Master's Degree - Gerontology

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2024 Fall Course Info
Contemporary Perspectives on Adult Development and AgingPhysical Health, Wellness, and Active AgingFundamentals for Family Financial PlanningAging Policy and Advocacy
2024 Summer Course Info
Sexuality and AgingPerson-Centered Care
Course Planner
Information is subject to change.
Please revisit this page again before the semester starts to make sure you have all the current information.
Drops and Refunds:
Students adhere to the drop and refund policies and deadlines of their home university.
Course Information
Socioemotional and Cognitive Well-being throughout Adulthood
Course Description
This course addresses cognitive, social, and emotional health in adulthood and later life including typical and atypical changes such as wisdom, dementia, coping, and depression. Contrasting theoretical frameworks and considering positions of access and resilience, students will examine personality, mental health, and cognitive and brain functioning during adulthood and review methods to enhance psychological health.
Contacts
Instructor

Jennifer Margrett
Office: 515-294-3028
margrett@iastate.edu

Campus Coordinator

For course access questions, contact the teaching university’s campus coordinator. For enrollment questions, contact your home university campus coordinator.
View the Campus Coordinator Directory >>

Disability Support Services

To request accommodations for this course, contact the disability support office at your home university. You must register each semester and for each course. Read more about the Great Plains IDEA process for requesting accommodations.

Textbooks

Still Alice
Lisa Genova
Edition: 2014
ISBN: 978-1501107733
Publisher: Pocket Books

The 36-Hour Day, sixth edition: The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss
Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins
Edition: 6th edition (2017)
ISBN: 978-1421422237
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Course Access
 
In the three weeks prior to the start of class, students will receive course information and access instructions via email from the Iowa State campus coordinator, Iowa State Online. 
 
The email will include instructions for how students can set up their Iowa State Net-ID and password which is needed to log into Iowa State’s Canvas system. It typically takes 1-2 business days after setting up a Net-ID before students can log into Iowa State’s Canvas. Courses may not be visible in Canvas until the first day of class.
 
If students experience problems registering for a Net-ID, they can contact the Iowa State Solution Center for assistance at 515-294-4000. Students will need their 9-digit ISU university ID (provided in the ISU campus coordinator email) for the Solution Center to assist them. The Solution Center is open evenings and weekends.  View the Solution Center's hours of operation.
Exam Proctor

This course does not require an exam proctor.

Synchronous Components

This course does not include synchronous components.

Faculty
University Members
Members of the Great Plains IDEA are universities accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Member universities recruit, admit and graduate students, teach in an academic program and contribute to the leadership and maintenance of the alliance. Membership in the alliance is a selective process that engages institutional leadership at all levels.
More about our members »

Reuel Drilon is a student in the gerontology and aging studies program.As a non-traditional college student in my early 50s, living and working in the Pacific Island of Guam, choosing the right program for graduate studies was very important to me. The process of selecting the right program was intentional – it had to offer a diverse student population, professors with real-life experiences, a safe space to share cultural perspectives, and a curriculum that offered classes that were aligned with students’ educational and professional goals. The Great Plains IDEA program met and exceeded all my expectations. Concepts from every course have been applied in my profession to the extent that it has aided in the expansion of our services and the population we serve. As I reflect on these successes, I attribute much of it to the genuine care of the GP IDEA professors who were as passionate about the success of each student as they were in the subjects they taught. GP IDEA was definitely the right program for me!

– – Reuel C. Drilon, Gerontology and Aging Studies Graduate Student,
See more testimonials »