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Unit 1

Chapter 1: The Growth of Social Gerontology
Chapter 2: Historical and Cross-Cultural Issues in Aging

 Elderly doing Tai Chi
  1. Learning Objectives
  2. Things To Do For This Unit
  3. Readings & Assignments
  4. Online Activities

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

  1. Define aging, gerontology, social gerontology and geriatrics and the reasons for studying social gerontology.
  2. Explain the person-environment perspective.
  3. Know the demographic patterns within the U.S. and worldwide.
  4. Explain life expectancy, life span, and longevity in health or disease.
  5. Understand the research methods and designs for studying older adults and the importance of representative samples.
  6. Describe the role of the older people in stable, preliterate, or primitive societies and elders in non-Western cultures.
  7. Explain the changes in social roles of older persons, societal norms regarding aging, and older adults' expectations of society.
  8. Describe the contrasting perspectives regarding the impact of modernization on the relationship between older persons and the larger society.
  9. Explain both the historical and cross-cultural viewpoints.

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Things To Do For This Unit

  1. Make sure you are registered and have your textbook.
  2. Submit your Letter of Agreement (including your e-mail address) to the Distance Learning Department immediately.
  3. Complete the reading assignments below.
  4. Complete the What's your Aging IQ Self-Quiz and Introduce Yourself on the WebBoard.

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Readings & Assignments

  1. Text: Chapter 1 -- The Growth of Social Gerontology, pages 3-40
  2. Text: Chapter 2 -- Historical and Cross-Cultural Issues, pages 41-58
  3. Look over the summaries of the Chapters in the Final Review

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Online Activities

At the end of most chapters there is a list of Online Resources. I will assign two library activities that can be supplemented by these websites. Online activities also include your quizzes and exam reviews. So this is where you will find this information on the individual pages for each week. This week we have a non-graded What's Your Aging IQ Self-Quiz for you to complete. This quiz was developed and published by the National Institute on Aging. Complete the quiz quickly and either guess or skip over the questions you are not sure of. Most people with little or no knowledge of gerontology answer about half of the questions correctly. After completing the self-quiz, log on to the WebBoard (link above), introduce yourself and note one thing that surprised you on the Aging Myths Quiz.

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E-mail your instructor: Lorie Eber, J.D.
Copyright © 2002 by Debra Secord. All rights reserved.

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