ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the nature of ‘applied’ bachelor’s degrees. It concludes that there are four characteristics common to many understandings of applied degrees: the curriculum is specific to an occupation rather than a general preparation for work, life or further education; the pedagogy includes more practical work, often at a workplace, than non-applied degrees; the curriculum and pedagogy integrate knowledge fundamental to the practice of an occupation; and the outcome is a qualification relevant to the labour market. The study found that Ontario college baccalaureates ‘in an applied area of study’ have all these characteristics.
Ontario college baccalaureates also teach ‘applied knowledge’, which may derive from two sources: disciplinary knowledge recontextualised for a field of practice, and a practice’s established rules and practices which have been restructured as systematic procedural knowledge. The chapter concludes by suggesting a distinctive role for colleges in codifying, restructuring and systematising rules and procedures of practice, particularly in fields which do not have a strong institution to systematise practice.
