Purpose: The purpose of this research was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of both students and older adults that participated in a service-learning, environmental health education program called Recycling Mentors (RM). Methods: Surveys were conducted before and after participation in RM. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS.…

An intergenerational initiative was developed and implemented to enhance gerontology in the first course of the practice sequence. Seventeen students met with older adults (ages 82-98) in the classroom and at an assisted living facility. The evaluation of this older adult infusion project was conducted through two questionnaires and by the review…

In this case study, two high school teachers, a university researcher, and 10 high school students (ages 16-19 years) were part of an action research group that addressed an issue--smoking on school grounds--identified by a high school population as being problematic. The research was guided by the following research questions: "Within a…

A partnership was formed between King Edward VI School Morpeth (UK) and the pharmaceutical company Merck, Sharp and Dohme within the programme of "Joint Responsibility" operated by the Dove Marine Laboratory (Newcastle University, UK). Pupils surveyed an ecologically important coastal area in northeast England and made 15 recommendations…

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…

Service-learning is promoted widely by professional organizations (NCSS, 2001), but often with little reflection on the nature of meaningful student participation and the impact of teacher leadership styles. The authors studied mixed-age "small school" advisory groups involved in service-learning at one elementary school; observational, interview,…

Given the growth in the number of older adults and the ageist attitudes many in the health care profession hold, interventions aimed at improving health professionals' attitudes toward older adults are imperative. Vital Visionaries is an intergenerational art program designed to improve medical students' attitudes toward older adults. Participants…

This paper describes an intergenerational project developed in partnership between a social work degree program and an Older People's Theatre group. Bringing together a small group of students, older actors, and film makers, methods from drama and the arts were utilised to explore the topic of intimacy and sexuality in later life. The project…

Trinity College Dublin was proud to host, in April 2016, the Second International Conference on Telecollaboration in Higher Education, with the theme "New Directions in Telecollaborative Research and Practice." Over two and a half days, 150 participants offered 95 research presentations, posters, and "problem shared" sessions.…

School environments offer a particularly difficult setting for fostering youth-adult partnerships because of the sharp power and status distinctions among students, teachers, and administrators. Drawing on interview and observational data examining 13 student-voice initiatives in northern California, this research examines the type of supports…

Fourteen students received training and visited homebound elderly 8 times; 10 students in an aging seminar visited elderly twice. Compared to a control group of 20, visitation groups were significantly more positive toward the elderly and in their views of their own aging. (SK)

Describes how three middle-aged educators have been working with and helping to connect adolescent young men, from an alternative educational program for troubled youth, and independent elders in an assisted living complex. Notes the connections are built around storytelling and writing. Discusses positive results from this program. (SG)

Service-learning evaluation rarely compares different cohorts of students, so it is difficult to determine whether the findings are reliable. This study compared attitudinal change in five successive cohorts of intergenerational service-learning students (n=59) enrolled in an introductory gerontology course at a major Midwestern university.…

Contradictory findings characterize the literature on the efficacy of intergenerational programs that bring children and older persons together for joint activities to promote more positive attitudes and stereotypes. Nor is it clear whether cross-generational attitudes are negative to begin with. The research reported in this paper operationalized…

Objective: Develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention (a guided experiential assignment) to improve nutrition students' attitudes toward working with older adults. Design: A quasi-experimental design with an additional qualitative component (mixed methods). Setting: A North Central land-grant university. Participants: 100 college students…