Das Seniorenstudium an der Universität Mannheim im Urteil der Dozenten

Abstract

For over 15 years now, the University of Mannheim has offered studies for senior citizens, which are conceived as an integration model. The older students take regular courses together with the young students. Former surveys showed large satisfaction of the older students with this model. As a check of these results, 69 university teachers, who have older students in their classes, were asked about their experiences and their opinion on the senior citizens' studies by usage of a questionnaire which has been developed by Kolland for a similar purpose. Predominantly positive experiences are mentioned. The older students are seen as an enrichment rather than as a burden. Conflicts and difficulties have hardly appeared. The majority deny differences between older and younger students. A differential examination points out that older teaching staff have a more favorable opinion of senior citizens' studies than the younger ones. It is also pointed out that representatives of humanistic subjects have a more positive view of the older students than representatives of the empirical mathematical field. However, more research is needed in this area.