This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ottoson, J. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Reclaiiming the Concept of Application: From Social to Technological Process and Back Again

Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia

Application-to put a thing into practical contact with another-is treated variously in adult education as a central concept, vague understanding, or anathema. These mixed responses are tied to the practical roots of application and its tension with science and theory. Technical rationality coopted application to reduce this tension by putting value on outcomes and technology, not on the processes that surround them. By reclaiming application from positivism, new opportunity arises for adult educators to contribute to the applied turn in contemporary theory and practice. In this reconstruction, means connect not only to ends, but to intent; knowledge creation occurs throughout process, not just before it; control surrenders to feasibility and negotiation; individual action interacts with context; and disciplines release control of application to all learners. The complex, multi-dimensional process of application takes more than a good idea. It takes knowledge, skill, endurance, and artistry. To reclaim application is to reclaim the value of process.

Adult Education Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 1, 17-30 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/0741713695046001002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. J. Daley Learning and Professional Practice: A Study of Four Professions Adult Education Quarterly, November 1, 2001; 52(1): 39 - 54. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. A. HUBBARD and J. M. OTTOSON When a Bottom-Up Innovation Meets Itself as a Top-Down Policy: The AVID Untracking Program Science Communication, September 1, 1997; 19(1): 41 - 55. [Abstract]

				J. M. Ottoson After the Applause: Exploring Multiple Influences on Application Following an Adult Education Program Adult Education Quarterly, February 1, 1997; 47(2): 92 - 107. [Abstract]