Gagne's Learning Outcomes

Gagne (1985) classified the learning outcomes into five categories, all of which fall under the
cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains as discussed previously. The five learning
outcomes include: intellectual skills, cognitive strategy, verbal information, motor skills, and
attitude. The intellectual skills, cognitive strategy, and verbal information are in the cognitive
domain. The motor skills are in the psychomotor domain. The attitude is the affective domain.
Let's discuss each learning outcome.

Intellectual skills
Intellectual skills involve the procedural knowledge (how to do things). The intellectual skills
are subdivided into different levels of learning: discrimination, concrete concept, defined
concept, rule, and problem-solving (Gagne et al., 1992).

 Discrimination is the ability to differentiate objects based on one or more of their physical
characteristics, features, and/or dimensions. For example: differentiate between crocodile
and alligator, octopus and squid, cat and dog, etc. Use reinforcement and repetition to assist
and enhance learning of this skill.
 Concrete concept is the ability to identify an object as a member of a group based on
common physical characteristic, feature, property, attribute, and/or dimension (e.g., color,
shapes, length, position, etc.). For example: identify whether tomatoes are considered
vegetable. Learning concrete concept is more complex than learning discrimination. The
latter only requires responding to a difference. The former requires the ability to identify
an object correctly based on its main properties. For example: regardless of color,
thickness, or/and size (irrelevant properties), students correctly identify different figures as
triangles. Students must learn discrimination before they learn concrete concepts. Concrete
learning is believed to be a prerequisite to abstract learning (defined concept, described
next). To enhance learning of this skill, present different examples of an object (concept)
with a wide variety of irrelevant characteristics and ask students to identify a correct
answer.
 Defined concept is the ability to understand the meaning of an object, event, or/and
relation. It requires more than stating a definition or defining a concept. For example:
Understand the meaning of family, justice, community, mass, acceleration, force, etc.
Although defined concept may overlap concrete concept, the former represents more
abstract learning. To enhance learning of this skill, first ask students to recall all
components within the definition of a concept, including the relations among those
components. Have students watch a demonstration, video, or film on how the concept
works.
 Rule is the ability to understand the relationships among objects and events (concepts). For
example: know how to multiply numbers, to construct a sentence, or to play a game. To
learn the skill, help students recall the components that make up the rule and their
relationships. Clearly communicate the rule to students. Provide guidance (e.g., prompts,
cues, strategies) during learning.
 Problem-solving is the ability to combine different rules to solve a problem. Teach or recall
relevant rules and information essential to solving the problem. Offer cues or prompts to
help students solve the problem or engage them in discovery learning (guided and
unguided) to find a solution.
Cognitive strategy
Cognitive strategy is another type of intellectual skills for learning and thinking. Learning
strategies include rehearsal (verbally repeat, underline, or copy materials), elaboration
(associate new information with the existing one through paraphrasing, summarizing, note-
taking, and questions and answers), and organizing (arrange material in an organized and
meaningful order through outlining, concept mapping, advance organizer, etc.). The
metacognitive strategies (thinking) involve students setting learning goals, tracking learning
progress, and modifying strategies to achieve the goals. The affective strategies are used to
focus and maintain attention, to control stress and anxiety, to manage time effectively, and so
on.

Verbal information
Verbal information is concerned with the declarative knowledge (e.g., facts, information,
names, places, etc.). To assist learning of verbal information, the instructor may teach students
different mnemonic techniques (e.g., keyword, loci, imagery, etc.) and help students relate new
information to what already exists in memory to make learning meaningful and memorable.
Use one of the learning strategies (rehearsal, elaboration, and organize) and provide distinct
cues to assist memory.

Motor skills
Motor skills (also called psychomotor skills) are sequences of motor responses or movements,
which are combined into complex performances. These physical performances are assessed by
rapidity, accuracy, force, or smoothness. For example: dancing, skateboarding, fly-fishing,
skiing, writing with a pencil, etc. The motor skills can be further divided into sub skills (part
skills), which are performed simultaneously or in sequential order to produce performances.
These skills are best learned by repeated practice. To teach the part skills, provide clear
instruction to learn the skills. Provide a checklist, picture, or diagram to guide learning.
Encourage students to practice the skills repeatedly, accompanying by timely and appropriate
feedback from the instructor.

Attitude
Attitude is an internal state that affects personal choices and actions over an object, person,
event, and so on. Although it is a complex human state, it can be measured by observing the
person's choice or action. The measurement of attitude is often seen in a form of a self-reported
questionnaire, which may use Likert-scale and/or open-ended questions. Using a role model
has been known to teach attitude effectively. Other methods involve using reinforcement to
encourage a desired behavior and using a conditioned response method to promote certain
attitudes. To change attitude, help students recall a situation to which the attitude applies,
present an appealing and credible role model, use the model to communicate or demonstrate
the desired choices or actions for the given situation, and communicate or demonstrate
satisfaction the model obtains as a result of the selected choices or actions.