We Knew It All Along! Using Cognitive Science to Explain How Andragogy Works.
Purpose This paper aims to link recent findings in cognitive neuroscience to better understand how andragogically informed instructional practices impact cognition and learning. Design/methodology/approach The research questions guiding the study is in what ways can the recent findings in cognitive neuroscience help to inform adult education theory, including andragogy in particular, to deepen our understanding of how andragogical instructional principles and practices can improve learning? We adopted Torraco's (2005) integrative literature review approach of providing enough details regarding the selection of the literature and the identification and verification of emerged themes of main ideas. Findings The core assumptions of andragogy (self direction, prior experience, readiness to learn and immediacy of application) have a connection to the neural networks related to memory and cognition. Research limitations/implications First, this study provides fundamental foundations for combining cognit.