1. WKU Professor Blair Thompson Receives Award for Communication
Education Study
Chicago, Ill. February 25, 2015 – Western Kentucky University Associate Professor
Blair Thompson will receive the Top Paper in Communication Education award
from the Central States Communication Association for his work on “The Changing
Nature of Parent-Teacher Communication: Mode Selection in the Smartphone Era.”
“This award is a real testament to quality scholarship,” said Jimmie Manning, CSCA
Executive Director. “This year we received many high-quality papers, and only the very
best could be selected to present at the conference. Being at the top of that pile says a
lot!”
The paper focuses on parent-teacher communication that is evolving due to
smartphones and other new communication technologies. Thompson, who co-
authored the paper with Clemson professor Joseph P. Mazer, formed a study with
1,349 parents to assess the frequency and importance of parent-teacher
communication across modes. The data revealed an increase in parents’ preference
for frequent e-mail communication as well as for emerging modes of parent-teacher
communication such as text messaging and social media.
Dr. Thompson teaches courses in interpersonal communication and instructional
communication, among others. His research includes school crisis communication,
parent-teacher communication, student academic support, and computer-mediated
communication, among others. He has served as Basic Course Director for the
Communication department for the past 7 years.
The Central States Communication Association (CSCA) is a professional, academic
organization of primary and secondary school teachers, students, college and university
professors, and communication professionals. CSCA was founded in 1931 to promote the
communication discipline in educational, scholarly, and professional endeavors. The
association, which consists of 13 Midwestern states, boasts over 800 members. It also
hosts a yearly convention, maintains a website (http://www.csca-net.org), and
publishes the journal Communication Studies.
CONTACT: Blair Thompson; email: blair.thompson@wku.edu
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Press release provided by CSCA.
