Answer to Question #150069 in Psychology for Saya

Question

Maarten is planning to teach a computer skills class at the senior citizens centre. He is excited about this opportunity but until now has taught only younger people. He is concerned about older people and memory. He wonders what he should do differently for this class. Based on your understanding of ageing and memory, suggest three unique changes he might make in his teaching. For each change, provide a clear rationale for why this change may be appropriate based on what we know about ageing.

Answer 1

       Teaching older people requires special attention and application of different teaching techniques compared to younger people. Therefore Maarten should apply the reinforcement strategy in teaching, emphasizing key points, and repeating them every time because elderly people can only capture small content and skills. Maarten should break down the instruction skills into bits, thus enabling an easier understanding of the skills taught because elderly people can master few skills at a time. Maarten should develop Group discussions to enable elderly learners to share and learn from others since aging people grasp and remember their classmates' knowledge. However, group discussion learning is conducted at a slower rate, thus capturing computer skills.