne's theories and is similar to other Gagne instructional design the third and fourth editions, has many elements of models. 8 224 instruction. Furthermore, these texts might then incorporate only the most practical and useful aspects of design theory from researchers such as Gagne. Summarizing, the influence of Gagnes theories on instructional design practice spans a gap from a reliance on behaviorism as a foundational theory to the eventual adoption of cognitivism as an underlying theory. Further, Gagne's overwhelming influence on the literature read by practitioners and the researchers who teach them has had significant impact on practice. Finally, the indirect or implicit influence Gagne has had on the informal instructir., 41 design practiced by teachers and many professors through texts for preservice education is greater than many writers realize. Gagne's Influence on the Transfer of Learning When reading Gagne's work, and especially the four ecl?.i,...sts of The Conditions of Learning, one is impressed with his attention to detail related to the many dimensions of learning and transfer. Gagne discusses often that learning should be generalized to new and varied content and applied to situations in the learners life. Syllogistically, the argument could be made that through the four editions of The Conditions of Learning, and through his work with the Events of Instruction, Gagne always had been, and continues to be, dedicated to both near and far transfer. Gagne (1989) was experimenting with the transfer of training as early as the late 1940s. This early research ". .. different amounts of examines positive and negative transfer and discusses transfer in the context of giving: training to separate groups of subjects on an initial task which was a subordinate part of a total skill involving four differential manual reactions" (p. 22). This research was done with training subjects on complex motor tasks using multiple trials and observing them for periods of little or no improvement (plateaus) in learning. In this study the control group performed better than the group with too few trials (negative transfer). The control group was out- performed by the group having optimal trials (positive transfer). Positive and negative transfer are defined in many ways; the following eclectic definitions suit this discussion. Positive transfer occurs when learning one task assists in the performance of another; or when a previously learned task enhances the ability or performance in another task or control group. Negative transfer occurs when the learning of one task impairs the learning of another; or previously learned task is an imcPdiment to performance; or experimental group is outperformed by the control group. It is predictable that Gagne's view of transfer would parallel the previous definitions at that time in his'career given the influence of early behaviorists like Pavlov, Guthrie, Tolman, Skinner and Thorndike on his work. Further, his work ir volving positive and negative transfer became the basis for his later concept of transfer which has been so thoroug hly embedded in the practice of instructional design. The discussion that follows is centered on Gagne's evolving concept of transfer over a 20 year span. During that time frame his use of the term was modified from one which differentiated between positive and negative transfer to the myr zontemporary lateral and vertical concepts found throughout the literature and utilized by practitioners today. Gagne (1962) in later references to transfer builds on the concepts of positive and negative transfer. When discussing transfer in the context of ". . transfer of training from e:imponent learning sets to a new activity which . incorporates these previously acquired capabilities" (p. 364) he seems to be directing his focus more toward generalization, which becomes the focus of his later conceptualization and subsequent definition of transfer. Gagne (1965), when discussing external events and the conditions of learning indicates the need for what has been learned to be . generalizable, and transferable . ." (p. 206) to new and different situations where it might be applied. ". . Gagne (1970) says that capabilities learned in school should provide students with the background and skills to accomplish practical things in Cleft lives or in occupations and identifies this as lateral transfer. Furthermore, he says students should be able to learn more complex things as a result of their previous learning. This learning of more advanced or complex tasks or skill based on subordinate rules or concepts is called vertical transfer. The defining of lateral and vertical transfer within the framework of the conditions for learning helped establish the foundation for applying the concept of transfer to contemporary instructional design practice. Some of Gagne's lesser known theories of learning and instruction are both an indication of his continued search for unique ways of solving learning and instructional problems, and his willingness to examine the contrasting work of other researchers. Gagne (1968) offers the cumulative learning theory to those practitioners hav:ng some difficulty with total acceptance of his hierarchical or taxonomical theories. Although hierarchical in the pure sense, the cumulative learning theory offers a modified approach to learning and transfer. His explanation of this theory begins with his 225 contrasting two models of intellectual development, one by Hall and Gessell and another by Piaget. Gagne also examines two kinds of capability change, both of which are observable and distinguishable by the time frame required for the change to take place. Those changes in behavior capabilities that occur in hours, days, or weeks are referred to as of learning and memory; those behavior capability changes requiring months or even years are called development. One the many questions surrounding the difference between learning and development is that each view transfer of learning from a different perspective. Additional examination of Gagne's theories related to human development reveals his Cumulative Learning and Model and its relationship to transfer. Gagne maintains that using this model, which begins with S-R connections, other words, proceeds through concepts and simple rules and culminates with complex rules, will enhance transfer. In learning (i.e., the learned capabilities at any stage of the model will not only transfer to further enhance the intended transfer to new but related tasks. Gagne content for which the hierarchy was originally designed), but may also serve to material, (1988), when referring to "stages" or "levels" in reference to learning new material related to previously learned states: Cumulative learning thus assumes a built in capacity for transfer. Transfer occurs because of the occurrence of specific identical (or highly similar) elements within developmental sequences. (p. 338) Gagne, adds that "elements" has specific meaning in this discussion of transfer since it refers directly to ". . . ." (p. 338). rules, concepts, or any of the other learned capabilities . . However, the larger question here is: do instructional designers, engaged in the process of practicing their skins leads him to the and selecting learning theories automatically consider cumulative learning as a theory? The author's bias enhance conclusion that a large percentage of practitioners are not familiar with it much less utilize it in their practice to dilemma of: transfer. Designers familiar with theories which are not "mainstream" whether Gagne's or others face the 'going back to what they know best, or experimenting with fresh approaches at a tIme when deadlines are shorter, and there is increasing pressure to decrease the time of the design cycle. When considering Gagne's transfer theories and their relationship to intellectual skills and higher order be capabilities, it is evident that Gagne accepts the proposition that intellectual skills and higher order capabilities may transfer to other or new learned for a specific intent or objective. These then become the background for generalization or learning. The generalizations made by the learners may be a result of planned instruction, while in other cases they may (based on need or curiosity) take the initiative to learn independently. Since learning ascribed to this theory is cumulative, it often becomes more complex in the process of development; therefore, generalization and transfer between and among those things already learned and/or those to be learned is enhanced. Gagne (1988) when commenting on the process of transfer says: "There is no magic key to this structure--it is simply developed piece by piece. The magic is in learning and memory and transfer" (p. 332). Summarizing the preceding definitions and discussions of transfer and their implications, Gagne's perspective is clear: the most important aspect of transfer is its dependency on what has already been learned. In short, there is nothing the necessity to vary to transfer if it hasn't already been learned. The second criteria, and equally important to transfer, is the situations and possibilities in the environment that the learner is expected to generalize the learning. The concepts of far and near transfer have significant ramifications for instructional design practitioners since the design process is grounded in the application of learning both immediately after education or training or in the future as learners continue their education or employment. Far and near transfer are similar to Gagne's definition of lateral and vertical transfer, their similarity can be found through examining the functions of time, learning of subordinate skills and the immediate content complexity. Near transfer is concerned with application of instruction similar in complexity to future, where far transfer has the expectation of generalizing or applying learning over a longer time frame, and often in varying situations and contexts to the original training. A similarity between near and lateral transfer can be found in their expectatiot I of applying concepts and procedures to problems or situations equal in complexity to those practi,ed in the instruction. Moreover, both vertical and far transfer have the expectation that the learner apply their learning over time and to new concepts and problems often to those more complex and unlike those presented and practiced in the original instruct on. This brings the discussion to the internal dimension of both vertical and far transfer. Vertical and far transfer rely km the learner having mastery of a variety of knowledge, information and skills which in turn enhances the possibility of transfer occurring. The practicing instructional designer, through their design of the instruction, should build in a positive environment for learning. This environment should not only allow, but also strongly encourage, learners to experience "real life" situations in their instruction and to rehearse their perceptions of the concepts and information with other learners while they are being taught. 226 0