Teaching Tools
Explore teaching tools to use in diverse ways in classes across the curriculum. Expand each section below to learn more.
Explore teaching tools to use in diverse ways in classes across the curriculum. Expand each section below to learn more.
Check out these teaching and learning resources from the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE)
AGHE Biblio Brief: Dementia Education
AGHE Biblio Brief: Online Instruction in Gerontology
AGHE Teaching Brief OER - Open Educational Resources
AGHE Teaching Brief - Useful Information and Resources about COVID-19
Transforming COVID-19 into a Learning Opportunity for Your Students
AGHE Teaching Brief - Adapting Your Final Exams and Assessments for Online Classes
Below are some downloadable Teaching Tips made available by APA's Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging). Visit the D20 website to find more teaching tips and information about becoming an APA D20 member.
Infusing Diversity into the College/University Curriculum
John Quincy Adam
Supplementing Courses with Online Assignments
Julie Blaskewicz Boron
Virtually Speaking
Susan Bluck
The I-clicker....Coming to a Classroom Near You!
Susan Charles
Recruiting for Our Future
Susan Charles
Using BlackboardTM to Enhance the Communication and Web Content in Your Course
Alison L. Chasteen
Are you on-line yet? Trials and Tribulations of getting an Adulthood and Aging Class Ready for On-line Instruction
F. Richard Ferraro
Challenges and Highlights of Having Older-than-Average Students in an Adulthood & Aging Class
F. Richard Ferraro
Selective Review of Some Recent (and not so recent) Adulthood and Aging Texts
F. Richard Ferraro
Lifespan Development at the Graduate Level
Karen Fingerman Human Dev. & Family Studies Penn. State Univ
The New Frontier: The Development of an Online Gerontology Course
Joseph E. Gaugler
Psychology Boot Camp: Undergraduate Training Opportunities in Developmental Psychology
Robert C. Intrieri, Kristin L. Sarama, and Jurgis Karuza
Game of Life in a Continuum of Care
Shannon E. Jarrott
Training Teachers in Graduate Courses: A Graduate Student's Perspective
Jenessa C. Johnson
Finding One's Way: Mentoring Notes Between a Mentor and a Mentee
Joseph A. Mikels and Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz
Using Class Discussions to Improve Oral Communication Skills
Kristi S. Multhaup
Some Subtle Advantages of Online Learning
J Penn Shaw
Elder Mentorship in Graduate Education
Graham D. Rowles & John F. Watkins
Infusing Aging Content into Health Psychology
Aurora M. Sherman
Integrating Aging
Susan Krauss Whitbourne
Explore teaching about aging and other age-focused activities published in the Teaching of Psychology, the official Journal of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
Ault, R. L. (1999). Introduction to the special section on adult development and aging. Teaching of Psychology, 26(1), 48.
Barnes, D. R. (1985). Teaching "The Psychology of Adult Development and Aging." Teaching of Psychology, 12(1), 37-39.
Bleiszner, R. (1999). Strategies and resources for teaching family gerontology. Teaching of Psychology, 26(1), 50-51.
Cavanaugh, J. C. (1999). Integrating the humanities into a liberal arts course on adult development and aging. Teaching Of Psychology, 26(1), 51-52.
Dillon, K. H., & Goodman, S. (1980). Think old: Twenty-five classroom exercises for courses in aging. Teaching Of Psychology, 7(2), 96-99.
Evans, J. D. (1981). Personal involvement projects in the psychology of aging: Some examples and an empirical assessment. Teaching of Psychology, 8(4), 230-233.
Fingerman, K. L. (2000). Enhancing student interest in the psychology of aging: An interview with Susan Krauss Whitbourne. Teaching of Psychology, 27(3), 224-229.
Fingerman, K. L., & Bertrand, R. (1999). Approaches to teaching adult development within a life span development course. Teaching of Psychology, 26(1), 55-57.
Fried, S. B. (1988). Learning activities for understanding aging. Teaching of Psychology, 15(3), 160-162.
Lutsky, N. (1986). A negative attitude toward a classroom technique eliciting attitudes toward elderly persons. Teaching of Psychology, 13(3), 148.
McGuire, L. C., & Zwahr, M. D. (1999). Tying it together: Two comprehensive projects for adult development and aging courses. Teaching of Psychology, 26(1), 53-55.
Neysmith-Roy, J. M., & Kleisinger, C. L. (1997). Using biographies of adults over 65 years of age to understand life-span developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 24(2), 116.
Panek, P. E. (1982). Do beginning psychology of aging students believe 10 common myths of aging? Teaching of Psychology, 9(2), 104.
Pulos, S. (1993). Illustrating life-span development in physical competence. Teaching of Psychology, 20(4), 244-245.
Sheldon, J. P. (1998). Addressing stereotypes and ageism in a lifespan development course. Teaching of Psychology, 25(4), 291-293.
Whitbourne, S., & Collins, K. (1999). Employing interactive learning methods in a course on the psychology of aging. Teaching Of Psychology, 26(1), 48-
Wight, R. D. (1989). Fostering insight into personal conceptions of the elderly: A simulation exercise. Teaching of Psychology, 16(4), 216.
Wurtele, S. K., & Maruyama, L. (2013). Changing students' stereotypes of older adults. Teaching of Psychology, 40(1), 59-61.
Marian Leah (Gilbert) Knapp was born in Providence, RI, and received her B.A. in English Literature from Boston University and her M.A. in Anthropology from Hunter College. At the age of 70, Marian returned to school to get her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England, writing her thesis on "Aging in Place in Suburbia: A Qualitative Study of Older Women". She continues to explore aging issues and share her observations and perspective in her column for the Wicked Local Newton newspaper and on her blog Voices of Aging. Marian's 2014 book Aging in Places: Reflective Preparation for the Future offers a unique view of the complexities of aging for students of all ages. Below are several select essays which are also sure to serve as great catalysts for class discussions.
APA’s Division 20 (Adult Development and Aging) maintains a list of freely available syllabi contributed by members who teach graduate and undergraduate courses in aging. Explore them here along with a list of textbooks.
A Hands-on Approach to Teaching about Aging - 32 Activities for the Classroom and Beyond (2017 Spinger Publishing )
A one-of-a-kind compilation of active, engaging learning strategies for instructors who want to enrich aging content in their classes. Co-edited by Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) members Hallie Baker, Tina M. Kruger , and Rona J. Karasik, the book features educational activities that incorporate AGHE competencies and can be used in courses across a range of disciplines - counseling, family studies, gerontology, geriatrics, medicine, psychology, public administration, public health, nursing, social work, sociology, speech pathology, and more. In addition to step-by-step details about each activity, the book includes beginning-to-end information about activity preparation, discussion/reflection, wrap-up, and assessment. Authors offer recommendations about the number of participants, settings, materials, and time required - the nitty gritty details often overlooked in other instructional books.
Integrating Aging Topics Into Psychology: A Practical Guide for Teaching Undergraduates Edited by Susan Krauss Whitbourne and John C. Cavanaugh (2003, APA)
"This edited book provides psychology instructors with practical instruction for integrating aging and adult development topics into their courses...The authors not only introduce and discuss different types of aging content but also present methods for organizing and presenting it within the framework of the regular course structure. They provide simple but effective class exercises and direct instructors to useful supplementary resources. Each chapter also includes an annotated bibliography or resource list"
The newsletters edited by Harry R. Moody cover a variety of important and provocative issues around late-life creativity, spirituality, lifelong learning, humanistic gerontology, and more - with tips on resources to use for developing classroom activities. See links here to previous issues of the Human Values Newsletter and, links here to the Teaching Gerontology Newsletter.
The Human Values Newsletter is now being published by Fielding Graduate University. To subscribe to the Newsletter or submit items of interest contact: rmoody@yahoo.com