TITLE Functional Contextualism: An Ideal Framework for Theory in Instructional Design and Technology AUTHOR Charles M. Reigeluth and Yun-Jo An Keywords: functional contextualism, constructivism, behavior analysis In this issue the description of functional contextualism by Eric Fox makes several valuable contributions to instructional design and technology (IDT). First, we agree that functional contextualism does indeed provide some “the- oretical clarity and philosophical cohesion” (Fox, p. 6), not just for constructiv- ism, but also for understanding instruction and instructional design theory in general. A second contribution is that functional contextualism encourages us to focus on producing practical knowledge applicable to similar events regard- less of time or place. Basic research on descriptive theory typically receives more prestige and funding than applied research on design theory (functional knowledge). In spite of the low esteem with which educators typically regard educational research, there has been little recognition that producing practical knowledge should be regarded more highly in an applied area like education. Functional contextualism provides an air of legitimacy and importance to gen- erating practical knowledge that generalizes across time and place. Third, functional contextualism can offer some guidance for generating practical knowledge in the form of goal-oriented design theories. It provides a philosophical foundation for design theory, as well as a framework that includes, in Fox’s words, “explicit goals” or “functions,” “manipulable vari- ables,” and “contextual features.” These issues are all discussed further in this article. Design Theory vs. Descriptive Theory Based on Pepper’s (1942) work, Fox characterizes functional contextualism’s truth criterion as the purpose or function of knowledge: “for contextualists, ETR&D, Vol. 54, No. 1, p. 49–53, 2006 © 2006 Association for Educational Communications and Technology. 49