Skip to main content
GSA 2024 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Back
Symposium

Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education

Intergenerational Service: Extending Age Inclusivity in and Beyond the Classroom

Friday, November 15, 2024
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM PST
Location: Room 3A
CE: 1.5

Higher education is becoming more age-inclusive on several fronts and age-friendly teaching and learning strategies are being used in new and novel ways to support a variety of educational outcomes. In this AIHE-ILRCE Interest Group collaborative symposium, presenters will discuss the diverse ways in which intergenerational service activities extend learning beyond the classroom and can enhance age inclusivity in higher education. To begin, Montepare and Baldizar (Lasell University) will provide an overview of contemporary age-inclusive campus initiatives in higher education (Age-Friendly University/AFU, Age Inclusivity Domains of Higher Education/AIDHE) and discuss The Empty Bowls project in which students and older adult community members work together to craft bowls to raise money to support the local Food Pantry. Brothers (Colorado State University) will describe the student-supported Market Days for Older Adults project, a farmer's market-based program that aspires to address food insecurity and social isolation in older adults. Wei and colleagues (Stockton University) will discuss an intergenerational service project in which students organize technology training sessions aimed at educating older adult community members about various technology-related topics such as using smartphones for chronic disease management, personalized medicine, and more. Kwong (Connecticut College) will describe an interdisciplinary class, Intergenerational Play and Learning, which connects young children, college students, and older adult volunteers to promote learning through storytelling and engaging in play and group activities to strengthen social ties across generations and explore local history. AGHE Fellow and intergenerational scholar, Carrie Andreoletti (Central Connecticut State University), will serve as discussant.

This is a collaborative symposium between the Age Inclusivity in Higher Education and Intergenerational Learning, Research, and Community Engagement Interest Groups.

Intergenerational Learning, Research, and Community Engagement Interest Group Sponsored Symposium

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will be able to describe contemporary age-inclusivity initiatives in higher education and the value of intergenerational service-related educational strategies.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to describe various ways in which intergenerational service-related activities may be designed and delivered.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to describe how they might be able to bring intergenerational service activities into their teaching and learning efforts.

Presentations:

  • 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM PST
    Talk of Ages and Empty Bowls: A Reciprocal Approach to Intergenerational Service

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Joann M. Montepare, PhD, FGSA, FAGHE (she/her/hers) – Lasell University

  • 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM PST
    Market Days: Intergenerational Programming to Support Healthy Aging Among Low-Income Older Adults

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Allyson Brothers, PhD (she/her/hers) – Colorado State University

  • 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM PST
    Intergenerational Workshop to Empower Older Adults in Smart Technologies

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Duo Helen Wei, PhD (she/her/hers) – Stockton University

  • 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM PST
    Intergenerational Play and Learning: Opportunities for Engaging Preschoolers, College Students, and Older Adults

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Katherine Kwong, PhD (she/her/hers) – Connecticut College