Gerontology Mission Statement and Learning Outcomes

Gerontology Mission Statement

Our common purpose is to develop the sociological imagination as it relates to aging and older Americans through a process of active inquiry and critical thinking. A sociological perspective in gerontology cultivates an appreciation for social diversity, fosters an understanding of how individuals and groups are shaped by social forces and prepares students to become informed citizens. Our students learn to apply gerontological theories and methods of social scientific inquiry to experiences in their personal and professional lives. Their deeper understanding of gerontology and diversity in aging increases their sense of social responsibility and empowers them to act as agents of social change.

Learning Outcomes for the Gerontology Program

Diversity Awareness
Students will learn to identify the perspectives of diverse groups among the older population and the effect of group membership on the aging process and later life experiences.

Social Scientific Literacy
Students will learn the logic of research methodology and be able to understand and critique the results of scientific research generated by scholars in the discipline.

Critical Thinking
Students apply interdisciplinary theories and concepts to interpret various social phenomena and scholarship from multiple perspectives through clear oral and written articulation.

Critical Understanding of Aging Society
Students will be able to discuss the theories, critical concepts and ideas that form the basis of gerontology’s interdisciplinary knowledge and will understand how social structure affects the distribution of cultural and material resources among older Americans as well as how it shapes the aging experience.

200-Level Learning Outcomes

(There are no 100 level Gerontology courses)

Diversity
Students will be able to identify and appreciate the perspective of diverse groups.

Social Scientific Literacy
Students will identify the steps of the social research and will interpret information that is visually depicted (e.g., in charts and graphs).

Critical Thinking
Students will be able to identify the various methods, theories and concepts that scholars in the discipline use to craft their arguments through clear oral and written communication.

Sociological Understanding of Society
Students will articulate an understanding of the process of social construction and the ways in which this process generates social groups that experience the same phenomena in different ways.

300-Level Learning Outcomes

Diversity
Students will be able to clearly articulate the intersections of race, class, and gender to create diverse and unequal life experiences and life chances.

Social Scientific Literacy
Students will critique the results of scientific research generated by scholars in the discipline, generate a hypothesis, and describe how these hypotheses might be tested with scientific data, and synthesize primary and/or secondary sources.

Critical Thinking
Students will apply disciplinary theories and concepts to interpret and discuss both scholarship and ‘real world’ events from multiple perspectives through clear oral and written articulation.

Sociological Understanding of Society
Students will understand the ways in which structure affects the distribution of cultural and material resources across social groups.