Born at the YMCA: Malcolm Knowles and the Birth of Andragogy

Born at the YMCA: Malcolm Knowles and the Birth of Andragogy

Knowles' theories of adult learning are complex, but his conclusions can be summarized into four main points:

1.

Adults need to know why they are learning something. They should be told how it effects them directly.
2.

Adults have a repository of lifetime experiences that should be tapped as a resource for ongoing learning. Similarly, adult learners bring various levels of prior exposure to any topic and that fact should be acknowledged.
3.

Adults use a hands-on problem-solving approach to learning. Rote memorization of facts and figures should be avoided.
4.

Adults want to apply new knowledge and skills immediately. Retention decreases if the learning is applied only at some future point in time.