Engaging with aging: impact of passive vs. active interview with an older adult among undergraduate students

ABSTRACTDuring a time of increasing shortages in the eldercare workforce, attracting new workers to the field is imperative. It can be difficult to engage students in the field. One method to engage students with aging is through oral history assignments. This study explored the impact of an active assignment (interviewing an older adult) compared to a passive assignment (watching a video of an older adult being interviewed) on ageism. Students were randomly assigned into two sections of an online gerontology course. The sections were identical except one section conducted an interview of an older adult (n = 40), and the second section watched a video of older adults being interviewed (N = 37). Each student completed a pre- and post-assignment survey, which included an ageism scale. Differences were analyzed using t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Ageism declined significantly for both sections (from an average of 56 to 50 for the interview section, and from 55 to 47 for the video section). The change was not significantly different across sections. Both sections reported high satisfaction with the assignment. A majority (97%) of students in both sections reported that they were able to relate class lessons to the interview and that the assignment impacted their thoughts about aging (95%). Conclusions: Both watching and actively participating in an interview was a positive assignment for students and resulted in a decrease in ageism. Using a video alternative may be particularly useful for classes where facilitating community interaction may be difficult. Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).