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2.2 Learning Theories 39

Table 2.1 Instructional events and internal mental process (Gagné, Wager, Golas, & Keller,
2005)
Instructional events Internal mental process
1. Gain attention Stimuli activate receptors
2. Inform learners of objectives Creates level of expectation for learning
3. Stimulate recall of prior knowledge Retrieval and activation of short-term memory
4. Present the content Selective perception of content
5. Provide guidance for learning Sematic encoding for storage long-term
memory
6. Elicit performance “practice” Responds to questions to enhance encoding and
verification
7. Provide informative feedback Reinforcement and assessment of correct
performance
8. Assess performance test, if the lesson has Retrieval and reinforcement of content as final
been learned evaluation
9. Enhance retention and transfer Retrieval and generalization of learned skill to
new situation

Extended Reading:

• Jean Piaget: Cognitive developmental theory
Piaget’s basic outlook is that as a person matures, he or she adapts to the
world in different ways. The two basic processes of adaptation are assimi-
lation and accommodation, and they cannot be separated. Assimilation was to
describe the learning process through which a child picks up new concepts
and ideas and absorbs them into the existing concepts and ideas. Accom-
modation is different from assimilation. It is the process of reorganization and
changes in a child’s cognitive structures caused by the inability to assimilate
the information in existing structures.
• David P. Ausubel: Cognitive Assimilation Theory
Ausubel was influenced by the teachings of Jean Piaget. He puts forward
cognitive assimilation theory, which focuses on what he describes as mean-
ingful learning. It is a process where new information is related to an existing
relevant aspect of the individual’s knowledge structure. According to the
cognitive assimilation theory, whether students can learn new knowledge
meaningfully depends on the existing concepts in their cognitive structure.
These concepts can be used to connect the knowledge with the existing
knowledge for the learner, and find or form relevant concepts in the original
cognitive structure. The meaning of new knowledge is needed to incorporate
into their own cognitive structure and form their own understanding, while
some changes have taken place in the original cognitive structure.