IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v6y2016i4p2158244016679711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Creating and Sustaining an Experiential Learning Component on Aging in a BSW Course

Author

Listed:
  • Jimmy A. Young
  • Justin S. Lee
  • Pamela J. Kovacs

Abstract

Regardless of their particular field of practice, social workers increasingly serve the growing population of older adults in the United States. This article describes the process of integrating an experiential component into a Baccalaureate Social Work (BSW) course involving 75 BSW students. Reflections on the strengths and challenges during 3 years of the course and a successful sustainability strategy are discussed. Three methods of curriculum infusion were added to a required course: (a) guest speakers, (b) required volunteer hours, and (c) written reflections and class presentations. We discovered that students’ attitudes toward working with older adults were changed following their experience in this course. Cognizant of the difficulty introducing additional hours and content to a full course agenda, we advocate for curriculum change that includes an experiential component together with classroom discussion and activities. We provide details of our process of implementation and sustainability that might help guide similar course adaptations to increase BSW student exposure to working with older adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Jimmy A. Young & Justin S. Lee & Pamela J. Kovacs, 2016. "Creating and Sustaining an Experiential Learning Component on Aging in a BSW Course," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(4), pages 21582440166, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:4:p:2158244016679711
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244016679711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244016679711
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/2158244016679711?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:6:y:2016:i:4:p:2158244016679711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.