Abstract:
A challenge in understanding human development from a life-span perspective in university-level psychology and education courses lies in the limited life experience associated with our students’ age, most of whom are young adults. Conducting life-review interviews with older adults could help students to deepen their understanding of the theories and key concepts related to human development by analyzing their interviewees’ life stories from a life-span perspective. This project aims to develop an e-learning package using multimedia resources to guide students to conduct life-review interviews and creatively present the interviewees’ life stories. The effectiveness of the e-learning package was empirically tested using a mixed design. One hundred and twenty-two students were recruited from psychology and education related courses and assigned be either the experimental group or the control group. The e-learning package was provided to the experimental group to assist their learning. All participants completed a survey both before and after their course work. The experimental group gained a significant improvement on higher-order thinking skills, students’ attitude, and attitude towards ageing compared to the control group. Focus group interview further revealed that the life-review experience helped students strengthen their relationships with their interviewees and deepen their learning of the course content.
Code:
T0241
Principal Project Supervisors:
Keywords provided by authors:
Start Date:
01 Dec 2020
End Date:
31 May 2022
Status:
Completed
Result:
Out of 122 students involved, 43 students participated in both pretest and posttest, including 22 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group. Repeated measure ANOVAs showed that the experiment group gained more in higher-order thinking skills (experimental group: pre-test mean =28.00, SD = 1.49, post-test mean = 28.57, SD = 1.38; control group: pre-test mean = 31.11, SD = 1.56, post-test mean = 28.53, SD = 1.45; F = 5.67, p = 0.02,), students' attitude (experimental group: pre-test mean = 25.1, SD = 0.82, post-test mean = 25.24, SD = 0.79; control group: pre-test mean = 26.5, SD = 0.86, post-test mean = 23.9, SD = 0.83; F = 7.78, p = 0.01,) and attitude toward ageing (experimental group: pre-test mean = 4.44, SD = 0.17, post-test mean = 5.1, SD = 0.17; control group: pre-test mean = 4.71, SD = 0.20, post-test mean = 4.6, SD = 0.20; F = 12.27, p = 0.00,) than the control group. Focus group interview revealed that the life-review experience helped students strengthen their relationships with their interviewees and deepen their learning of the course content.
Impact:
The project showed a positive impact on college students by improving their higher-order thinking skills, students’ attitudes, and attitude towards ageing. The project revealed the experiential learning utility of life review interview in life span development courses. Our e-learning package is available for free download for anyone interested in using it in psychology and education-related courses or interested in life review interview itself.
Deliverables:
Books/ Book Chapters/ Journal Articles/ Conference Papers
Li, T., Wang, Z., Tong, X., & Siu, P.-M. (2021, December). Learning better from real lives: Integrating life-reviews in psychology and education related courses. Paper presented at International Conference on Learning and Teaching 2021 (ICLT2021), Hong Kong, China. (https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/learning-better-from-real-lives-integrating-life-reviews-in-psych)
Wang, Z., Li, T., Tong., X., & Zou., M. (2022, August 8). Improving university students’ generic skills and attitudes towards aging through a life-review interview. Poster presented at EdUHK x HKPS Psychology Research Poster Conference 2022, Hong Kong, China. (https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/improving-university-students-generic-skills-and-attitudes-toward)
Teaching and Learning Resources/ Materials (including online resources)
Life-review Interview Website (https://lifereview0.wixsite.com/my-site) (https://repository.eduhk.hk/en/publications/life-review-interview-website)
Financial Year:
2020-21
Type:
TDG