Students attending a lecture usually have a wide range of prior knowledge about the topic in question. Rather than seeing this as a problem, lecturers can take advantage of such differences. This article shows how students' misconceptions about old age were used to inform a lecture on the topic. Prior knowledge can thus be used to aid teaching and…

This article discusses and describes how to use film as a creative, powerful, and effective technique for teaching social work with older adults at both the undergraduate and graduate levels of education. An analysis of student responses about the effectiveness of this teaching pedagogy is presented. The findings support the idea of using film as…

This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate attitudes toward older adults and attitude endurance 3 to 18 months after aging coursework. Survey respondents included 349 students who took an aging elective and 430 comparison students. Aging-elective students indicated more positive attitudes than comparison students. Attitudes did not vary…

The present study examines the impact of including lessons on aging in a 12th grade social studies course on student perceptions of aging and older adults, working with older persons, and knowledge of "facts" on aging. Pre/post-test data were collected from approximately 650 upstate New York 12th grade students enrolled in a government…

Describes the Course Expectations Survey, used to discern the student's interests and expectations in a course on adult development and aging. Student attributes, the instructor's orientation and area of specialization, and college and departmental characteristics influenced student expectations. (CS)

A training curriculum on mental health and aging was developed and disseminated to 32 natural caregivers throughout a frontier state using a train-the-trainer model. Those certified as trainers included social workers, religious professionals, volunteers, long-term care employees, nurses, home health workers, and professional and informal…

Seeking to extend curricula in a Psychology of Aging course, an online Internet test that assesses user's implicit attitudes was used as part of a learning activity to enhance students' awareness of age-bias in social perceptions. A pretest-posttest methodology examined the efficacy of this learning activity in three separate investigations.…

Ageism is a relevant topic of study because of its inevitability for all humankind. Student attitudes toward the elderly are generally negative and often follow stereotyped views found in books. An outline for use in developing a curriculum on aging is provided. (DF)

Negative attitudes and stereotypic behaviors directed at the elderly were decreased among 49 seventh- and eighth-grade gifted students who participated in an intergenerational practicum in which student conducted reminscence interviews with elderly persons about significant events in their lives and learned about issues facing the aged. (CB)

Administered an adapted version of Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz to university students between 1983 and 1985. Obtained some gender differences in beliefs about aging. Results indicated that overall, college students had a positive perspective on old age, but were persuaded by traditional myths. (Author/BH)

Purpose: This study examined medical students' interest in geriatrics: Are knowledge, positive attitudes, and prior experience with older adults associated with an interest in geriatric medicine? Design and Methods: Entering University of Michigan medical students completed three surveys: the Revised Facts on Aging Quiz, the University of…

Presenting lesson plans for secondary teachers of language arts, this booklet is intended to help students develop healthy attitudes toward their own aging, realize the lifelong importance of decisions they make as adults, and understand the interdependence of all age groups. The activities suggested in the booklet are designed to address existing…

Examined factual knowledge, as well as attitudes toward the elderly, relationships with academic achievement, experience, and cognitive styles. Baccalaureate nursing students scored significantly higher on the Facts on Aging Quiz than Palmore's (1977) sample of undergraduates. Accuracy on the quiz was associated with grade point average but not…

This study considered two types of age discrimination (youth and elder) and related scale scores for 108 psychology students and 81 nursing students. The current study found that although the nursing students had a significantly larger number of courses related to aging, both nursing and psychology students reported low levels of age…

Assessed long-term effects of a seminar on aging for first-year medical students (N=19) prior to medical school graduation. Compared to controls (N=28), seminar students held more favorable attitudes toward the elderly and perceived contacts with elderly patients in a more complex manner, suggesting lasting effects. (Author/JAC)