EXPERIENTIAL ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING

Abstract

Undergraduate students provided quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the usefulness of a variety of experiential activities in a course on the Psychology of Adulthood and Aging. Students evaluated the degree to which they felt an exercise or project had facilitated their learning of course material . Thirteen activities were rated and the results suggest that on average , students perceived each activity to be helpful . The Elder Mentor Project and a new variation of an activity , the Cognitive Assessment Demonstration, received the highest ratings . It appears that highly interpersonal activities were perceived by students to be the most valuable in facilitating their learning . Students' written comments reveal that learning occurred on a personal level for several activities .