Refining the Loop of Continuous Improvement

Academic assessment of student competency is essential to measure learning within a gerontology program. In its self-evaluation, a program must assess its student learning outcomes. JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez et al. (2019, p. 423) proposed a systematic approach that has several levels. The key is to utilize a competency-based education model. Moreover, to satisfy workforce goals the gerontology program must adopt the AGHE competencies that reflect the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to serve older adults at an acceptable level of care. The next step involves generating well-articulated quantitative or qualitative measures of student learning outcomes (SLOs) consistent with the program’s mission statement that include twelve competency domains. SLO measures include test grades, assignments, projects, portfolios, field experiences, essay questions, multiple choice items, and so on. The program’s enhancement loop requires the evaluation of SLOs, faculty discussion of them, and a continuous modification cycle "closing the loop" to reach the program’s goals.

Generating Community Engaged Learning in Gerontology Courses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This presentation describes the core traits of a community-engaged learning (CEL course), how one gerontology program incorporated a theoretical framework to continue to provide students opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how generalizable this is across gerontology programs. Caregiving and Aging Families, a gerontology course enrolling both undergraduate and graduate students, champions community-engaged learning in two critical ways: students attend caregiver support groups in the community, and students form a partnership with a caregiver mentor in the community. This partnership allows students an intimate look at the caregiver's role and burden while enlisting the student to prepare a service care plan and compendium of resources for the caregiver. Ensuring the safety of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic placed restrictive parameters on these experiences. While students typically attend support groups and identify and partner with a caregiver mentor in person, this needed modification during the pandemic. This was created through the application of Baltes' Theory of Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC model), aided by a CEL teaching assistant, funded through the campus Community Service Center. This allowed for identifying, coordinating, and communicating with community partners throughout the semester and provided ongoing communication, technical assistance, and problem-solving for both partners and students. Caregiver groups with a robust online, synchronous presence were identified and approached. The gerontology program communities of interest disseminated a call for community caregivers with basic technological familiarity. The caregiver mentor-student partnerships were founded and maintained, with additional benefits stemming from a shared pandemic experience.

Professional Training and Personal Development: Lessons From 10 Years of Intergenerational Learning

This presentation will highlight a ten-year collaboration between the Nazareth College Gerontology Program and St. John’s Senior Services – the St. John’s Collaborative for Intergenerational Learning (SCIL). Specifically, semester-long intergenerational coursework (Adulthood & Late Life, Issues in Aging, Aging & Community Service) and community-based service projects will be showcased with a focus on design, implementation, assessment, and impact. Emphasis will be placed on the reciprocity of these collaborations, the personal and professional benefits of these exchanges for our students, and the subsequent impact on the community partners and the individuals they serve. Various models of intergenerational learning as well as our new intergenerational residency program will also be discussed.

AGHE Program of Merit for Gerontology Programs

The POM designation provides gerontology programs with an AGHE “stamp of approval,” which can be used to verify program quality to administrators, to lobby for additional resources to maintain a quality program, to market the program, and to recruit prospective students into the program. This worldwide process of evaluation for both Gerontology programs verifies for students that the program is consistent with globally vetted criteria in gerontology endorsed and recognized by AGHE; assures the public of the quality of programs and their graduates; clarifies for employers the knowledge and skills imparted to students who graduate from POM designated gerontology programs; informs campus administrators of global guidelines, expectations, and practice in gerontology education programs; and indicates to interested students that the program is of high quality. Those interested in the Gerontology Program of Merit will be able to ask questions, understand the application process, and ask for technical assistance.

Inspiring the Study of Gerontology Among Millennial Students: A Rural Perspective

The study of gerontology across different generational cohorts is not static but rather dynamic. As we consider teaching gerontology to different age cohorts, what similarities and differences do exist? How do the educational needs within higher education differ across the different cohorts of the workforce? This presentation aims to identify and present specific learning needs and styles of the millennial cohort, as compared to other generational cohorts with the effort of building educational strategies for this workforce cohort. The presentation will also address the unique needs that a rural workforce faces and how to address these within the millennial cohort. Strategies such as online learning, flip classroom, experiential strategies and research projects/practicum will be addressed with a specific focus on the engagement of the millennial student. These strategies are all described within the context of teaching gerontology through a specific Certificate in Gerontology program located on a rural campus setting, but meeting the educational needs of people across the country.

A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT GERONTOLOGY TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES IN A UNIVERSITY SETTING

Training university students to work in professional gerontology settings is extremely important during an era when the number of older adults is increasing due to the Baby Boom cohort entering their later years. Efforts to reach students are critical given budget and enrollment challenges. Some university students find gerontology resources and training on their own, yet gerontology programs can do much to help students know of opportunities. In this paper, I will share methods that the gerontology program at my university has used to reach out to students and faculty across campus to encourage students to study gerontology. In the last 3 years, student enrollment in this gerontology minor has grown from 65 students housed in 3 colleges, to 275 students housed in 7 colleges. Faculty involvement has grown from a 7-faculty committee, to 61 faculty affiliates. The roles of university resources and fundraising will also be discussed.

PROGRAM OF MERIT REVIEWS: THE REVIEWERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Each Program of Merit Application goes through a process of review. It is the same regardless if the application is for a gerontology program or a health professions program. In this session, the reviewer perspective will be shared and tips for how to complete an application to provide information in a format that aids the review will be shared.

ASSESSMENT OF THE AGEC STANDARD DEMONSTRATING STUDENT LEARNING

Addressing the gerontology program’s experience in measuring and integrating the competencies in their curricula is a fundamental challenge in program evaluation. Using the AGHE Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education is the key. We will demonstrate how one identifies the learning outcome measures across the curriculum based on the competencies by adumbrating a four-step process. First, it entails developing a written statement of the key learning outcomes, expressing them in objective, measurable terms. Second, the learning outcomes are assessed. Third, the results of the assessments are posted in a matrix format across a four or five year period. Fourth, the results of the learning outcome assessments are discussed, evaluated, and implemented in a formative process to improve teaching and learning. In addition, the results can be applied in a summative way to evaluate and improve the gerontology program.

AGHE PROGRAM OF MERIT: GERONTOLOGY DEGREE PROGRAMS, MINORS, AND CERTIFICATES

The Executive Committee of the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), formerly known as the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, approved a proposal to establish and implement a voluntary program of evaluation known as the Program of Merit (POM). The POM designation provides gerontology programs with an AGHE “stamp of approval,” which can be used to verify program quality to administrators, to lobby for additional resources to maintain a quality program, to market the program, and to recruit prospective students into the program. In 2014, AGHE Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education© were established and have been integrated into this process. This session will outline the Program of Merit process and present the opportunities for gerontology program leaders to advance gerontology education.

THE INFLUENCE OF REVISING AN ONLINE GERONTOLOGY PROGRAM ON THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

The University of Utah’s Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program (UUGIP), a fully online program recently aligned all courses to meet the 2014 Academy of Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) “Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education” and to meet best practices in online teaching. These efforts led to the GIP Masters of Science program being recognized in 2017 by AGHE as a Program of Merit as well as a publication in the AGHE Journal of Gerontology & Geriatrics Education (Dassel, Eaton, & Felsted, 2018). In an effort to further this work, we analyzed student evaluations in core Master of Science program courses prior to and following these program revisions, assessed by qualitative and quantitative evaluation data from two semesters immediately prior and two semesters immediately following revisions. This presentation will discuss results, implications, and future applications of this analysis.