SOC professor leaves lasting impression on students
| February 19, 2018 |
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By Maggie Yarnold
How do you want to be remembered?
鈥淚 always have a motto. The thing I want to be written on my grave is 鈥榶ou were a warm person,鈥欌�� Dr. Jing Yang said. 鈥淚 try to give off some of my authority as a teacher, I鈥檓 just a few years older than them [the students] and have been learning a few years longer, that鈥檚 all that sets us apart.鈥�
Yang joined Loyola鈥檚 School of Communication last fall, and has already inspired her students.
鈥淭he first time she taught, there were about six or eight students. This semester, the class is full and people want to get in,鈥� Omkar Todkar said. 鈥淧eople genuinely learn from her and she makes it fun and look so easy.鈥�
Todkar has now enrolled in two classes with Yang. Todkar is a graduate student who came from India to receive his master鈥檚 degree in Global Strategic Communication.
Another student, senior Maria (Angie) Pinilla, has also taken two classes with Yang. Pinilla said Yang learns with the industry and makes learning interactive.
鈥淪he was very knowledgeable 鈥� she comes off as very engaging,鈥� said Pinilla, an Advertising and Public Relations major. 鈥淪he鈥檚 one of those professors you can build a relationship with on the first day of class. [She has] a bubbly, super-interactive and inquisitive personality. She鈥檚 always searching for that new knowledge ahead of everybody else.鈥�
Yang became interested in social media advertisement while pursuing her Ph.. in media and information studies at Michigan State University. She said advertising is now digital and personalized to the consumer.
鈥淪ocial media literature is evolving right now,鈥� Yang said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the now. If you look at the data 鈥� there鈥檚 a major shift to digital usage. You have to make me [the consumer] experience, you have to make me attach to it; it鈥檚 more about how the consumer connects to the brand. This is your future, this is going to be your job description.鈥�
Yang grew up in Southern China and said she wanted to get her Ph.D. in an English-speaking country to challenge herself to take her education seriously.
鈥淚 have learned this language [English] for over 20 years, I just really wanted to practice what I spent my time on, Yang said. 鈥淔or the USA, you had to take the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations), which is the hardest part, and I prefer the challenge.鈥�
Yang received her Ph.D. in 2017 and has developed two theories within social media and mobile advertising.
The concepts, 鈥淓nacted Affordances of Social Media鈥� and 鈥淐ongruence Model of Native Advertising in Social Media鈥�, are about the consumers鈥� relationships with the social media site and the sites鈥� relationships with advertisements. Both models illustrate a need for companies to know their audience based on the social media outlet and the person鈥檚 age or recent searchers.
鈥淚f your brand does not fit the platform it will bring intrusiveness to the consumer,鈥� Yang said. 鈥淗ow do we blend in the advertisements into the daily lives of the consumers? We need to provide the information in a time when you need it and not bother you when you don鈥檛 need it.鈥�
Yang said her teaching style is interactive and she wants her students to actually do the work they鈥檇 do in the industry. She said she teaches based on Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu鈥檚 lesson: 鈥淚f you tell me I will listen, if you show me I will see, if you let me do it I will learn.鈥�
鈥淗er teaching style 鈥� it鈥檚 so revolutionary,鈥� Pinilla said. 鈥淸Her teaching style is] practical interspersed with theoretical; she鈥檒l teach you the theory of what we鈥檙e learning and then dive into the practice of how to use it. She makes you love your classes 鈥� I wish more professors would learn from her.鈥�
When she first came to the United States, she said she tried to fit in with and model herself after Chinese Americans; she tried to be 鈥淎merican鈥� while she taught to earn respect, but later accepted her multi-cultural identity.
鈥淭he hardest part of coming to the States was trying to find who I was as an international student and as a professor,鈥� Yang said.
Yang鈥檚 students embrace her unique identity and her passion for teaching.
鈥淪he gets excited about things 鈥� that keeps the mood in the classroom pretty high,鈥� Todkar said. 鈥淪he has that attitude where she鈥檚 willing to help you move forward. She鈥檚 brought her knowledge of China to the classroom. That knowledge sets her apart.鈥�