Knowles's adult learning theory, commonly associated with andragogy, proposes that adults need to understand why something is important before investing effort in learning it. Relevance therefore plays a central role in adult motivation and engagement.
Adults typically bring substantial prior experience to a learning environment, prefer involvement in their own development, become increasingly self-directed, and are often motivated to learn when information can address an immediate problem or support a meaningful goal. Explaining why learning matters helps participants connect instruction with workplace performance, career goals, or practical challenges.
Gagne's framework focuses on instructional events that support learning. Bloom's taxonomy classifies levels of cognitive learning and helps structure objectives and assessments. The Kirkpatrick model concerns evaluation of learning programs across reaction, learning, behavior, and results. None of these places the adult learner's need to know the reason for learning at its foundation in the same way as Knowles's theory.
For TD professionals, this means establishing relevance early rather than expecting adult learners to engage merely because training has been assigned.
Study Guide Topics: Learning Sciences; Knowles's andragogy; adult learning; relevance; learner motivation.