The catcher in the lie: The role of emotions and epistemic judgments in changing students’ misconceptions and attitudes in a post-truth era

We extend previous theoretical and empirical work by examining the role that emotions and epistemic judgments play when learning from different refutation plus persuasive and expository plus persuasive texts. We examined how variations in messages designed to change misconceptions and attitudes about genetically modified foods (GMFs) might differentially impact the extent to which individuals engage in epistemic judgments; the emotions individuals experience during learning; and, how epistemic judgments and emotions might facilitate or constrain conceptual and attitudinal change. One hundred twenty-five undergraduate university students were randomly assigned to one of four text conditions: refutation plus positive persuasive text, refutation plus negative persuasive text, expository plus positive persuasive text, or expository plus negative persuasive text. Students were asked to think and emote out loud during learning to capture epistemic judgments and emotions as they occurred in real time. After the learning session, students also self-reported the emotions they experienced during learning. Results revealed that students who were given positive persuasive texts experienced more positive emotions (both intensity and frequency) during learning, whereas those who were given negative persuasive texts experienced more negative emotions (frequency) during learning. Students who were given positive persuasive texts engaged in more epistemic judgments and changed more misconceptions about GMFs compared to students in the other three text conditions. Finally, epistemic judgments were significant positive predictors of conceptual and attitudinal change, and both positive emotions and negative emotions predicted attitudinal change. Implications for theories of conceptual and attitudinal change are discussed.     

SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE OLD: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS' INTEREST IN GERIATRICS

This paper provides insight into the reasons underlying medical students' interest in geriatrics. Semi-structured interviews, informed by attitude theory, were conducted with first-year medical students who indicated that they were not interested in geriatric medicine (n = 10) and those who indicated that they were moderately to very interested in geriatrics (n = 10). The interviews were analyzed qualitatively. While most students in both groups did not plan on pursuing geriatric medicine, differences were found between the two groups. Students who expressed an interest in geriatrics had more positive and negative experiences with older adults, were more comfortable with palliative care, did not view their patients as responsible for their illnesses, and held more fears about aging and death than did those students who were not interested in geriatrics. The discussion of the results focuses on the role of experience in students' interest in geriatrics, and their beliefs about personal gain and loss and the field of medicine in general. Implications for educators, including the need to increase exposure to older patients and geriatric medicine for all students, are discussed.     

Influencing Student Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Results of a Service-Learning Collaboration

This article describes a service-learning collaboration between a research center at a graduate school of social work and a community college. While the goal of the collaboration was to conduct a community needs assessment of the older population of Bermuda, the project offered a unique opportunity to connect community service, teaching, and research. Students' classroom experience prepared them to play a critical role as interviewers of older adults. Participation in this project enabled students to contribute to a vital step in the process of community change. Students reported more positive attitudes toward older adults and greater interest in working with older adults as a result of this experience. Service-learning can be an effective means of teaching students about aging.     

“How different can we be?”: Using Tuesdays with Morrie and intergenerational interactions to promote positive views of older adults among college students

ABSTRACT

This article reports the results of an Adult Development course assignment. This assignment required that undergraduate students interact with an older adult on two occasions, provide written reflection on these interactions, and read and review the book, Tuesdays with Morrie. The goals of this assignment were for students to comfortably interact with older adults, to recognize the value of intergenerational interactions, and to recognize ageist or stereotyped ideas that they may have held about older adults. The analyses were primarily qualitative, but indicate that these goals were met. Student reactions to this assignment were overwhelmingly positive and insightful. While a number of students expressed initial concern about these interactions, they unanimously reported them to be positive experiences. Students also indicated that it was a learning experience for them, and sometimes for the older adults as well, and several made note of stereotypes or ageist ideas that they had held. Students completed the Fraboni Scale of Ageism after completing these assignments, and scores were significantly below neutral. While pretest, and additional post-test, measures would make the results of this study stronger, the students’ reports indicate that they perceived positive change within themselves, which suggests that this was an effective means of promoting positive attitudes about older adults.     

Endurance of Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Older Adults

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 across 3 groups staggered by time elapsed from completing the course until testing (3 to 18 months). 4 variables accounted for the variance in attitudes toward elders at a statistically significant level: majoring in biology, having frequent or occasional contact with unrelated older adults, taking an aging course, and post-course knowledge of aging.     

Using Film and Intergenerational Colearning to Enhance Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Older Adults

This study evaluated whether two evidence-based methods used collaboratively, intergenerational colearning and use of films/documentaries in an educational context, enhanced knowledge levels and attitudes toward older adults in nursing, social work, and other allied profession students. Students participated in a gerontology film festival where they were exposed to two documentary films related to older adults. The films were followed by a discussion led by a panel of persons who had knowledge of the topic and were models of healthy aging. A pretest/posttest design was used to measure aging knowledge and attitudes toward older adults. Additional data consisted of demographics and information on prior older adult-related trainings. Significant increases were found in aging quiz and attitude scores. The combination of exposure to the documentary films and an intergenerational panel consisting of older adults leading a discussion of the films appears to have an immediate positive effect not only on knowledge of aging, but also on attitudes. Combining the two modalities can be done using existing resources that are available cross-nationally at no or little cost.     

Attitudes,perceptions, and aging knowledge of future law enforcement and recreation majors

The present study assessed knowledge of aging, ageism, and attitudes toward aging in undergraduate recreation and law enforcement majors. Past research with psychology, social work, and nursing majors showed that greater knowledge of aging was related to fewer ageist attitudes and beliefs. The results showed that law enforcement students possessed greater knowledge of aging, and endorsed fewer ageist attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes than recreation majors. Correlations between knowledge of aging and subscales of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism were significant for both groups. Group differences were also noted on the ASD-Instrumentality subscale and FSA Discrimination subscale. The results suggest that the infusion of information on growth and development through the lifecycle was not evident for recreation majors. Discussion focuses on the importance of incorporating information about adulthood and aging and identifying other factors that may promote more positive attitudes toward older adults in these majors.     

PARTICIPATION IN A COURSE ON AGING: KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDES, AND ANXIETY ABOUT AGING IN ONESELF AND OTHERS

Knowledge, anxiety, and attitudes about older adults and one's own aging were assessed in 256 college students. The Facts on Aging Quiz (Palmore, 1988), the Knowledge of Aging and the Elderly Quiz (Kline, Scialfa, Stier, & Babbitt, 1990), the Anxiety about Aging Scale (Lasher & Faulkender, 1993) and the Aging Semantic Differential (Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969) were administered at the end of the semester to students enrolled in an upper level psychology course on aging and students enrolled in an introductory psychology course (who had never had a course on aging). Comparisons of those finishing the psychology of aging course and those never having taken a course on aging revealed significant differences in knowledge of aging and the elderly and attitudes toward the average 70-year-old. Interestingly, the two groups of students did not differ in personal anxiety about aging and attitudes about one's own aging. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to attitudinal judgments of oneself versus others and the differential benefits of education for attitudes and anxiety about other old adults versus attitudes and anxiety about one's own aging.     

OLDER ADULTS' PARTICIPATION IN UNIVERSITY CLASSES: COGNITIVE,MORALE, AND FAMILY CORRELATES

The number of older adults taking advantage of courses offered by institutions of higher learning is increasing. Despite this trend in university and college enrollment, educators know little about the reasons why adults aged 55 years and over are making the decision to return to school. This paper describes the results of an exploratory study about: (1) educational motivations of older students; (2) effect of involvement in university classes on older adults' attitude toward aging; and (3) impact of older individuals' participation in university classes on marital relations.

Interviews were_ conducted with twenty‐one married couples, aged 55 years and older (X = 68.54), with one spouse attending university classes. In order to compute life satisfaction analyses, a control sample was secured. This group consisted of 33 married couples, 55 years and over (X = 70.93), with neither spouse participating in continuing education.

Results indicated that older students viewed intrinsic learning goals to be significantly more important than extrinsic incentives (p<.01). Student couples reported significantly more positive attitudes toward growing older than did nonstudent couples (p<.05). Although participation in university classes had only a minimal impact on members' marital interaction, student couples express satisfaction with this effect.

Recommendations suggested the construction of assessment measures of older adults' self‐initiated versus externally reinforced learning goals. It is advised that pre‐ and posttest interview schedules be used when determining the impact on family solidarity of older adults' pursual of further learning. Future research is suggested which explores whether participation in continuing education provides skills or information for older persons to adjust to their changing environments which in turn would have an influence on level of morale.     

The curious case of climate change: Testing a theoretical model of epistemic beliefs,epistemic emotions,and complex learning

We propose a theoretical model linking students' epistemic beliefs, epistemic emotions, learning strategies, and learning outcomes. The model was tested across two studies with 439 post-secondary students from Canada, the United States, and Germany for Study 1, and 56 students from Canada for Study 2. For Study 1, students self-reported their epistemic beliefs about climate change, read four conflicting documents about the causes and consequences of climate change, self-reported their epistemic emotions and learning strategies used to learn the content, and were given an inference verification test to measure learning. Study 2 used the same procedure but added a think aloud protocol to capture self-regulatory processes and emotions as they occurred. Path analyses revealed that epistemic beliefs served as important antecedents to the epistemic emotions students experienced during learning. Students who believed that the justification of knowledge about climate change requires critical evaluation of multiple sources experienced higher levels of enjoyment and curiosity, and lower levels of boredom when confronted with conflicting information. A belief in the complexity of this knowledge was related to lower levels of confusion, anxiety, and boredom. A belief in the uncertainty of this knowledge predicted lower levels of anxiety and frustration, and a belief in the active construction of knowledge predicted lower levels of confusion. Epistemic emotions predicted the types of learning strategies students used to learn the content and mediated relations between epistemic beliefs and learning strategies. Learning strategies predicted learning outcomes and mediated relations between epistemic emotions and learning outcomes. Implications for research on epistemic beliefs, epistemic emotions, and students' self-regulated learning are discussed.     

“I was giving someone who didn’t have a voice a voice”: exploring qualitative mini-research projects as a tool to teach students about aging

ABSTRACT

In the study of gerontology, fieldwork with older adults is often used to enhance students’ understanding of the aging process. While assignments based on interactions with older adults are a common practice in teaching students enrolled in gerontology studies, we know less about the impact of such activities on students from other disciplines. This paper summarizes students’ experiences with an assignment offered to a diverse cohort of undergraduate students who took a course in social gerontology. To complete this assignment, students had to interview an older adult, summarize the life story of the participant, apply a theoretical perspective to the older adult’s life story, and reflect on the process. Analyzing data derived from 72 assignments and 10 semi-structured interviews with students who were enrolled in the course, this paper examines students’ experiences with this assignment. Specifically, we identify what aspects of the assignment students found beneficial, what aspects they found challenging, and in what ways this assignment helped students to enhance their understanding of aging. Our findings suggest that students found it challenging to recruit an older adult for an interview and struggled with the semi-structured nature of the interview process. All students found the actual interview process to be extremely rewarding and beneficial for their learning. In discussion, we provide some recommendations on how to offer this type of assignment to a diverse group of students enrolling in the courses on social gerontology.     

Effects of Diagnostic Label and Disease Information on Emotions,Beliefs, and Willingness to Help Older Parents with Osteoarthritis

We studied the impact of the diagnostic label of osteoarthritis and educational information on family members' attributions, perceptions, and willingness to help older parents with pain. Undergraduate students (N = 636) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions where they read vignettes about an older mother with chronic pain, which varied on illness label and educational information. Results indicated that both the osteoarthritis label and osteoarthritis information led to more positive perceptions compared with no label/healthy aging information. Results highlight the importance of diagnosis and education in promoting favorable attributions and increasing willingness to help older adults with osteoarthritis.     

Predictors of Self-Reported Likelihood of Working with Older Adults

This study examined the self-reported likelihood of working with older adults in a future career among 237 college undergraduates at a midsized Midwestern university. Although aging anxiety was not significantly related to likelihood of working with older adults, those students who had a greater level of death anxiety were less likely than other students to report a future likelihood of working with older adults. In addition, quality relationships with unrelated older adults were positively correlated with likelihood of working with older adults. Recommendations for future research and ideas for attracting college students to gerontology as a career are discussed.     

Moving Stories: Evaluation of a BSW Oral History Project with Older Adults with Diverse Immigration Histories

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an experiential learning project with BSW students to see if their perceptions of older adults have changed. The project consisted of an oral history project and presentation that matched BSW students with older adults from diverse ethnic backgrounds to gather their immigration narratives. The study used a single group pretest posttest design with 17 BSW students enrolled in an integrative field seminar class. Using a series of inferential analyses, BSW students’ attitudes towards older adults, future career plans, confidence with working with older adults from diverse backgrounds, and geriatric competencies were examined. Overall, a significant increase in BSW students who had varying levels of participation in project perceptions of geriatric social work competencies between pretest and posttest were found. Students who both conducted and presented the oral histories of older adults also were significantly more likely to report future plans to work with older adults compared to students who did not. Exposing BSW students to aging and diversity content has important implications towards fostering student interest in pursuing social work practice with older adults and preparing them for culturally competent social work.     

Racial differences in attitudes toward aging,aging knowledge,and contact

The present study assessed knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults in a sample of 271 Non-Hispanic White and African-American undergraduates. Research examining racial differences in knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults has been sparse. Results for the current study demonstrated a significant correlation between knowledge of aging measured by the Facts on Aging Quiz-Revised (FAQ-R) and attitudes toward aging measured by the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) for Non-Hispanic Whites but not African-Americans. In contrast, correlations between the FAQ-R and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) were significant for both groups. Significant group differences were also noted for the ASD-total score and ASD-Instrumentality subscale as well as for the FSA-total score, Antilocution, and Discrimination subscales. Discussion focuses on the importance of identifying cultural and contextual factors that have been neglected in the “one size fits all” approach to promoting more positive attitudes toward older adults across different racial and ethnic groups.     

COLLEGE STUDENTS' ATTITUDES TOWARD RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES

This study was designed to explore college students attitudes toward residential care settings for older adults. Subjects were 109 female students aged 18 to 71 years (M = 24.8, SD = 9.49) and 22 male students aged 19 to 43 years (M = 23.3, SD = 5.24) enrolled in a Psychology of Aging course at a local state college. Students interviewed older residents of 96 different long-term care facilities and completed a questionnaire that assessed their impressions of the facility and its residents. Students openness to living in long-term care settings and positive and negative statements about the facility visited were the main measures of student attitudes toward such settings. Nursing homes were perceived more negatively than any other type of long-term care setting. Students who had been affected by meeting the needs of an elderly relative were more open to living in residential care settings, as were students who interviewed residents who were satisfied with their lives. Nursing homes elicited the least openness to living in residential care facilities, whereas assisted care and continuing care facilities elicited the most openness. Students who perceived residents as mentally alert made fewer negative statements about the facilities visited.     

IMPACT OF A COURSE ON AGING ON RATINGS OF FAMILY AND NONFAMILY MEMBERS

The impact of an introductory course on aging knowledge and attitudes toward aging was examined. Twenty‐five students from class and 20 comparison group members rated their grandparents and older men and women in general at pre‐test and post‐test on 19 attitudinal dimensions. During the class, students were exposed to the process of aging directly through two experiential exercises. The results suggested that the students viewed their own family members as exceptions both before and after the class. The ratings of nonfamily elders, although not as positive as the ratings of grandparents, changed more dramatically during the course of the study. Implications for teaching are suggested.     

An Intergenerational E-mail Pal Project on Attitudes of College Students Toward Older Adults

Intergenerational interactions have demonstrated some success at improving attitudes of college students toward older adults. This quasiexperimental study involved undergraduate college students paired with older adults for a six-week e-mail exchange. Student attitudes toward older adults were measured pre- and posttest with Polizzi's revised version of the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD). Students were assigned to an intervention group (n = 23) or a control group (n = 20). The intervention group demonstrated significant improvement in attitude toward older adults as compared to the control group (F 14.694, p < .05). This educational approach holds promise for using readily accessible technology to connect the generations.     

The effects on student achievement and attitudes when using integrated learning systems with cooperative pairs

The purpose of this study was to determine whether combining cooperative learning strategies with instruction delivered using an Integrated Learning System (ILS) produced academic and attitudinal gains in students. Sixty-five fifth-grade students were randomly divided into two groups, cooperative and individual. Students in the cooperative group worked on ILS math activities with a partner. Students in the individual group worked on the same activities by themselves. Achievement and attitudinal data were collected for the students prior to the experimental treatment and at the end of the treatment period. Results revealed that students using an ILS for mathematics instruction performed better on standardized tests and were more positive toward math and the computer math activities when they worked in cooperative groups than when they worked on the same activities individually.