Running head: SCENARIO ANALYSIS

Scenario Analysis
Krista Jackson
AET/500
December 15, 2014
Mary Joseph-Martin

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Scenario Analysis

There are a lot of differences between the ages 17-70, and some examples are biological,
psychological, sociocultural, and cognitive. All of these affect people more and more as they age
making being an educator complex sometimes.
This 17-70 age difference in a classroom setting will vary in different degrees. For
instance, memory and understanding will be quite different from various age ranges. Around a
certain age biologically, vision and hearing can be a challenge to memory and understanding. If a
person was a verbal learner at a younger age and now has hearing problems, their memory will
suffer. The same with vision and visual learners apply. They also lose brain cells as they age, and
this can either help them in certain areas or make them harder. Psychologically the age range
brings different aspects and learning into the classroom. Depending on the reason for going back
to class, memorizing things can be tricky for any age. The stressors they have at each stage of
life affects their knowledge. Socioculturally picking a project that everyone can relate to in some
aspect can break that barrier of age and memory. When they can use their life experience at any
age in a classroom, they are more likely to be interested and remember the information.
Cognitively it is all about attaching meaning to an assignment in the end after they have
perceived and understood it. If they can reach that cognitive step of meaning, it will help their
memory with any age group. Older people may have an advantage over younger in this area
because they have a lot more life experience to attach meaning to something to understand.
When you design a course for such a wide range of ages the content and class become
very diverse. Biologically the course should be designed to help people with vision and hearing
problems. There should be adjustable lighting in the classroom for the older adults who need
more light but being sensitive to the younger students. There should be closed captioning on

SCENARIO ANALYSIS

presentations for people who have a hard time hearing, and it helps the younger students also
when taking notes. There should be good acoustics in the room or a mic by your mouth so
everyone in the class can hear you. Psychologically your assignments should help your students
at any age attain identity development and self-development in some way. Acknowledge that you
understand the different age ranges and stages of life they are going through. Then make
assignments that can cater to all of those age ranges so everyone can relate to the class. There are
sensitive topics with art like race, gender, nudity, and sexual orientation. They should not ignore
this as a professor because it can seem racist. Always be open to ideas and show that any topic is
open in the classroom. Socioculturally anyone can make art with any topic including the ones
listed above and age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity. These topics that affect them in their
daily lives give them an open door to projects to express their feelings through art. You want
them to embrace whatever makes them passionate. Passion gives them the opportunity to voice
their experiences and have time to reflect on their projects. If a person's social role changes
within the time for your class, you should make yourself welcoming so they can talk to you if
they need some extra time. Cognitively art is a perfect design because their thinking patterns
change with time so there will be a broad range of ideas for projects making the class more
diverse. You should have them embrace how they perceive the project and how they bring their
meaning to the assignment.
When you deal with memory with such a wide age range of students, you have to be
careful that you are not leaving out an age group. Art classes are perfect for this because they can
help someone's memory and your course design. Photography lets anyone express themselves in
any way whether it is biologically, psychologically, socioculturally or cognitively.