About
42
Publications
12,020
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
797
Citations
Introduction
Starting in 2005, our theoretical research is building a "Digital Engagement Model" (DEM) to predict any user's level of engagement with any digital content. This new "bottom-up" approach correlates a USER'S "diet" (demographics, interest, environment, and time) with five "S-P-I-C-E" CONTENT variables (scannable, personalized, interactive, curious, and emotional) plus any cognitive "kick-outs" to predict why users seek, select and share digital content.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
August 2005 - June 2008
August 1999 - May 2005
August 2010 - June 2011
Education
September 2000 - June 2005
Publications
Publications (42)
Latinos remain the largest U.S. population with limited health literacy. Concerned with how local media can address underserved audiences’ information needs, we interviewed Latinas who are pregnant or mothers of young children, living in a community with a high percentage of Spanish speakers, and we surveyed 33 local health professionals. Findings...
An experimental study (N = 301) manipulated two news stories about science and technology to investigate effects of text and link structures on interest and comprehension. A 2 (text) x 2 (link) factorial design, theoretically motivated by the construction-integration model for text comprehension, was employed. Structures included original inverted...
This collection of four studies was one of the first to explore an emerging model for mobile learning (Sharples, et al., 2007; Taylor, et al., 2006). Students in two introductory journalism courses, open to all majors, used either a tablet (N = 44) or a smaller smartphone/iPod (N = 31) to complete assignments. Goals included assessment of the value...
Previous eye tracking studies have consistently associated increased eye fixations with comprehension difficulty. However, little research has probed this relationship in more complex news stories online. This exploratory within-subject experiment exposed participants (N = 20) to different text and graphic structures in health news stories. Results...
A quasi-experiment (N = 676) manipulated the gender and race of physician sources in news about COVID-19 vaccinations. Results suggest no differences in perceived credibility across genders, but news featuring an African American or Latinx physician predicted higher reader engagement than news featuring a White physician. These findings address the...
Large variations in mobile users, mobile devices, and course content make generalizations about mobile learning difficult. Prior to the international pandemic that forced more virtual and mobile instruction, this exploratory study measured how students in one journalism and one English composition course at two universities responded to completing...
Seven national online experiments, each with 750 participants, began after the first U.S. COVID-19 death on February 29th and continuing through August 2020. The Risk Information Seeking and Processing Model or RISP (Dunwoody & Griffin, 2015) measure if media use, risk perceptions, and trust in government change as news about the virus changes. Pre...
This experimental study (N = 308) examined whether informativeness of headlines affects user engagement and interactivity. Engagement was measured by offering participants 32 pairs of headlines manipulated with the amount of information and the reasons why the preferred headline was selected. To measure interactivity, participants were asked to ind...
Approximately 85% of people living in rural settings own a cell phone, and of those, 76% send or receive text messages. Thus, text messaging may be an effective way to reach rural low-income mothers with important information and resources that will improve their health and well-being. This exploratory study examined the utility of using text messa...
This content analysis of new websites reporting the 2011 World Health Organization's new classification of a possible connection between cell phone use and brain cancer indicated that 20 percent of the stories used incorrect terms to describe the risk.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of relationship fundraising and cultivating committed donors for nonprofit news outlets seeking financial sustainability, particularly during a time of major changes in the journalism industry.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines four nonprofit news organizations and the...
Despite the growth of embedded brands in entertainment media, few theory-based studies have assessed consumer processing of brand placements in games. This study contrasted the influence of media context (play, watch) and psychological response (telepresence) on consumer recall, game liking, and perceived persuasion for real and fictitious brands i...
Previous eye tracking studies have consistently associated increased eye fixations with comprehension difficulty. However, little research has probed this relationship in more complex news stories online. This exploratory within-subject experiment exposed participants (N = 20) to different text and graphic structures in health news stories. Results...
This mixed methods study investigates engagement of donors to nonprofit online news organizations. Four forms of engagement - financial, digital media, organizational and local community - are considered. Respondents said that even before donating they were engaged in a number of ways and motivated to contribute because of a news organization's qua...
This content analysis explores how United States newspapers and online news outlets covered a 2011 announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) about the risk of brain cancer for the increasing number of people who use cell phones. This study makes no claims on risk level of brain cancer from cell phones or the accuracy of the evidence and r...
The primary goal of this study was to test and extend the risk information seeking and processing model (RISP) with an online pre and post survey about the World Health Organization’s “possible” category for brain cancer from cell phones. Analyses of participants’ responses to the 2011 WHO announcement included affective response (worry) and percei...
This collection of four studies was one of the first to explore an emerging model for mobile learning (Sharples, et al., 2007; Taylor, et al., 2006). Students in two introductory journalism courses, open to all majors, used either a tablet (N = 44) or a smaller smartphone/iPod (N = 31) to complete assignments. Goals included assessment of the value...
We present results from a course, “Informal Science Education for Scientists: A Practicum,” co-taught to graduate students in STEM-related fields by a scientist/engineer and a social scientist/humanist. This course provides a structured framework and experiential learning about informal science education during a semester-long experience. The data...
Software programs and computer systems for organizing courses continue to grow in popularity and can be divided into two categories. The first category includes “standalone” computer hardware and software that is obtained by an institution and used onsite to deliver course‐related content (intranet; → Computers and Display Programs in Education). T...
Graduate students will spend their careers communicating about science and technology and interacting with a variety of audiences, from undergraduates to their scientific peers to their neighbors. Increasingly, these students express a need for training in skills needed to manage those diverse communicative environments. In response to that need an...
An experimental design, theoretically motivated by cognitive models of text comprehension, investigates effects of structures in complex news on readers (undergraduate non-science majors) who have little or no expertise for the content (science and technology). Text from two New York Times stories were modified for a proposed explanatory structure...
Two experimental studies (N = 536) applied and tested theory of coherence in text and hypertext and its relationship to reader interest in and understanding of news about science and technology. Two New York Times stories, one about cancer research and the other nanotechnology, were manipulated for coherence and explanation. Hypotheses predicted th...
While marketers look for creative ways to promote products on television, critics suggest the integrity of television news is being compromised by commercial content. This exploratory study investigates local and national news programming on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, and CNN for evidence of two commercial practices: unpaid brand/company content and...
Use of the Internet's virtually unlimited resources continues to increase in introductory college courses. The "Web" can offer students with: lecture notes, graphics, study guides (such as flash cards), self-administered quizzes, and interactive applets that animate complex concepts and processes. In the lecture-based course "Weather and Climate,"...
Photocopy. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-141)
