An intergenerational curricular module for teaching aging appreciation to seventh-graders

The research reported in this paper examines the influence of a one-week curriculum module on aging appreciation of the seventh-graders. Ninety-seven students completed the introductory questionnaire, and 98 students filled out the final questionnaire. A majority of the students were 13 years of age, boys, white, and had living maternal and paternal grandparents who lived in their own homes. T-test analyses revealed that the intervention curricular module showed significant improvement with regard to age perception, number of older people known, personal attributes of older people, and involvement in activities with older people. However, scores dropped significantly for the facts on aging. Several implications for extending this work are discussed.