(3) Prevention of learning problems in future generations by designing youth and adult programs that maximize the intergenerational transfer of the adults' new skills and attitudes about education to their children.

The 1997 FCE notebook elaborates upon the principles summarized above and illustrates the application of these principles in case studies of programs for adults, including family literacy programs with a focus upon women’s education that can provide an intergenerational transfer of language and literacy skills to their children.

2. Encyclopedia of Psychology. The Encyclopedia of Psychology facilitates browsing in psychology. There are two paths for this purpose, one providing original information generated by respected researchers and practitioners in various fields of psychology and the other providing a hierarchical database of links to web sites providing information about scientific psychology. The site aims to create a set of links that represent the best available sites organized in a manner that furthers the understanding of Psychology as a science.

An entry in the Encyclopedia of Psychology about FCE can be found at

http://www.psychology.org/links/Environment_Behavior_Relationships/Education/

It includes an Overview of FCE stating (abridged here):

The functional context approach to learning stresses the importance of making learning relevant to the experience of learners and their work context. The learning of new information is facilitated by making it possible for the learner to relate it to knowledge already possessed and transform old knowledge into new knowledge. By using materials that the learner will use after training, transfer of learning from the classroom to the "real world" will be enhanced.

The model of the cognitive system underlying this approach emphasizes the interaction of three components: (1) a knowledge base (i.e., long term memory) of what the individual knows, (2) processing skills including language, problem-solving, and learning strategies, and (3) information displays that present information. The performance of a task requires knowledge about what one is reading or writing, processing skills for comprehension and communication, and displays of information to be processed.

The functional context approach also proposes new assessment methods. Instead of using grade level scores, tests should measure content knowledge gained and distinguish between functional learning and academic learning. For example, an assessment of reading should measure both reading-to-do (e.g., looking up information in a manual) and reading-to-learn (e.g., information needed for future decisions).

Functional context theory shares a similar emphasis with Situated Learning theory which also stresses the importance of context during learning.

3. Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. The Encyclopedia of Educational Technology (EET) is a collection of short multimedia articles on a variety of topics related to the fields of instructional design and education and training. The primary audiences for the EET are students and novice to intermediate practitioners in these fields, who need a brief overview as a starting point to further research on specific topics. Authors are graduate students, professors, and others who contribute voluntarily. Articles are short and use multimedia to enrich learning rather than merely decorate the pages.