ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF GAGNES’S THEORY IN PRIMARY SCHOOL MATHEMATICS LESSON PLANS: A DOCUMENT ANALYSIS STUDY

Source abstract

This study examines how Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction are represented in primary school Mathematics lesson plans developed by pre-service teachers. Gagné’s instructional framework was used as the analytical basis to evaluate the presence and clarity of the nine instructional events within written lesson plans. A qualitative document analysis design was employed, involving five Mathematics lesson plans selected through purposive sampling. The documents were analysed using qualitative content analysis, with each instructional event coded according to whether it was consistently represented, partially represented, or insufficiently represented. The findings indicate that gaining learners’ attention, informing learners of the objectives, presenting content, and assessing performance were more consistently represented across the lesson plans. In contrast, stimulating recall of prior learning, providing structured learning guidance, eliciting meaningful performance, providing formative feedback, and enhancing retention and transfer were less consistently represented. Variations were also observed in the depth and clarity with which the instructional events were incorporated into the lesson plans. Overall, the findings suggest that Gagné’s instructional framework was represented partially and unevenly rather than uniformly across the analysed documents. The study highlights the need for more structured guidance and practical training to support pre-service teachers in translating instructional theory into systematic Mathematics lesson planning, particularly in areas involving scaffolding, formative feedback, and transfer of learning.