Raeann R. Hamon

The Elder Mentor Relationship: An Experiential Learning Tool.

The elder mentor relationship is an experiential learning tool in which undergraduate students in introductory gerontology courses are assigned to initiate and develop a relationship with an older person for the course of the semester. This pairing attempts to expose students to the value of intergenerational relationships and mutual exchange. It also provides an arena in which students can integrate classroom learning with real‐life situations and people. In addition to delineating this educational initiative, its objectives, and details of the assignment, this article provides results of a student evaluation of the project. Fifty‐nine students who completed the elder mentor experience provided feedback in terms of the assignments effectiveness in meeting several objectives, including facilitating their understanding of gerontology. Students indicated that the elder mentor project was one of the most rewarding and instructive components of the gerontology class. Although making the initial contact was i...

Filial Role Enactment by Adult Children.

Data from a random sample of 144 elderly parent-adult child pairs are used to examine what adult children do for their parents and factors related to level of parental assistance. The final multiple regression model accounts for 63.2% of the variability in filial role enactment. One main effect, parental marital status, and two interaction effects, childs gender with parental health and adult childs affection toward parent with geographical distance from parent, are statistically significant.

Two Thumbs Up: Using Popular Films in Introductory Aging Courses

Good teaching requires thoughtful planning and creative thinking, especially when trying to engage students in material that is unfamiliar to them or encumbered by stereotypes, like aging. Classic and contemporary media can provide unique teaching opportunities in gerontology classrooms. Popular films can have a powerful influence over viewers’ attitudes and perceptions, and spur in-depth discussions of aging-related topics common to introductory aging courses (e.g., ageism, abuse, inequality, caregiving, healthy aging, and intimate relationships). Additionally, films appeal to multiple learning styles, engaging a variety of learners. This article examines the value of using films in introductory aging courses, offers strategies for incorporating films in the gerontology classroom, suggests sample activities and assignments that pair popular films with aging course topics, identifies challenges of using film in various classrooms settings, and provides a detailed typology of films on each of the following aging topics: ageism and stereotypes, cognitive impairment, death and dying, diversity, family relationships, health and wellness, sexuality and intimacy, and work and retirement.

Understanding Student Attitudes toward Majoring in Human Development and Family Science

Most prospective students are unfamiliar with Human Development and Family Science (HDFS), which makes building program enrollment among incoming students challenging. This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991) to conduct a two- stage empirical analysis of attitudes associated with majoring in HDFS. HDFS students demonstrated many significantly different attitudes toward majoring in the field than did non- HDFS students. They possessed more positive attitudes toward the disciplines treatment of human sexuality, its development of interpersonal communication skills, and its potential for strengthening families. These findings may prove beneficial to HDFS departments that want to improve perceptions of the field and build enrollment. Several strategies for program development and communication enhancement are presented. Family science is a relatively young discipline, and as such, does not possess the same recognizability that other social science programs such as psychology or sociology enjoy. Unlike majors such as chemistry, social work, and history, our own experience suggests that Human Development and Family Science (HDFS) tends to be a discovery major , meaning that most incoming college students are unfamiliar with the field and only learn about such programs after they have been on campus a semester or more. Furthermore, once they do hear about HDFS, it is not unusual for students and their parents to have questions about the curricular content of such programs, to wonder how the discipline of family science is distinctive from other social science fields, and to ask about the types of careers that are available to persons with an HDFS degree. This unfamiliarity with the discipline of HDFS may contribute to low numbers of first year students enrolling in HDFS programs, suggesting that those in the field have considerable work to do in terms of educating prospective students, their families, potential employers, and colleagues in other departments about HDFS. A first step in effective education often involves identifying what learners already know, which also serves to reveal what they do not know. The current study sought to discover what prospective students know and do not know about HDFS by comparing their attitudes toward majoring in the field against those of students who have already chosen the discipline. As might be expected, this empirical analysis revealed many significant differences in attitudes between the two sample groups. However, the value of the research came from identifying the specific beliefs and affections responsible for the differences, which might be useful in developing HDFS

What Do You Have to Offer Me?: A Relationship Building Activity for Demonstrating Social Exchange Theory

In this article, we describe an interactive classroom activity designed to help students encounter social exchange theory in action. During the “What Do You Have to Offer Me?” exercise, each student selected seven cards, each containing a characteristic related to personality, physical characteristics, family history, finances, ideology, and occupation. Students were then asked to mill around the room and find someone with whom they would be interested in developing a relationship, based on the assigned characteristics. Once all students found a partner and were seated, students reflected on the process of the activity, as well as its application to social exchange theory. In addition to providing details of the activity, we conclude with student reflections and evaluative data on the exercise.

The Family Folklore Album: Using the Power of Stories to Engage Students in Family Science

The Family Folklore Album project is a pedagogical tool in which students interview family members in order to collect stories which are then organized and critically analyzed using concepts and insights gained from a family science course. The Album is designed to help students to gain an awareness of their own family and their place within it, as well as the multiplicity of ways of being family. Formal assessment data of the project reveals that, in general, students appreciate the opportunity to spend time with and learn more about their family members, while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of family science concepts and their own identity. Family science educators are charged with the responsibility of preparing future family service professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary for effective prevention and intervention work. Given the cultural, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and structural diversity of families within the United States, it is imperative that family science graduates be able to recognize and understand the complexity of families and their various contexts. In order to facilitate student comprehension of diverse family issues and capitalize on the tendency to consider the relationship of family science content to one’s own family life, it is critical that faculty enliven their classes with experiential and other types of assignments that are responsive to a variety of learning styles, take advantage of students’ tendency toward introspection relative to disciplinary material, and make course content relevant to real world experiences. Because it integrates multiple learning styles and necessitates personal reflection, the Family Folklore Album project is one pedagogical strategy that is well-suited for fostering students’ ability to recognize, appreciate, and understand the unique characteristics of their own family so that they can recognize the diversity in other families. Similarly, it’s a project that promotes deeper understanding and application of family science concepts. Direct correspondence to Dr. Erin F. Boyd-Soisson, Department of Human Development and Family Science, Messiah College, Grantham, PA 17027. Email: eboyd@messiah.edu Family Science Review, Volume 14, Issue 2, 2009