Category Archives: COMM

SMC Faculty and Graduate Students have Research Accepted in Top Journal

Communication professors Dr. Magsamen-Conrad and Dr. Dowd, and graduate students Shrinkhala Upadhyaya and Claire Youngnyo Joa, have their research paper, Bridging the Divide: Using UTAUT to predict multigenerational tablet adoption practices, accepted in the refereed journal Computers in Human Behavior (impact factor 2.273; 5-year impact factor 3.047).

Their paper examined the “Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology” (UTAUT) in the context of tablet devices across multiple generations. They tested the four UTAUT determinants, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, to determine their contributions for predicting behavioral intention to use tablets with age, gender, and user experience as moderators. 899 respondents aged 19-99 completed the survey. They found consistent generational differences in UTAUT determinants, most frequently between the oldest and youngest generations. Effort expectancy and facilitating conditions were the only determinants that positively predicted tablet use intentions after controlling for age, gender, and tablet use. They also discuss the implications of ageism and gender discrimination of technology adoption. Finally, they argue that their findings can be extended to create effective training programs for the teaching, learning, and adoption of new technologies in a variety of organizational settings. Keywords: UTAUT, technology, adoption, age, training, gender

Full text is available here: http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/smc_pub/37/

Magsamen-Conrad, K., Upadhyaya, S., Youngnyo Joa, C., &
Dowd, J. (in press). Bridging the Divide: Using UTAUT to predict multigenerational tablet adoption practices. Computers in Human Behavior.

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Bob Kline to receive the 2015 President’s Award for Academic Advising

Bob Kline was selected to receive the 2015 President’s Award for Academic Advising! This highly competitive and prestigious award recognizes individuals and units that make significant contributions to support undergraduate students’ educational development and academic success.

From his full time academic advising duties to his extra recruitment and outreach activities, Bob always goes above and beyond to help our students succeed. Please congratulate Bob for receiving this very important honor.

Communication Undergrads Schonhardt, Stinson, Taylor, and Wilson to Present Research at OAGE Conference

Congratulations to undergraduate communication majors Casey Schonhardt, Brandon Stinson, Terry Taylor, and Ladonne Wilson will present their research at the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education conference this April. Please continue reading for more information of their research projects, completed during independent studys/internship under the direction of Dr. MC.

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Older Adults and technology: Adoption and acceptance comes from relationships and encouragement from younger generations

           

            Paper to be presented by Casey Schonhardt

 

Abstract:

           

                          As technology progresses, older generations are being given ‘smart’ devices and are adopting these devices to keep up with daily life.  Stereotypes posit that the different generational groups perspectives on each other and the digital divide prohibit older generations from adopting new technologies. At the Wood Country Center on Aging located in Bowling Green Ohio, the small group communication class of Bowling Green State University teaches tablet classes once a week to interested older adults. Classes were observed using the STAM (Senior Technology and Acceptance Model), specifically the acceptance phase, over six weeks with narrative and phenomenological research methods. Observing and assisting four small groups teaching older adults different categories of smart tablets, conclusions were made on why older adults accept the technology and even come back for further classes. At the end of the project, it was found that the more positive and genuinely encouraging the students were, the more the older adults consistently attended classes and engaged in learning. Despite rumors of barriers of an age and digital divide, social cues, the relationships made, and the environment play a part in the motivation of technological diffusion in older adult’s daily life.

Introducing and Teaching Information Communication Technology to Senior Citizens

 Poster to be presented by Brandon Stinson

 

Abstract:

This poster examines older adults’ acceptance of information communication technologies (ICTs) as well as strategies for educating older adults about how to use ICTs. Information communication technology has become a key component in our society (Hernandez-Encuentra). For the majority of people it has become a pillar of their everyday lives (Trentin). Today however, many older adults are still reluctant to learn and integrate most information communication technology into their own lives (Gonzalez) as they have for years whenever new technology comes along. Research has shown that several different factors exist to explain why senior citizens do not welcome information communication technology (Loges). Even if they can be convinced to use this technology there are still several factors that can prevent them from both properly and efficiently using it. Researchers have shown that there are numerous methods to teach senior citizens how to properly use information communication technology with varying degrees of success (Jones). This poster will summarize what I have discovered through both compiling information as well as my personal observation with teaching seniors through Dr. Magsamen-Conrad’s Small Group Communication class and an internship at the Wood County Committee on Aging. During Dr. Magsamen-Conrad’s class in the Spring 2014 semester, small groups of five students spent six weeks in a classroom setting teaching older adults how to use tablets. This was the same idea at the internship. From July to August 2014 I taught roughly fifteen older adults how to use tablets in a mostly one on one setting. As older adults continue to become an increasingly larger portion of our population (Lam) it is becoming morevital than ever that they learn and accept information communication technology and become integrated with the rest of society (Feist).

 

 

RED: Retired, Engaged, and Determined

 Poster to be presented by Terry Taylor

Abstract:
My name is Terry Taylor. I am a senior at Bowling Green State University majoring in Communications with a minor in Geography. Iplan to submit a full paper to be considered for a student award and my professor’s name is Dr. Kate Magsamen-Conrad. I worked very close with Dr.MC through a communications class at the senior center that focused on small group communication. I look into the service that we provided through a series tablet classes held at Bowling Green’s senior center and explore the idea and possibility of expanding the market or services to this age demographic. With the age of retires about to reach and all time high due to the Baby Boomers and the fact that technology is changing and advancing every year, I feel that it is vital to provide similar services as we did in our tablet classes held through the senior center on a wider scale. I conclude with reasoning on why this increased knowledge and interaction through technology is imperative for older adults. My objective is to show a need for the increase in understanding of technology for older adults on a broad scale and to make it aware that this is very beneficial to them in physical, mental, social, and various other forms.

Older Adults Attitudes towards New Communication Technologies

 Poster to be presented by Ladonne Wilson

Abstract: As the amount of New Communication Technologies (NCTs) being created increases at an exponential rate it is important to better understand how all portions of our population take advantage of newer NCTs, including older adults. This study sought to better understand older adult’s attitudes towards NCTs as a means of learning and adaption as well as maintaining independence. The researchers argued that older adult’s attitudes toward NCTs have an effect on older adult’s perceived and therefore actual usability. This study was conducted by a communication research methods course at an Ohio public university and it included surveys and interviews of 525 older adults living in the Midwestern United States. The researchers divided the participants into four age groups, Builders, Boomers, Generation Xers and Millennials, and focused primarily on web literacy, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy. The researchers found that there were significant generational differences in attitudes towards NCTs and younger generations were more likely to positively respond to newer NCTs than older generations. The researchers also found that older adults do not experience an immediate attraction to NCT’s unlike younger generations. The researchers posit that these results indicate that must be a greater focus on reducing the deficit between younger and older generations and their respective levels of NCT literacy.

 

Communication Scholarships and Awards Deadline February 16, 2015

Each spring, scholarships and awards are earned by Communication students, recognizing dedication and excellence within the field. Many of these awards are made available through the generosity of our alumni and gifts to foundation accounts.

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The deadline for this year’s scholarship and award applications is February, 16, 2015. Applicants must have one or more remaining semesters (summer or fall 2015) at BGSU to qualify for scholarship awards. Students now classified as first year students (freshmen) are encouraged to include their high school achievements where appropriate. Attendance at awards reception on March, 27, 2015 is expected. Application materials can be downloaded here http://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/media-and-communication/communication/scholarships-and-awards.html

Submit hard copies of all materials described in the packet to School of Media & Communication office in 302 West Hall,  by 5:00 p.m., Monday, February, 16, 2015.

 

Communication Resume Workshop

Mark your calendars! AWC organized resume workshop specifically for COMM majors.

What: Communication Resume Workshop hosted by the Association for Women in Communications.
Where: Bowen-Thompson Student Union 306
When: Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 pm

Workshop will be lead by Heather Golden, Assistant Director of Career Services.
Communication alumni will also be present during this session to share their experiences.

Topics that will be covered during this workshop: (1) Understanding How to Sell Your Communication Degree; (2) Marketing Your Communication Skills to Employers:   Resume and Cover Letters.  If you don’t have a resume, bring your laptop and craft it right then and there!

Questions? E-mail brittmm@bgsu.edu or post to our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/AWCBGSU

Resume Workshop

“Beauty pageants objectify women” Dr. Faulkner quoted in The Miami Herald

Dr. Sandra Faulkner, director of Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio (department of communication faculty member), argues that beauty pageants objectify women. “The focus is on youth and looking good and, in many ways, these are impossible standards. They reinforce comfortable notions on what being feminine and what being a woman should be all about.”

Read more here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article7972452.html

Lack of reciprocity and low confidence in talking about cancer predict topic avoidance in couples

Drs. Maria Venetis (Purdue), Kathryn Greene (Rutgers), Maria Checton (College of Saint Elizabeth), and Kate Magsamen-Conrad (BGSU) have a new publication out in the Journal of Health Communication. 

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In this article, the authors use the Disclose Decision-Making Model to explore cancer-related topic avoidance among cancer patients and their partners. Participants include 95 dyads in which 1 partner had been diagnosed and/or treated for cancer. Variables of interest include death-, future-, sexuality-, and burden-related topic avoidance and dimensions of the Disclosure Decision-Making Model including information assessment, receiver assessment, relational quality, and discloser efficacy. Data were analyzed using linear regressions. Findings suggest that lack of reciprocity and efficacy are predictors of topic avoidance. The authors discuss implications of findings and suggests direction for future research.

 

Full text is available here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/zs6uPVWTseC96YPkhj6c/full#.VL_H61ptTt4

 

Venetis, M. K., Greene, K., Checton, M. G., & Magsamen-Conrad, K. (2015, online first). Decision making in cancer-related topic avoidance. Journal of Health Communication. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2014.96536

 

Attention Undergraduate Students: Spring Walk-In Advising Hours

If you have a quick question about course selection, adding/dropping the class, major/minor declaration, transfer credit, major change or any quick BGSU policy and procedure question try College of Arts and Sciences Walk-In Advising hours Monday-Friday, 8:30-10:00am in 205 Administration Building. No appointment needed. Junior audits still need an appointment as before. Spring 2015 Semester Walk-inAdvising Hours Flier

TOP PAPER AWARD for docmc and SMC graduate students Wang, Tettah, and Lee (Univ. GA)

Dr. Magsamen-Conrad (dept. of communication) and SMC graduate students Fang Wang and Dinah Tettah, and University of Georgia graduate student Yen-I Lee received a Top Paper Award from the Communication and Technology Interest group. They will present the paper in April at the annual meeting of the Eastern Communication Association.

Their research discovered support for the ability of components of the Unified Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology to predict New Communication Technology intention and use (42%, controlling for age and gender), with facilitating conditions alone accounting for 26% of the variance. They were also able to explain more than 50% of the variance in e-health literacy combining UTAUT variables and CEW Fluency (computer-email-web fluency, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy explained 54% variance of e-health literacy). Finally, they found significant difference between generational groups across all variables, further explaining generational effects on attitudes towards NCTs and e-health literacy, which may have implications for health self-management. Results underscore a need to highlight the broader benefits of NCT literacy as opposed to representing it as a generational phenomenon to improve e-health literacy of older generations.

Magsamen-Conrad, K., Wang, F, Tettah, D., & Lee, Y-I. (2015, April). Generational differences in NCTs: An intergroup investigation of UTAUT determinants, computer-email-web fluency, and e-health literacy. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Communication Association (Communication and Technology Interest Group Submission), Philadelphia, PA.

Hot off the Press! Dr. Yamaguchi publishes book on Japanese American Women

Dr. Precious Yamaguchi, Phd 2010 from the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University has published her research (conducted during her time here as graduate student under the supervision of Dr. Gajjala, with SMC committee members Dr. Dixon and Dr. Ha) as a book.

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Details of her book are available at – https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780739192429