Stages of Learning.
Author: Malcolm Hornsby
September 2004
To be able to recognise the various stages of learning will be helpful to you as
a trainer. Here you will find three charts that give you a brief description of
the Stages of Skill, Stages of Knowledge and the Stages of Attitude.
Stages of Skill
The major categories in the psychomotor domain are:
The student completes one or more skills with ease and becomes automatic with limited
physical or mental exertion.
The student combines more than one skill in sequence with harmony and consistency.
The student produces a skill with accuracy, proportion, usually performed independent
of original source.
The student performs skill according to instruction rather than observation.
The student observes skill and attempts to repeat it.
Stages of knowledge
The major categories of the cognitive domain are:
Involves acts of decision making, judgment, or selecting based on criteria and rationale
- requires synthesis in order to evaluate.
Combines elements to form new entity from original one - requires analysis in order
to synthesise.
Separates whole into its parts, until relationship among elements is clear - requires
ability to apply information in order to analyse.
Uses information in a situation different from the original learning context - requires
comprehension of information in order to apply in new situation.
Interprets, translates, summarises, or paraphrases given information - requires
knowledge in order to demonstrate comprehension.
Recognition and recall of facts and specifics.
Stages of Attitude
The major categories of the affective domain are:
Total behaviour is consistent with values internalised,
Committed to a set of values as displayed by behaviour,
Displays behaviour consistent with single belief or attitude in situations where
he is not forced to comply or obey.
Complies to given expectations by attending or reacting to stimuli, i.e., interest.
Aware of; passively attending to certain phenomena and stimuli; i.e. listening.