1. All students must answer the following gerontological big question: How and why does aging matter?
2. Students will also choose an additional three (3) of the following big questions and craft thoughtful yet succinct responses.
• How do we study aging? (Be sure to cover both benefits and limitations of each epistemology/method/paradigm)
• Why do people age in different ways?
• How does aging affect the mind and body?
• How does the social context influence aging and the life course?
• What are the needs and interests of an older population and how are these needs/interests both created and met?
• What are the diverse work, leisure, and living conditions/contexts of older adults?
• How do both formal and informal interventions, programs, services, and/or policies influence the aging experience?
• Can age related physiological processes (organismal senescence) be slowed? How and why?
• How do historical and cultural contexts intersect and influence an individual life course trajectory?

Required format:
1. Responses should be double-spaced, including references and tables, on 8-1/2” x 11” paper using 1” margins, and 11 point Times New Roman font. Each question response should be approximately 1 – 1.5 pages .

2. Each question response should contain a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) examples and/or supports from the course content. This supporting evidence should come from multiple/different chapters or other scholarly literature.

3. Each answer’s first paragraph should list the big question followed by a summary of the 3-5 examples/points that will be used. Subsequent paragraphs should cover each example/support in succession and in adequate detail. The final paragraph should summarize everything preceding it. Proper referencing will be checked and must be used even if you only choose to use the course textbook.
In-text references: Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) for style. References in text are shown by citing in parentheses the author’s surname and the year of publication. Example: ‘‘. . . a recent study (Jones, 1987) has shown. . . .’’ If a reference has two authors, the citation includes the surnames of both authors each time the citation appears in the text.
Reference list: Type double-spaced and arrange alphabetically by author’s surname; do not number. The reference list includes only references cited in the text. Do not include references to private communications or submitted work. Consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) for correct form.