Development and Evaluation of Online Aging and Health Management Education for Undergraduate Students

Park, Myonghwa

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop online aging and health management education for undergraduate students and to evaluate its effects analyzing the differences in knowledge and attitude toward aging and the elderly. METHOD: An Online aging and health management education program was established through analysis, planning, content framing and production, program application, and evaluation stages. The study sample consisted of 98 undergraduate students in one university in D city. The instruments used were FAQ I for knowledge of aging and a 20 item semantic differential scale for attitude toward aging and the elderly. RESULTS: The results of this study were as follows. First, undergraduate students' knowledge level was low and attitudes were negative at the baseline. Second, after the class, knowledge scores improved significantly from 14.44 to 20.12. In addition, the attitudes toward elderly and aging changed from negative to a more positive way showing a 23.57 point difference. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the online aging and health management education program was an effective educational method to improve knowledge and attitude of aging for the young generation such as college students.