After the Applause: Exploring Multiple Influences on Application Following an Adult Education Program

Abstract

This study explores barriers and facilitators to the application of learning following a continuing education program. Telephone interviews were conducted with 27 multidisciplinary participants four months after a five-day Institute. The interviews sought to assess whether and how participants had applied a health education planning and evaluation model taught during the Institute. A model, the Application Process Framework, guided interviews and data analysis in five areas of potential influence on application: educational program, innovation to be applied, predisposition of the learner, enabling skills of the learner and characteristics of the context of application, and social support. Although respondents primarily looked to the context to explain whether and how application occurred, the conceptual framework helped illuminate other influences, most notably, respondent predisposition. Implications for adult education practice and research are discussed.