Four principles of andragogy, as laid out by Knowles in 1984
- Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
- Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for the learning activities.
- Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance and impact to their job or personal life.
- Adult learning is process-centered rather than content-oriented.
(Pappas, 2013)
Each of these becomes steadily more apparent throughout research on Knowles. Each one of these will resurface either in assumptions of adult learners, or in connections to HRD.