Prof's Article Appears in Journal

An article by University of Pittsburgh at Bradford assistant professor of communications Dr. Fang-Yi Flora Wei appears in the January issue of the journal Communication Teacher.

Wei’s article, “Birthdays Then and Now: Applying Uses and Gratification Theory to Analyze the Media Progression Cycle,” outlines a classroom lesson that communications teachers can use to increase students’ knowledge of print media.

Wei developed the lesson as part of the Mass Media and Society course she teaches at Pitt-Bradford.

In the lesson, students study newspapers from the day they were born and from 40 years before they were born as well as an online version of the newspaper. Wei has the students examine which sections and headings are most prominent in the paper, look at the advertisements and see what the headlines of the day were.

The lesson ties into the uses and gratification theory of media that says that audiences use the media to get specific gratification. In this case, students who are reluctant to examine print media are motivated by researching their birthdates.

Communication Teacher is a publication of the National Communication Association that gives teaching and lesson ideas to those teaching communications.

In addition to Mass Media and Society, Wei also teaches Broadcast Programming and Management and Broadcast Journalism. She holds a doctorate from the University of Memphis and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication from the University of Tennessee.

Her research focuses on mass media effects on children, computer-mediated communication, and instructional communication.