Details of Research Outputs

Most literature regarding involvement of retired adults in the classroom focuses on feasibility rather than benefits directly perceived by individuals, let alone the lack of research on academic learning purposes. This report presents the pilot action of an intergenerational (IG) approach/program, within which a retired professional crossed the border (i.e., from Hong Kong to Chinese mainland) and engaged a class of ESL (English as a second language) undergraduate learners — as an auditor — in a credit-bearing course. The program was staged through intergenerational programming in terms of purposeful planning and activity design to facilitate contacts between young and old. Post-program responses to Likert-based scales and open-ended questions were employed to examine what perceived benefits across generations could be found after program implementation, thereby examining the value of intergenerational learning through the pilot action. Evaluation findings indicated that the value of intergenerational learning can be conceptualized as a pathway leading to benefits perceivable across generations and the significance of academic learning purposes valued by young and old. Despite benefits found, the auditor approach is arguably a way of working due to lessons learned. Further studies should investigate how an auditor system like the program could contribute to the goal of promoting impactful results in other course settings. Explicit appreciation of the retired citizen's involved is also documented as a concluding note.