Psychological literacy means moving beyond “what” about psychology (e.g., content knowledge, methodology, data analysis) to consider “why” what students are learning is important for themselves and for society. Every definition of psychological literacy (e.g., Murdoch, 2016; Morris, et al., 2021) emphasizes that knowledge gained should be relevant: to the self, for adaptive self-understanding and management of effective socioemotional goals; to local communities, so that students have, for example, the skills to fulfill employer’s needs; and relevant to international contexts, so that students have awareness of what is required to become a global citizen. This is a tall order for an entire psychology curriculum (Murdoch, 2016), but a worthy aim. Thus, we recommend evaluating curricula for specific psychology courses and topics uniquely situated to meet the goals of psychological literacy. In this Teaching Tips, we suggest that psychology of aging (and late life modules of lifespan development courses) is one of these courses for three reasons.
- The content of psychology of aging is self-relevant but distant. If development progresses, our students will live to be old, very old. When today’s students reach their 60s, the estimated average life expectancyopens in new window is 88 for biological males and 90 for females. This means the ‘oldest-old’ today will be the ‘middle-old’ or perhaps the ‘young-old’ of tomorrow. The caveat about the content is that students do not easily see its self-relevance: old age feels distant. Teaching memory loss in late life feels vague because younger adults’ memories are at their pinnacle. Teaching of trials associated with widowhood are difficult to imagine, when most students are not yet married. This perceived distance means that psychology of aging courses must be taught differently to engage students: relevance should be emphasized before the content.
- Aging courses showcase relevance before teaching content. Psychology courses tend to emphasize theory and empirical findings, then have students use the knowledge to consider applications. In courses with aging content, however, the relevance must be explicitly emphasized. Many courses probably do this naturally (or at least adult development and aging textbooks do). The first day of lecture begins with startling statistics about demographics associated with an aging society, the prevalence of ageism, and the myths that people hold about older adults (e.g., by giving a Facts on Aging quiz). The relevance – convincing students that this course matters for them - comes before the content, the theory and the methodologies. Psychological literacy begins the unfolding of the course.
- Aging courses emphasize knowledge needed for professions and relationships. Psychological literacy also means preparing students well for positive relationships and professional success. Regardless whether students decide to be bankers helping to manage retirement portfolios, physicians and nurses providing care for older adults, or marketing executives creating advertising campaigns that target old people, they will need skills related to successful interactions with and advocacy for older adult populations (Hancock & Newsham, 2023). Policies about retirement and health care will need to be made from an informed perspective guided by knowledge gained in psychology and aging courses. Increased longevity means that our students will have long-lasting relationships across generations, and likely be caregivers. Aging-related knowledge will be needed so students today will be capable of leading the charge tomorrow.
Activities in Aging Courses to Develop Psychological Literacy
Teaching psychological literacy means that pedagogical approaches need to encourage students to deeply reflect on the adaptive value and implications of course material (Cranney et al., 2022). To meet the demands of an aging world, psychology of aging course objectives, activities, and assessments should be geared towards translating content to applications for the self, relationships, and human condition. Below we provide examples of literacy objectives and associated activities in our own courses (supporting materials available onlineopens in new window) to help generate ideas for developing psychological literacy in yours. These ideas are flexible and inclusive. They have been used in upper-division psychology of aging courses that range in size (e.g., 20-30 students; 120 students), are structurally different (e.g., a hands-on, research-based lab course; an interactive lecture, empirical-readings driven course) and differ in length (e.g., 10-week quarters; traditional semesters). The authors teach at different types of universities (research intensive and liberal arts), and both institutions are minority-serving (AANAPISI and HSI).
(i) Activities that use the science of aging to combat ageism. Teaching about the science of aging provides a way to reduce ageism and create better global citizens. This can be accomplished with a debate activity in which students discuss whether specific age-based services and programs are ageist (e.g., 55+ housing) based on empirical evidence. Students can replicate empirical work (e.g., Study 1; Lamont, Swift, & Drury, 2021) by thematically coding age stereotypes generated by people of different ages (instructions part 1; part 2). Measures of age attitudes, such as the Age Implicit Association Testopens in new window, can make students aware of their implicit biases. Including these types of activities in our aging courses creates opportunities for students to better recognize when they encounter ageism in news outlets, social media posts, and personal experiences, for example, outside of the classroom, and they recognize that research should ground their thinking not stereotypical beliefs.
(ii) Activities that create opportunities for intergenerational connections. Connecting younger and older adults through structured course activities creates space for students to practice discussing topics across generations, which is useful for workforce participation and negotiating familial intergenerational relationships. These connections can bridge material from the classroom to personal experiences. “Intergenerational Discussions” (directions; facilitation slides) in which students and older adult community members engage in respectful dialog to exchange questions and share viewpoints on semi-structured course-related topics (e.g., cognitive, physical functioning, relationships) can be conducted in person or via video conferencing. Reflection activities can assess students’ socioemotional gains and intergenerational communication skills. Individual intergenerational connection activities can be scaled up to accommodate the logistics of larger courses with “Aging Insight” videos, or pre-recorded interviews with diverse groups of older adults about specific course topics (e.g., memory, wisdom). After watching the videos, students can demonstrate intergenerational literacy via peer online discussion forums.
(iii) Activities that encourage innovative application. Making content relevant means considering how the science of psychology and aging can enhance the lives of older adults today, and for the future. An “Aging Innovation” activity (directions, slide template), in which students propose a creative idea (e.g., smart cane to predict and modify positioning for falls) to enhance older adults’ functioning can prompt students to consider application. The ideas are grounded in the theories and empirical literature in psychology of aging around a specific topic. The students’ ideas can be showcased via slide presentations that are submitted for assessment, presented to their peers, or even coalesced into an aging innovation symposium. Students are thus gaining presentation development skills and public speaking experiences, while making course-related material relevant.
(iv) Activities that encourage application of empirical research to personal questions. Creating courses with activities that encourage application of empirical research to personal questions or problems is core to psychological literacy. For a “Successful Aging Exposition,” students read empirical research related to a personal question about successful aging. Individually or in pairs, they create their choice of media or other product (e.g., infographic, wiki, podcast) showcasing their answer, prepared for an audience of middle-aged and older adults. Their final products are presented to a lifelong learning group and other visitors from the university in an exposition-style tabled event. This activity promotes several marketable skills, such as effective communication, information management, and creativity. It was designed to help students translate technical information they learned to an educated, laic audience and learn more about an area in psychology they believe is relevant to their personal and/or professional goals.
(v) Activities that foster career exploration. Knowing possible options for careers related to aging and researching those careers may be the penultima expression of psychological literacy. A “Careers in Aging” activity can directly ask students to consider careers in aging and how aging fits into interdisciplinary careers. Students can review career information from professional organizations (e.g., American Psychological Association’s Exploring Careers in Aging) and read profiles of aging professionals and online job descriptions, then reflect on the connections to their own career goals and immediate training plans. Students might also interview a person who works in an aging field (see also Hancock and Newsham’s Teaching Tips, 2023).
In conclusion, we propose that psychology of aging courses are uniquely positioned to help students’ develop their psychological literacy skills. Like many other psychology courses, the material is intrinsically relevant to everyday life and “real world” issues. However, aging courses explicitly emphasize the topics’ applications to individuals, their local communities, and the greater society immediately at the start. We have shared some examples of our activities to intentionally facilitate psychological literacy in our classes. We hope that you might try some of these activities and share what you are already doing. Looking to the future, we all will need to develop and test clear assessments of psychological literacy that could be used to evaluate students’ progress, as evidenced on these sorts of activities from convocation to commencement.
References
Cranney, J., Dunn, D. S., Hulme, J. A., Nolan, S. A., Morris, S., & Norris, K. (2022). Psychological literacy and undergraduate psychology education: An international provocation. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.790600
Hancock, C. & Newsham, T. (2023). All careers are careers in aging: Making gerontological connections. Adult Development and Aging News. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-20/publications/newsletters/adult-development/2023/04/teaching-tips
Lamont, R. A., Swift, H. J., & Drury, L. (2021). Understanding perceived age-based judgement as a precursor to age-based stereotype threat in everyday settings. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 640567. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.640567