This single-participant phenomenological study derived from an advanced graduate-level qualitative research course assignment in 2022. I investigated the graduate school experiences of a purposefully selected septuagenarian male PhD student at a large, Southeastern U.S. university. The well-established University of Tennessee Transdisciplinary…

Life expectancy at birth is the highest of all times and tends to increase. This leads to an older society and brings out various needs that are not taken into consideration before, one of which is the education of older adults. People usually get the idea that older adults cannot learn or do not feel the need to learn. However, learning is an…

This study explores the learning of volunteer end of life caregivers (EOLCG). Using the profound learning framework, the researchers will use a grounded theory approach to generate transferable characterizations of how learning occurs for EOLCGs and what the content of that learning is. As a unique population of adult learners who perform an…

The research team examined the associations between adult education and training (AET) participation, educational attainment, literacy skills, gender, race, and ethnicity among the U.S. adult population aged 25- to 65-years old (n = 5,450). As more women and racial/ethnic minorities make educational and economic advancements, it is important to…

Depressive symptomatology, loneliness and hopelessness are dominant issues among elderly Africans. Yet, it is commonly assumed, and, perhaps, agreed that the elderly African should physically and socially remain active and continue to be the custodian of the people's traditional norms and values reflective of the traditional social transfers for…

As the world's population is more interconnected by the Internet and mobile devices, older adults are expected to use Internet-based services, such as education, health, finance, and even communication. Despite the recent research that an increasing number of older adults are embracing digital lives, they face unique challenges due to age-related…

Older adults' participation in the University for the Third Age (U3A) positively influences their physical and emotional well-being and thus increases their quality of life. However, the number of the elderly participating in the U3A has remained low in China, especially in rural areas. This study explored the factors influencing older adults'…

The number of elderly people is increasing in all countries. There is strong need to educate people who care for elderly people. In proposed paper we present how to teach evaluation of functional abilities of elderly people using case study. The evaluation is an important indicator in the process of somatopedic diagnosis and creation of program…

In this keynote presentation given at the 2016 Association for Interdisciplinary Studies conference, I considered the field of gerontology from a transdisciplinary perspective. Juxtaposing personal narratives with dominant and alternative discourses on issues of aging, later life, and old age, I explored such questions as: Given the multifaceted,…

The purpose of this study was to examine the intergenerational interactions between preservice music teachers and senior adult musicians engaged in music teaching and learning in a New Horizons ensemble within one university's music teacher preparation program. This intrinsic qualitative case study included written reflections and observational…

Aligned with the 2021 AERA conference theme, which asks us as citizen-scholars to use educational research to address complex social and educational problems, the objective of this study is to provide the first nationally-representative, empirical evidence on the relationships among literacy, literacy skill use, and these information-seeking…

Social isolation and loneliness are important issues for older adults. This paper discusses a program called NeverTechLate (NTL) that was created to combat these issues by providing digital literacy education and by promoting the use of tablets and video conferencing technology to empower older adults. This program involved using the feedback from…

The purpose of this descriptive case study is to promote understanding of the University of the Third Age (U3A) as an approach to facilitating lifelong learning opportunities for and with older adults. This case study is specific to the development of a University of the Third Age in Calgary (U3A Calgary). The benefits of lifelong learning for…

Participation in adult education and training (AET) programs is increasingly important for people of all ages and is necessary to remain competitive in a world experiencing rapid technological advances. Lifelong learning activities are especially important for middle-aged and older adults who intend to work at older ages to ensure they have the…

The purpose of this paper was to share an intergenerational approach for learning as undergraduate students became researchers. Student-researchers selected one topic as a team that was anchored in gerontological theory and then interviewed and taught elder participants using a qualitative approach. The richness of this qualitative research…