Creative Ways to Meet Social Studies Standards
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Evaluation
This section of the website includes the project's evaluation 
plan and survey results.
Evaluation Plan
The effects of the project were evaluated on three groups of participants:
the students, professional teachers, and student teachers doing internships
in the schools.
Students: Students in American History and Global History learned about aging through integrating material into currently existing curricula. Students in Participation in Government classes studied a unit that focuses solely on aging issues and runs from five to ten class periods. Results of this gerontology unit approach to teaching about aging were evaluated using student surveys. More than six hundred students completed pre- and post-test surveys measuring attitudes toward older adults, feelings about careers in the field of aging, and opinions on social issues related to aging. (You can download the four-page Student Survey that was used for both the pre- and post-test. The post-test also requested student comments.) See below for survey results.
Professional Teachers: In line with the goal of establishing a model for integrating aging issues into lesson plans that can be adapted by other school districts, 13 teachers in the project provided feedback about the process through written surveys and focus groups at the end of each semester. (You can download the two-page Teacher Survey.) See below for survey results.
| "As a teacher, you can notice when the students in class get an idea or draw on a connection. I saw that happening often during this unit. This is a keeper." - teacher comment |
Student Teachers: Teachers in training completed the same survey as did the professional teachers. In addition, they were asked to submit written accounts of their experience and to share their reactions with their peers in the teacher education program. (You can download the two-page Student Teacher Survey.) See below for student teacher comments.
| "[The gerontology curriculum] was simple to integrate, and the students proved themselves willing partners. In the varied discussion I had with students of different ages, I saw that they too realized we were an aging society." - student teacher comment |
Evaluation Results