Department News

From the Department Chair

Alumni News

CGSA News

Fall 2000 Issue

Also in this issue:

EPICS

Intimate Violence

Big Drum

Caring Hearts

Petticrew Team

Annual Awards

The Communicator
Staff 

Editors:
Anita Harmeyer
Miranda Emmert
Eunice Kwon

Contributors:
Nicole Arias
Chantal Breedlove
Laura Moon

By Miranda Emmert
From the various awards Purdue alumna Melissa Spirek has received to the many grants she has been awarded, it is clear that all of her “persistence, rigor and imagination” paid off.

Spirek, who received her Ph.D. in mass media from Purdue in 1992, is now an associate professor in the Department of Journalism at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Her research is focused on multimedia technologies and how people process mediated content. Spirek's research has been recognized with 13 international and national awards. 

At BGSU, she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in mass media processes and effects, quantitative research methods and multimedia technology.

“Teaching requires that I continually learn in an environment where no two days are alike,” Spirek said. “Teaching is a privilege that enables me to stand on the shoulders of scholars who came before me while providing me a glimpse of the future through the work of my undergraduates and graduate students. Teaching is my real legacy.” 

Spirek also has a dedication to research, which has led to an interest in grant writing. She has been awarded more than $1 million in grant monies. The turning point for Spirek came in 1993 when she wrote a grant for a Public Broadcasting Service station. This grant enabled the station to work on a children's live broadcast, as well as an interactive computer program called “Math Boosters.” 
“Grant writing was a natural growth from my research program,” Spirek said.

Spirek enjoys three aspects of grant writing: First, grants permit her to be more creative in the way she tests the theories that guide her research program. Second, she has the opportunity to work with “many dedicated and talented colleagues from around the world,” such as those at the Open University in England and other Purdue alumni. Finally, she must stay updated with emerging technologies because of the requirements of the grants.

Thus far, Spirek has funded the graduate education of seven graduate students, “some of whom might not have been able to earn advanced degrees without my having funded them with my research grants,” she said. She is currently conducting research with BGSU doctoral candidate Colleen Fitzpatrick, who earned her undergraduate degree from Purdue in 1996.

Currently, Spirek is working on a $1.5 million research grant proposal for an interactive, technology-based tutoring program to boost third- and fourth-grade students' skills. The goal of “OhioTek: Focus on Literacy” is to improve reading and writing skills through the context of social studies and citizenship – subjects which are also included on the state proficiency tests. 

Some of her more recent grants include a $300,000 grant to develop an instructional multimedia literacy program for low-wealth schools and a $750,000 project titled MathTek. MathTek is a multimedia math program that targets first-, second- and third-grade students. The project was provided at no cost to 463 of Ohio's poorest schools. 

“I and my graduate students learn so much from the low-wealth primary schoolchildren and teachers we work with that would not be possible without the grants,” Spirek said.

“For example, my students will see lesser-resourced children spending hours playing with our MathTek game and this improves the younger children’s skills, and my students will say, ‘Oh, so this is why you spend so much time working on this.’ That is magical, because my students are able to see how their skills can touch and improve lives.”

Spirek has been honored with numerous awards. In 1998, Spirek was awarded the Wilbur Shramm Award of Excellence, co-sponsored by the Center for Education Initiatives at the American Telecommunications Group and the Center for Instructional Communications at the National Educational Telecommunications Association. The award is presented nationally in recognition of excellent contribution to media instruction for K-12 classes. She has also been awarded the Association of Educational Technology Crystal Award and the Central Education Network Award.

Spirek is grateful to her family and friends for supporting her research. She is also proud to be an alumna of Purdue. “The Purdue communication program is amazing,” Spirek said.