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Educational Gerontology
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Inquiry-Based Learning for Older People at a University in Spain

Ingrid Martorell , Marc Medrano , Cristian Sol , Neus Vila & Luisa F. Cabeza
a b a a a a

GREA Innovaci Concurrent, Edifici CREA, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

b

Coordinator of the Program for Older People, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain Published online: 04 Aug 2009.

To cite this article: Ingrid Martorell , Marc Medrano , Cristian Sol , Neus Vila & Luisa F. Cabeza (2009): Inquiry-Based Learning for Older People at a University in Spain, Educational Gerontology, 35:8, 712-731 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03601270802708434

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Educational Gerontology, 35: 712731, 2009 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0360-1277 print=1521-0472 online DOI: 10.1080/03601270802708434

INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING FOR OLDER PEOPLE AT A UNIVERSITY IN SPAIN

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Ingrid Martorell Marc Medrano Cristian Sole

GREA Innovaci o Concurrent, Edifici CREA, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

Neus Vila
Coordinator of the Program for Older People, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain

Luisa F. Cabeza
GREA Innovaci o Concurrent, Edifici CREA, Universitat de Lleida, Lleida, Spain With the increasing number of older people in the world and their interest in education, universities play an important role in providing effective learning methodologies. This paper presents a new instructional methodology implementing inquiry-based learning (IBL) in two courses focused on alternative energies in the Program for Older People at the University of Lleida (UdL) in Spain. The instructional methodology is evaluated and results are discussed after two years of studies. The instructional methodology presented in this paper helped students to
This work was partially funded by project 2005-SGR-00324. Marc Medrano would like to thank the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science for his Ramon y Cajal research appointment.  Concurrent, Edifici CREA, Address correspondence to Ingrid Martorell, GREA Innovacio Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain. E-mail: imartore@diei.udl.cat

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build and reinforce scientific skills and knowledge construction. This work may have potential relevance to other instructors involved in adult education.

The high quality of development in Western societies causes progressive aging of the population. People in these societies age in better health and with better capacities. This is the fruit of successful public health policies and social and economic development. The United Nations reported that the global population grew by 60% between 1970 and 1998 (Campbell, 2006). In the same period, people 80 years old and over increased in number by 147%. The United Nations predicts that by the middle of this century, the elderly will outnumber the young. Coulson, Minichello, Santora, Lin, and Wan (2000) presented data in Hong Kong that indicated that over the next two decades the number of people 65 years old and over is expected to rise by 13%. In the US, by 2030, the number of older adults is expected to double to approximately 72 million (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2003). According to the European Rural Development project (ERD, 2002), in 1950 all European countries had an elderly population aged 65 and above of some 45 million; by 2050 Europe will have 173 million people 65 years old and above. Aging is more serious in southern Europe, where almost one-third of the population will be 65 years old or older in 2050. It is obvious that world is aging fast. Aging should then be presented as the development of new opportunities. At the same time, aging is an important social challenge due to the problems that accompany it. Such problems bring home the necessity for lifelong nez, 2008). education (Palmero & Jime Researchers from many disciplines assert that one fundamental element in fulfilling late adulthood is learning (Cohen, 2000a, n, 2002; 2000b; Diamond, 1988; Lamdin & Fugate, 1997; Limo pez, 2004; Manheimer, 2002). Education enlivens positive states Lo of mind in older people. It also leads to plentiful and satisfactory social relationships and active, critical, and creative participation in life. Learning enhances the quality of the lives of older people and keeps them active in their communities. Developed countries have the challenge of fitting institutions and social structures to the needs of the elderly. In addition, universities have the mission to create and transmit knowledge as well as to spread the culture to young and older adults. New educational institutions called universities of the third age (U3As) that serve late-life learners

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have proliferated in recent years. Laslett was the founder of the first third age university in England in 1981. In 1994 there were 250 U3As in the United Kingdom, and by 1997 there were over 300 Institutes for Learning in Retirement in the United States (Lamdin & Fugate, 1997). The first Spanish universities of the third age were born in the 1980s in Catalonia. In the 1990s, they expanded to all national n, territory, the pioneers being the Universities of Castilla Leo Alcal a de Henares, Granada, and Sevilla. Now, after years of gradual implantation, the universities of the third age are in good health. Presently, Spain counts on 54 different programs and 30,000 students. Four different types of programs can be found: 1. Third-generation-specific programs: Specifically dedicated to elderly with an adapted curriculum. Courses are in different classrooms from the ones used in the ordinary university. 2. Integrated programs: Older students share courses with young students. 3. Mixed programs: A combination of specific and integrated programs. 4. Catalan program: Usually managed by the older adults and their associations. It consists of cycles of conferences on different interesting topics. PROGRAM FOR OLDER PEOPLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LLEIDA The University of Lleida (UdL) is a small public university located in Catalonia, Spain, with 8500 students in the academic year 20082009. The university has its roots in the Estudi General de Lleida (Lleida General Study) created in 1300 by a charter to the city of Lleida by the King of Aragon, James II. The university thrived until the first half of the 16th century, when the situation of university studies became more complicated because of the growing competition from the new universities that were being created in other territories of the Crown. The creation of the School for Teacher Training in 1841 was the first step towards the foundation of the present University of Lleida. However, it was not until 1968 that university studies in Lleida were effectively reestablished and consolidated as extensions of different universities in Barcelona. Law was introduced in 1968, agricultural engineering in 1972, arts and philosophy in 1975 and medicine in 1977. On December 12, 1991 the Catalan parliament passed the act for the creation of the University of Lleida.

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In an attempt to replicate the successful experiences of other university programs for older people in other Spanish and foreign universities, the University of Lleida decided to create a third-generationspecific program for the elderly in 2006. The University of Lleida is a pioneer in these kinds of programs in Catalonia, Spain. The Program for Older People started in the academic year 20062007, and it is a four-year degree for adults aged 50 years and over. The new degree was named Culture, Science and Technology, and it offers transversal formation in humanities, social science, and science and technology. The following are the objectives of the Program for Older People: 1. To promote the three basic points of superior education among elderly knowledge: diffusion, research, and social implication; 2. To offer the possibility of superior education to adults who did not have this opportunity before; 3. To offer insight knowledge to adults who come from different professional and educational situations; 4. To manage personal development; 5. To provide effective keys to analyze and comprehend science and culture in a globalized world; 6. To master communication and information technology tools for a better adaptation to the present world; 7. To foster integration and social participation as well as personal interactions stimulating human relationships based on cooperation, tolerance, and coexistence. In order to fulfill such objectives, subjects from different fields of knowledge were included in the Program for Older People. An equitable distribution of courses in two fields was achieved: (a) humanities and social sciences, and (b) health and experimental sciences. In the Older Program there are four compulsory and six elective courses per year. Students are asked to enroll to the compulsory ones every year as a minimum requirement. The subjects offered are worth three or four European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits. Until now, the majority of the students have enrolled to the complete course (mandatory and elective courses). The only requirement for enrollment is to be 50 years old or older. In the Program for Older People there are students from 50 years old to 80 years old. Until now, the distribution of students by age is 5055 years (28%), 5660 (33%), 6065 (28%), 6670 (8%), 7175 (0%), 7680 (3%). Looking at gender, 50% are males and 50% are females.

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TEACHING SCIENCE TO OLDER PEOPLE: INQUIRYBASED LEARNING (IBL) Science educators have the well-known aim of teaching science concepts meaningfully with the ultimately purpose of making students aware of how these concepts can be used in their daily lives. Most science courses are taught deductively. The instructor first grounds students thoroughly in relevant theory topics, then moves to exercises on the blackboard and homework. Eventually, the instructor may gets to explaining daily applications. It is difficult to motivate students with deductive teaching. A better way to engage students in the knowledge process is inductive teaching. In this method, instructors begin with specifics such as a case study or a real-world problem to solve. Students are involved in a challenge and recognize the need for facts, skills, and conceptual understanding. Among the different inductive teaching methods reported in literature (Prince & Felder, 2006), inquiry-based learning (IBL) was chosen in this study. This decision was made in the belief that older people would feel more comfortable with the least structured and, therefore, the easiest inductive method to implement. Inquiry-based learning is a tested method that enhances the skills of the students by engaging them in a hands-on studies of everyday objects, raising their curiosity and enthusiasm for the learning process. Focusing on science learning, several researchers (McReary, Golde, & Koeske, 2006; Prince & Felder, 2006; Rubin, 1996; Smith, 1996; Shymansky, Hedges, & Woodworht, 1990) indicate that inquiry-based learning has been frequently found to be more effective than traditional science instruction for improving academic performance of young students. It also improves their development of thinking, problem-solving, and laboratory skills. Lim (2004) says that scientific-inquiry process is well suited to reveal the unusual natural phenomenon under study in science. In IBL, students conduct science research the same way as practicing scientists do. Scientific investigation involves skills that must be learned and then practiced. Students are then supposed to formulate hypotheses, develop their own designs, conduct self-directed experiments, collect data, assess their own progress, and analyze the findings in order to test the hypothesis and reflect their inquiry process. This inquiry process is the most relevant factor that characterizes IBL, and it has been considered beneficial in augmenting meaningful learning. In the science classroom, IBL helps learners get involved with diverse ideas and knowledge integration. This allows students to make connections between their existing ideas, information, observations, and diverse

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perspectives. The goal is to develop more coherent and generative scientific knowledge (Martinello & Cook, 2000). Steel, Kelsey, and Morita (2004) state that IBL activities have to contain the following elements: set research questions, set hypotheses, set an experimental design and collect data, analyze data, and draw conclusions. Although most studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of IBL as an instructional approach, little open-literature research can be found on implementing and assessing IBL as a learning methodology with older people. Much of the literature written about elderly education is limited to the implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT). In response to this lack of published research, this paper offers more insight regarding the challenge of implementing inquiry-based learning in courses for older people as a way to increase students involvement and responsibility for learning of complex science topics. The main objective of this paper is to describe the design, the implementation, and the evaluation of an efficient instructional methodology to teach science to older people at university. The authors believe that the implementation of IBL in courses for older people will help students to alleviate their cultural and technical worries, to generate spaces to develop personal relations, to harness teamwork, and to establish connections between their daily life and science. The study described in this paper is also aimed at helping the science education community extend the notion of designing and implementing inquiry-based activities for older people. This study was performed during two consecutive academic years in two elective courses in the Program for Older People at the University of Lleida in Spain. DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSES Two elective courses included in the Health and Experimental Science field in the Program for Older People of the UdL were considered in this study: Alternative Energies and Alternative Energies Laboratory. Both courses have three credits and are taught in a two-hours-per-week session during a quarter. Courses are complementary and were designed with the aim of helping students establish connections between daily life and technologic and scientific topics related to both traditional and alternative energies. IBL was implemented as a learning methodology. The maximum number of students accepted in each course was 25. Alternative Energies is a theoretical and descriptive course taught during the first quarter of the first academic year. It studies different

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energy sources focusing on the technologies that allow an alternative use of the renewable sources of energy with the aim of protecting the environment. Contents of the subject are fossil energies (coal, gas, and oil); electricity; nuclear energy; cogeneration; wind energy; hydraulic energy; solar photovoltaic energy; solar thermal energy; geothermal energy; energy from the sea; biomass; municipal solid wastes; and hydrogen. Two visits are part of the course. One is to an hydroelectric plant in Camarasa, Lleida, Spain. The other trip is to the CREA building in the University of Lleida. This building features a distinct bioclimatic design and a novel set of energy systems, including renewable (solar collectors, photovoltaic panels, solar cooling) and cogenn, & Cabeza, 2008). eration (Medrano, Castell, Fontanals, Castello Alternative Energies Laboratory is a hands-on course taught during the second quarter of the second academic year. Students work in a research laboratory, interface with laboratory equipment, and practice include of the topics mastered in the Alternative Energies subject. Instructors taught few theoretical sessions to introduce specific topics needed for the laboratory activities. Laboratory activities include heat pump and frigorific installations, lowtemperature solar thermal energy, and photovoltaic solar energy. STUDENTS SAMPLE Since the Program for Older People at the University of Lleida started in September 2006, data for Alternative Energies course were collected in the academic years 20062007 and 20072008. As Alternative Energies Laboratory course is taught in the second academic year, data were only collected in 20072008.

Figure 1. Students by gender in Alternative Energies for 20062007 and 20072008.

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Figure 2. Students by labor condition in both subjects in 20072008.

Gender distribution for Alternative Energies is shown in Figure 1. This course had 12 students in 20062007 and 11 in 20072008. Alternative Energies Laboratory had 12 students in 20072008. From Figure 1, 60% of the students were male (increasing to 64% in 20072006), and 40% were female. These percentages contrast with the ones shown above in the Program for Older People at the University of Lleida section where 50% were male and 50% female. An explanation of this may be the fact that technical courses are traditionally preferred by men. The work status of students in both courses during the academic year 20072008 is shown in Figure 2. It was observed that close to 42% of the students are retired and 40% are preretired. It is notable to point out that there were no housewives among the students. Figure 3 presents student distribution by education level in both courses during the academic year 20072008. A total of 83% of the students are in the high school and college or graduate school categories, and only around 17% of the students are in the elementary school category.

Figure 3. Students by education level in both subjects in 20072008.

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THE ROLE OF THE INSTRUCTOR Taking into account that in this kind of program, students usually have different educational backgrounds, one of the most important roles of the instructor is to offer a technical vision to students who may not understand all the details but do have an enormous curiosity to learn. One of the challenges of the instructor in an integrated teaching and learning environment is to assist students in making connections between the complex topics studied in class and their daily applications in real life. In an integrated teaching and learning environment, the instructor is considered an expert learner, a guide or facilitator of learning, an integrated environment designer and, one of the providers of content information. Thus, in these classes, the instructor is on the move, checking over shoulders, asking questions, and keeping the learning well structured and productive. In order to construct knowledge it is important to establish a positive and relaxed environment. This positive environment helps older people to strengthen their personal development and to foster social participation. To motivate older students participation, the instructor has to create a positive environment. To do so, questions are asked aloud, inviting students to debate and answer. Finally, another role of the instructor is to adapt the classes to older peoples health condition. For this reason, breaks of 10 minutes are realized after sessions of 50 minutes. These breaks allow students to rest and to generate spaces to develop personal relations. With the aim of avoiding stressful learning situations, a positive, clear, and simple language is used. DIDACTIC MATERIALS According to Campbell (2006), reading is by far the preferred learning method by older students. Harris (2000) and Lamdin and Fugate (1997) stated in their respective works that older adults read to learn, and they also find much to learn about through informal interactions with others. The authors prepared special books for each course (Cabeza & , 2008). This didactic material was Medrano, 2007; Cabeza & Sole designed specifically to consider teaching-learning process peculiarities in older people. At the same time, these books try to hook students interest and satisfy students cultural concerns. Each book is distributed at the beginning of the course. Students are invited to read any chapter before it is explained in class. It is important to point out that in the preparation of the books instructors were concerned about

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connecting new material with students former background and real daily life situations. Older students misconceptions were also considered when preparing the books. A misconception happens when a person believes in a concept that is objectively false. Learning science is difficult, and it is mainly for this reason that misconceptions are quite common in science. Sometimes, textbooks themselves create misconceptions because of the way they present complex scientific topics. Misconceptions are also related to personal life experiences. People draw wrong conclusions from their daily life experience. In this sense, older students have more misconceptions than younger ones. Following are some of the didactic resources used in the courses: 1. Table of contents at the beginning of each chapter to help students get focused on what they are about to learn; 2. Cartoons to illustrate concrete topics and foster a relaxed atmosphere; 3. Web sites, to introduce Internet; 4. Technical and engineering schemes and tables to compile information. Lirio (2005) says that older students have difficulties in interpreting schemes and tables. Textual alternatives to tables and schemes are always presented by the authors of this study; 5. Images and pictures to help students establish connections between theoretical concepts and the real world; 6. Conceptual maps; 7. Different kinds of charts (scatter charts, line charts, bar charts, column charts, pie charts, and pyramid charts); 8. PowerPoint presentations in the theoretical sessions, with type fonts that were easy to read, in color, and large in size in order to minimize the visual difficulties frequently encountered by the elderly. Considering the varied backgrounds of the students, the topics presented ranged from well known to the unknown, from immediate to the remote, from concrete to the abstract, and from easy to difficult. INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING (IBL) AS A TEACHING METHODOLOGY From the point of view of the authors, authentic knowledge involves participating in real science, which is similar to the science that actual

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scientists perform. The design process focused on building and reinforcing scientific skills and knowledge construction in order to teach older students to think systematically about the process of scientific inquiry. This is a transversal study where students were followed during two consecutive academic years. The implementation of the inquiry-based learning was made at two different levels. The introduction of the method was established in the theoretical and descriptive course Alternative Energies during the first academic year. During the second academic year and in the hands-on course Alternative Energies Laboratory, the inquiry method was fully developed. Inquiry-based activities followed the five-step structure stated by Steel, Kelsey, and Morita (2004). A description of the inquiry based learning methodology implemented in both courses is presented in the next two sections. Inquiry-Based Learning in a Theoretical and Descriptive Course It is easier to implement IBL in hands-on courses than in a theoretical and descriptive course like Alternative Energies. However, instructors made an effort to combine this inductive method with traditional classes. Students are presented with a challenge and accomplish the desired learning in the process of responding to it. The methodology used in this course is presented next with an example. Any new chapter begins with a challenge for which the required knowledge has not been previously provided. The challenge is introduced asking an initial question that triggers the interest of the students. Instructors make an effort to set different initial questions for each chapter of the course. Questions are related to daily topics and consider that each student comes from a different background. For instance, in the electricity chapter the initial question was: What path do you imagine that electricity follows from the generation plant to your dining room? The Steel et al. (2004) second step is implemented asking students to answer to the initial question-making hypotheses. Divided into groups, students are given some time to think about it, and they are then asked to write down their initial hypotheses. This is a good way to make students feel they are an active part of the knowledge process; at the same time, students are thrilled to learn whether or not their initial hypotheses are right or wrong. In the example of the path that electricity follows from the generation plant to their dining room, students were asked to plot this path. In the experimental design step defined by Steel, Kelsey and Morita (2004), instructors introduce complex theoretical concepts using the traditional teaching method. In the electricity chapter, students figured out what electricity is, how power plants work,

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and how the electricity is transported and distributed. In the interpretation and analyses step, instructors help students in making connections between their existing knowledge and the new concepts. In the last step, conclusions and contrast of hypotheses, the solution to the initial question is presented in class and students compare their initial hypotheses with the right answer. Inquiry-Based Learning in a Hands-On Course Alternative Energies Laboratory is a hands-on course that has also a small theoretical descriptive part where some topics introduced in the Alternative Energies course are seen more in depth. However, this course is basically developed in groups, with a maximum of three students in a scientific laboratory. Students use a laboratory book designed by the instructors that integrates the five inquiry steps defined by Steel, Kelsey, and Morita (2004). The instructor in this course plays the role of a standby guide. Support is customized and individualized. The teacher asks questions, redirects, and teaches mini-lessons for small groups who need a particular skill. As an example of the learning process, the vapor-reversiblecompression-cycle laboratory activity in the heat pump and frigorific installations chapter is presented here. In the first section of each laboratory activity, students find the goalswhere specific goals are presented. Next, an initial question is posed to hook students interest. In the reversible cycle, the question was the following: Why the heat pump provides cold in summer and heat in winter? Students have used a heat pump at home, in the car, or at work. So they all have an image of the equipment, but most probably they have never considered how an installation of this type really works. The second section of the laboratory book is the hypotheses. It is here students are asked to think: first, to individually answer the initial question and, next, to discuss their answer with their laboratory team. In this section, students work with decision tables like the one presented in Table 1. First, each student of a team writes his or her hypothesis. After five minutes of discussion, the group arrives at an agreed-upon answer, which is written in the Team Hypothesis box in the table. The primary goal of the decision table is to generate spaces so that students develop personal relations and become familiar with their classmates. The laboratory book next presents the experimental design. This provides the students with a list of the laboratory materials,
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724 Table 1. Decision table

Name and last name Student 1: Hypothesis 1: Name and last name Student 2: Hypothesis 2: Name and last name Student 3: Hypothesis 3: Why does the heat pump provide cold in summer and heat in winter? Team hypothesis

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installation instructions to work on the laboratory activity, and tables with blanks to be filled out during the experimental process. The fourth section, results analyses and discussion, is divided in two different parts. First, students perform the corresponding calculations to answer to the content questions in the laboratory book. Second, students are asked about their learning process. First, they are asked to discuss in-group about what they have learned and to select the three most important concepts learned. Students complete with their own words a table like the one presented in Table 2. This table is a very important tool to detect misconceptions. Students are also asked to reveal the difficulties they had in the accomplishment of the activity. A blank space is provided to write them down. Finally, they are requested to write what aspects of the teaching methodology can be improved. This is done with the aim of improving future editions of the laboratory book. In the last section of the laboratory book, older students compare their initial hypotheses to the now-known facts. Students are invited to figure out whether their predictions were right or wrong and why. They are asked to review questions, criteria, and refine their specifications. In the reversible-cycle example, instructions to students were as follows: Now that you have become experts in reversible cycles, it is time to check whether your initial hypotheses were right or wrong. Reread the information you wrote in section two and review the
Table 2. Knowledge table: The three key concepts learned in the laboratory
Concept 1: Concept 2: Concept 3:

Inquiry-Based Learning for Older People in Spain Table 3. Initial hypothesis contrast table
Yes Was your initial hypothesis right? No

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TEAM HYPOTHESIS. After this paragraph, students are presented with a table like Table 3. At the end of the laboratory book, students find the next statement: Whether the initial hypothesis was correct or not, at this moment you have more knowledge than at the beginning of the activity and, therefore, you are able to give a better answer to the question: Why does the heat pump provide cold in summer and heat in winter? Write your final answer. Once again, the main objective of this section is, on one hand, to generate spaces to develop personal relations and at the same time to make students think about the acquired knowledge. On the other hand, it is also an objective to emphasize certain ideas to secure students learning. It is also important to point out that in a learning process students must integrate knowledge and be able to transfer it. EVALUATION In order to determine whether or not the instructional methodology implemented in this study is effective with older students, an evaluation process was performed. Both courses counted in a two-level evaluation process: cognitive and teaching-methodology evaluations. Cognitive evaluation in a course for older people must never be a violent or stressful situation for students, but it must allow the educator to state if the chosen path and the selected tools are effective. Cognitive evaluation for the Alternative Energies course consisted of an individual monographic assessment on some of the topics presented in class or on any other subject related to alternative energies that was of interest to the students. Students were free to select the topic. The assessment was computer delivered and structured following the format of a scientific paper (introduction, goals, materials and methods, results, conclusions, and references). Cognitive evaluation for Alternative Energies Laboratory consisted of a laboratory report. The report was prepared by the students groups, and it had the same structure as the traditional laboratory reports prepared by students who were not elderly.

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To evaluate the teaching methodology, two different surveys were administered to the students at the end of the course. The first one was designed by the Program for Older People at the University of Lleida. This survey was administered to students of all the courses of the Program, and it has two separate sections: one focused on the instructor and another on the topics of the course. Survey data were analyzed by the Program coordinators, who sent them to the instructors. The second survey is specific for these two courses, and it was designed by instructors of the two alternative energies courses. It was administered for the first time in academic year 20072008. It was designed with the aim of collecting data regarding students opinion and knowledge comprehension. This 32-item survey has five different sections (students demographic data, instructor evaluation, course evaluation, teaching materials evaluation, and students evaluation of the method used by instructors). Each question has four answer levels from the most positive (1) to the most negative (4). To avoid confusion, text descriptions are placed next to the four numbers. Answers to some of the survey questions related to the evaluation of the instructional methodology developed in this study are presented next. Cognitive Evaluation For the Alternative Energies course, monographic assessments were graded by the instructors considering formal and content aspects. Results obtained for the 20062007 and 20072008 courses were highly satisfactory. It is important to point out here that it is very difficult to make comparisons among assessments because of the different educational background of each student. The instructors made an effort to know each student and his=her limitations in order to appreciate individual improvements during the course. It should be also mentioned that instructors detected a great interest in learning on the part of the majority of the students. On some assessments, students even included several bibliographic references such as books, scientific journals, newspapers, TV, Internet, or even masters or PhD theses. For the Alternative Energies Laboratory course, laboratory reports were graded by the instructors. The average score was 9.1 with a minimum of 8.5 and a maximum of 9.5 (out of 10). From these results, it can be concluded that older students were able to deepen their knowledge of topics related to the contents of the course and collect information, integrate it in their knowledge, and explain it with their own words.

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Evaluation of the Instructors Work One of the objectives of the specific survey was to determine the satisfaction level of older students with respect to the instructors work. The following is one of the questions of the survey: Can you please grade your instructors work? In the theoretical and descriptive course (Alternative Energies) in the first academic year, 60% of the students answered very good, and 40% said good In the laboratory course (Alternative Energies Laboratory) in the second academic year, 75% of the students answered very good. These results indicate that the effort made by the instructors to adapt contents and didactic material to older people had borne its fruits. As a conclusion, it can be said that instructors continue being a fundamental figure in the learning process and that students value positively their patience, clarity of exposition, and adaptation capacity. Evaluation of the Courses The specific survey asked the following question: Did the instructor leave the objectives, program and evaluation system clear at the beginning of the course? More than 80% of the students (90% in Alternative Energies and 75% in Alternative Energies Laboratory) answered yes, absolutely. The following question was also asked in the survey: Do you consider that the knowledge acquired in the course will be useful in your daily life? In the Alternative Energies course, 70% of the students answered yes, a lot, and 30% answered yes, in some sense. In Alternative Energies Laboratory only 50% of the students said yes, a lot. However, 41.7% answered yes, in some sense. Thus, 91.7% of the students considered that the acquired knowledge may be useful in their daily life. It is shocking that students see a higher daily-life application of the theoretical and descriptive course than for the laboratory course. A possible explanation is that contents in the laboratory are more specific than the ones taught in the Alternative Energy course, so students have difficulties in seeing the application of such contents in their daily experiences. Students in the laboratory focus on the processes and see in detail the intrinsic operation of the equipment. The students may have the perception to work with too specific concepts. However, these results allow us to conclude that we have fulfilled the aim of establishing connections between theoretical concepts and daily life.

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Evaluation of the Evaluation Methodology One of the concerns of the authors was to use an effective and rigorous but nonstressful evaluation methodology. With this in mind, one of the questions of the specific survey was the following: Do you consider the methodology to evaluate your learning process suitable? In Alternative Energies, 80% of the students answered yes, very suitable, and 20% said not very suitable. For the same question 87.5% of the students in Alternative Energies Laboratory answered yes, very suitable, and 12.5% not very suitable These results are quite similar for both courses and confirm that students feel comfortable with the evaluation methodology. The following was another question: Would you like to take a final exam at the end of the course as an evaluation tool? In the Alternative Energies course, 60% answered yes, I would, and 40% said no, I would not. This answer was a surprise. According to Lirio (2008), older students reject the stressful exam situation. These are preliminary results since only two academic years of data were analyzed. Further studies should be done in this direction. In contrast, when looking at Alternative Energies Laboratory, only 25% of the students answered yes, I would, 33.3% checked the no, I would not option, and 41.7% said No, never. These results are more in line with the ones presented by Lirio (2005). Students Perceptions Finally, a list of possible improvements in the class to facilitate the learning process was requested in the survey. The survey was first administered to the Alternative Energies students. Some of the inputs were as follows: 1. Students asked for more participation in class. This idea matches with Lehr (1980), who says that it is clear that the interaction between instructor and student must be a high priority in classes with older students. 2. Students also asked for more hands-on classes. This survey was administered only to those students who were taking the Alternative Energies course, where no hands-on activities were planned. The fact that students asked for more hands-on classes was decisive in designing a more practical course for Alternative Energies Laboratory. This is why the laboratory course is basically a hands-on course where students have the possibility of practicing the theoretical concepts acquired during the first course.

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3. Students were interested in having more literature references. A literature reference list is now supplied to the students, but a more extensive one with more specific references will be prepared for future editions. 4. Students asked to work more in groups. It is obvious that older students like the interaction with their classmates. STUDY LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
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This study contributes to the research on learning among older adults. The instructional methodology used in this exploratory study led to new conclusions and to the identification of questions for future research. As with any study, there are limitations to how this research was conducted. The first limit is the small sample size of participants. The sample is too small for generalizations. Further, research with a larger sample size could affirm, refute, or elaborate upon any of the findings. Another limitation of the study is that the sample is also geographically limited. All participants lived within a ten-mile radius in Lleida. It is possible that the demographic sample of this region is not representative of other regions of the country or of other countries. Given these limitations, credible data were generated and led to many legitimate and compelling conclusions that can help other researchers in the fields of adults education. In short, the study opens a window into instructional methodologies for older people that deserve further attention. This study will serve as a starting point for instructors to find effective methodology tools to help the elderly build their own knowledge. As a general conclusion, it can be said that the instructional methodology presented in this paper may have potential relevance to other instructors involved in adult education. In this study, older students satisfied their social and cognitive expectations. They also learned to integrate knowledge and get used to inquiry-based learning. They developed an in-depth understanding of the essential concepts and processes for dealing with complex scientific topics related to traditional and alternative energies. The instructional methodology presented in this study helped students to build and reinforce scientific skills and knowledge construction. The authors demonstrated that it is possible to apply learning methodologies successfully in unusual groupslike elderly studentsin the university. This is especially important because the presence of such unusual groups will increase in the future.

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