Faculty and Staff | School of Nursing

Marty Witrak has been Dean of the School of Nursing at The College of St. Scholastica since 2006 and served as chair of the Department of Nursing from 1999 to 2006.  From 2005 to 2008 she served as founding executive director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation at St. Scholastica.

Her specialties include nursing’s role in rural health care, health policy, optimizing the electronic health record in rural healthcare, and advanced nursing education.

She has served as principal investigator and project director on several federal grants. She accepted the 2007 Grassroots Stars Award from the American Association of College of Nursing, and has published many research and scholarly works.

She has been a member of the National Rural Health Association, the American Academy of Nursing, and the American Nurses Association. She currently is co-chair of the Minnesota e-health advisory committee and serves on the steering committee for the MN Action Coalition.
 

My area of specialty lies in the practice of nursing in rural areas. I have worked in arctic Alaska, critical access hospitals, and home health/hospice in remote areas. As healthcare delivery changes, and the role of nursing shifts away from acute care and into chronic disease management and health promotion, rural nurses will be invaluable links to provide quality care. 

My teaching experiences begin in rural Alaska with some of the first distance delivery methods in place. It was quite interesting to teach American Heart Association CPR to Inupiat Eskimo first responders who truly understood how far away you might be from an acute care hospital setting. More recently I developed and taught on-line and traditional LPN classes at Itasca Community College. Working with LPN's made me value the relationships between the levels of nursing and illuminated the emerging importance of the baccalaureuate prepared nurse in the workfoce today.  Currently I teach Leadership courses for the undergraduate nursing program helping students see the complex relationships between healthcare policy, cost of care delivery, and the unique role of each staff nurse as a leader.   All nurses are leaders. 

As the Chair of the Traditional Track in the Undergraduate Nursing Program I seek to inspire our faculty team to find the best way to educate the nurses of the future, teaching students to blend skills in technology with compassionate, holistic, quality care.  We seek to create nurses who are strong patient advocates, nurses who use the Benedictine values as part of their anchor for moral decision making, and finally nurses who are able to seek answers rooted in Evidence Based Practice.  As healthcare becomes increasingly complex, the nurses of the future are called to imagine new delivery care models.  Imagination and problem solving can be stimulated by accessing a liberal arts foundation. 

My outside interests include experimentation in a broad range of textile arts, extensive travel abroad, and the production and cooking of local foods.

Sue is the Chair of the Non-Traditional Nursing Department and Director of the RN/BS nursing program.  She enjoys working with RN students.  She is currently focusing on program growth in the online RN/BS nursing program and the Nursing Informatics Certificate program.

Sue has been active in nursing education since 1975.  She has a Master’s degree in Maternal-Child Nursing, and taught OB nursing for many years.   She has a doctorate in education, focusing on educational policy and administration—and has been a college administrator for the last 21 years, both at the community college and baccalaureate level.  She was project director of the MENTUR grant, a federal HRSA funded grant focused on increasing nursing workforce diversity, until the grant period ended in July of 2010.  She is currently working on another federal grant related to building the health information technology workforce.

Sue developed a survey based on nursing skills needed in the 21st century, as identified in the literature, and measured RNs’ perceptions of these skills as being used in their practice and being taught to them in their nursing programs as her doctoral project.   

Sue’s teaching philosophy has developed from her own educational journey and experiences in teaching and administration over the years.  She became interested in teaching nursing while still in nursing school.  Her teaching methods encourage RN students to think critically when examining a problem, choosing assignments that will promote the development of leadership skills.
 

Chair of the Post-baccalaureate nursing program since 2007.  I am a Certified Nurse Practitioner in pediatrics with over twenty years of pediatric experience.  Teaching interests include adult learners, curriculum development and evaluation, and active, collaborative teaching strategies. Research interests, including doctoral work, include collaborative testing as a learning strategy in nursing education and socialization behaviors of nursing students. Enjoys sewing, reading, and hiking in the north woods with her husband and three dogs.

My MSN specialized in Nursing Education and my teaching interests include the adult learner and creative teaching strategies such as the online learning environment.  My nursing experience includes medical/surgical, emergency nursing, obstetrics - including labor and delivery, newborn care, and postpartum care - and occupational health and wellness nursing.  I remain connected to obstetrics through teaching a childbirth and breastfeeding education class to expectant mothers. 

I am raising my family in a rural community and have a passion for quality rural health care that meets the needs of all community members.  I am a hockey mom who loves spending time with my husband and children on our boat and camping - we try to laugh with each other every single day.

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is based on the concept that learning needs to be centered on each individual student while encouraging them to be self-motivated to maximize their learning opportunities.  My role as a learner-centered instructor is to foster a positive learning environment that facilitates student learning through the use of multiple types of teaching exercises and activities (Blumberg, 2009).  Active participation in learning encourages students to become critical thinkers which is an essential part of the nursing process that cannot be learned by instructors telling students what they need to know, rather this skill is built through student interaction in classroom activities that builds on students knowledge (Billings & Halstead, 2009). 

I believe personal interaction with all students and open communication that includes student-teacher dialogue creates opportunities for learning that cannot be reached through basic lecture format.  Not only will I encourage open communication within the classroom setting, I will also put forth communication that is clear and concise so all students are aware of what they can expect from me as their instructor as well as what I will expect from them as the learner.  I plan to incorporate a humanistic approach to my teaching style and will expect students to do the same while they are learning as this type of education encourages honesty, integrity, respect, caring, and accepting responsibility (Billings & Halstead, 2009).  Using a learner-centered model with a humanistic approach encourages students of all diversities to be actively involved in classroom discussions through the use of personal stories and experiences – all of which encourage me as the instructor to be an ongoing learner.  As an equal partner in the learning process, I will maintain a strong work ethic and high professional standards while remaining passionate about the field of nursing and understanding of my students individual needs and desires. 

References

Billings, D. M., & Halstead, J. A. (2009). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (3rd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders.

Blumberg, P.  (2009).  Developing learner-centered teaching.  San Fransisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass.

I am a clinically based nurse: my goals primarily revolve around improving care for patients and populations. Whether my work is through teaching, direct patient care, or clinical systems innovations, my goal is to help improve the lives of patients.
 I have been teaching in the masters program at CSS for almost ten years; primarily in clinical courses, including health assessment, adult management, prenatal, and the preceptorship. I also teach in the doctoral courses: leadership and clinical project courses. I currently practice in the Student Health Services at CSS, where I provide care as a primary care nurse practitioner in this nurse-run clinic. Prior to coming to CSS, I worked at Allina Medical Clinic in Northfield for 13 years where I provided primary care to patients of all ages as an NP. Through my experiences with Allina, I also developed models of care, primarily interprofessional models, for patients with diabetes, dyslipidemia, and patients who were pregnant. I have recently done work with a local primary care clinic related to developing nurse based care coordinators for patients. I have a passion to help bring BSN nurses to primary care in a care coordinator role. My current research area at CSS is the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program which includes screening and follow up for faculty and staff. This profject evolved from my doctoral project entitled Developing a Population Based Student Health Services which morphed into WellU at CSS.

My teaching philosophy is to set high standards, infuse my passion to ignite student passions, and to promote reflective and life long learning!

Cynthia Brown’s clinical focus is in public health, nutrition, evidence based practice, and chemical dependency. Her professional Interests  include Community/Public Health, working with underserved & vulnerable populations, nutrition, evidence-based practice & chemical dependency/addiction, and the harm reduction model. Some of her personal interests include walking, reading, scrapbooking and cooking.

Education

Undergraduate: 2005 BA Nursing, College of St Scholastica

Graduate: 2004 ANP, College of St. Scholastica

Presentations

2011                            2011 Minnesota Rural Health Conference, Duluth, MN

2009                            2009 Academic Electronic Health Record (AEHR) Summer Institute, Duluth, MN

2008-10                       Nursing Summer Internship Orientation St. Mary’s/Duluth Clinic Health System, Duluth, MN

2006                            CHIP-D Case Study Panel Discussion, panel participant

Publications

Bushey, T.B. & Johnson, D. (2009). Integrating the academic electronic health record (AEHR) into nursing curriculum: Preparing student nurses for practice. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing.

 Jatoi, A., Rowland, K., Loprinzi, C., Sloan, J., Dahkil, S., MacDonald, N., Gagnon, B., Novotny, P., Mailliard, J., Bushey, T., Nair, S., & Christensen, B. (2004). An eicosapentaenoic acid supplement versus megestrol acetate versus both for patients with cancer-associated wasting: A North Central Cancer Treatment Group and National Cancer Institute of Canada collaborative effort.  Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 22, No 12, 2469-2476.

 Bushey, T (2013, pending). Pharmacology for Nursing Practice.  Chapter 49 Inhibition of folic acid syntheses: Sulfonamides and Trimethoprim. Mcgraw-Hill.

Peer Review/Poster Presntations

Johnson, D., Bushey, T., Donahue, B., Fauchald, S. K., & McMahon, S. (2009). Electronic Health Record Integration into Nursing Curriculum: Preparing Student Nurses for Practice. Poster presented at the 27^th Annual International Nursing Computer and Technology Conference

 Fauchald, S. K., Bushey, T., Donahue, B., Johnson, D., & McMahon, S. (2009). The purposeful integration of an academic electronic health record across nursing curricula. Poster presented at the 2009 Nursing Informatics Congress, Helsinki, Finland.

                       Current Research

Rural Health Information Technology Project: Collaboration for Meaningful Use: Quality through EHR Standardization and Technology (QUEST)

 Bushey, T.B. & Sandahl, S.S.  Investigating the role of professional socialization behaviors in predicting academic success in nursing education: A longitudinal study

 Fauchald, S., Bushey, T., Donahue, B., Johnson, D. & McMahon, S.  Assessing student outcomes of academic electronic health record (AEHR) use

I manage the clinicals for nursing students in the undergraduate and post-baccauluareate programs. I place students in clinical sites and troubleshoot issues; I interface with the clinical facilities; and I hire and provide basic orientation of adjunct faculty. I also oversee the program-wide testing that is done. As a trained philosopher I teach occasionally in the philosophy department.

Jennifer Deming is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing’s Non-Traditional Nursing program, but also teaches in the Traditional Undergraduate Nursing Program.  She is an experienced Family Nurse Practitioner. Her area of clinical expertise in the School of Nursing is medical-surgical nursing.  She is actively involved in the Minnesota Nurses Association as well as Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.  In addition, Jennifer is also the coordinator of the Leipzig, Germany Exchange program at the College and has participated in the Tanzania Service-Learning Project. 

After I graduated from Philippine Christian University-Mary Johnston College of Nursing in 1982, I had the opportunity to come to the United States to practice as an RN.  My 20 years of clinical nursing experience was in critical care.  I had the opportunity to take care of patients in Neuro ICU, Medical-Surgical ICU, Vascular ICU and Open Heart Unit. As I continue to grow professionally, my interest and the opportunity to teach came about as I finished my Master's degree at the College of St Scholastica. I was an adjunct faculty in the traditional undergraduate program from 2003-2007. I joined as a full time faculty in the traditional undergraduate nursing  from 2007 to the present time. I teach in theory class, and skills/simulation in the senior and junior levels.

Noticing the actively growing population of older adults in the clinical setting, I became interested in this specific age group. This specialty motivated me to learn more and earn a post-master's certificate in gerontological nursing. This milestone in my professional career inspired me to develop a senior level elective in gerontological nursing. It has been a rewarding experience seeing the nursing students get interested in the care of older adults.

Upon graduating from St. Scholastica with a baccalaureate degree I found myself launched into a variety of wonderful practice experiences.  My early nursing career was focused primarily in the care of the obstetrical and newborn client, as well as with the acutely ill hospitalized adult client, particularly those with cancer.  But the pull back to St. Scholastica and to education in particular became very strong in time, and I decided to pursue a graduate degree as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Nursing.  This preparation afforded me the incredible opportunity to begin a career that focused on the education of nursing students.

As a faculty-member in the School of Nursing, I am privileged to work with students in a variety of venues; classroom, skills lab, simulation lab and the clinical environment.  One of the most exciting parts of my job recently has been an involvement in integrating an academic electronic health record into a newly revised nursing curriculum.  This project puts the School of Nursing on the cutting edge of utilizing information technology innovations, and uniquely prepares our graduates for the future of health care.  It has been an adventure initiating research related to this project, and disseminating the work surrounding the project to the global nursing community.

My philosophy of teaching is to serve as an “experience facilitator” for the students I work with.  Learning experiences occur in the most unexpected and unpredictable ways if one is receptive and curious.  I have quickly come to realize that health care changes much too fast to prepare students for all that they are likely to encounter.  If, however, I can teach students to be an effective lifelong learner, I have succeeded in teaching.    
 

My areas of interest are family nursing, working with underserved populations, geriatrics and trans-cultural nursing.  These passions reveal themselves in the stories I share with students – from the cancer ridden illegal refugee seeking asylum in the US,  to the woman with no pre-natal care who arrived in my clinic ready to give birth, to the homeless teen mom with a multiply handicapped baby.  Engaging the affective domain through story telling helps breach the gap between academics and humanity - the very real needs of our patients within the larger context of family, community, political/economic realities and the globe.

When not teaching, I unwind by writing, spending time with friends, and being replenished by the presence of wind and sky over our Great Lake.
 

My three primary professional experiences before employment at the College of Saint Scholastica were with non-profit management, collaboration of government services to at risk families, and team building.  I enjoy exploring ways to work with systems and individuals and help them become more efficient and productive. 

I believe it is ultimately important in all we do to follow the four basic philosophies of:   1.) Communicate, 2.) Collaborate, 3.) Concentrate, and 4.) Celebrate.  When working together it is essential to communicate effectively.  It allows us to work as a team and maximize the strengths both in our similarities and diversity.  The better we communicate, the better we collaborate.  Collaboration is a force multiplier and helps us achieve goals that would be much more challenging alone.  Once our objectives are set it’s time to concentrate and stay on task until it’s completed.  When a task is completed, don’t forget to take a moment to celebrate the achievement.

I enjoy working with the students and faculty of the Graduate Nursing Department.  The growing future of Nursing is extremely exciting!  I appreciate being surrounded by a department that works together to stay on the cutting edge of education for the future professionals in health care.

My specialty interest is in adult medical-surgical nursing and holistic nursing. I have advanced certification in Holistic Nursing. My nursing career has included work in the acute care, school health and community environments. All of these experiences have enhanced my love for the teaching aspect of nursing.

I currently teach across the undergraduate curriculum: a foundations course, junior and senior level courses. It is amazing to see the growth in students from sophomores to seniors.  I enjoy all aspects of teaching, especially the small simulation lab and clinical groups where students begin to apply the knowledge and skills to caring for a patient/family/community. I am passionate about engaging students in opportunities that help them make connections, use critical thinking and see the bigger picture. I look for opportunities to engage students in self-care activities. I am also actively involved with the integration of the AEHR (academic electronic health record) in nursing courses.  I am an active member of the American Holistic Nurse’s Association and MN Responds Medical Reserve Corps.
 

Professor Knuths' clinical background includes critical care nursing, healthcare administration and healthcare research.  She teaches the medical- surgical clinical rotation and in the Skills and Simulation Laboratory for the traditional undergraduate nursing program and the post-baccalaureate nursing program.  Her teaching philosophy is based on the Tanner model of clinical reasoning development which includes effective noticing, interpreting, responding and reflecting on practice.

When I started college, I was a business major.  During my sophomore year, I switched to nursing and it was the best decision that I have ever made!  Nursing has proved to be a fulfilling career that has taken me in many professional directions.  As a staff nurse on a post-coronary care unit for 10 years, I had the opportunity to care for patients, be a mentor/ preceptor and charge nurse.  I went back to school and received by Master’s degree and worked as an acute care nurse practitioner in cardiology and primary care.  Now, I have the opportunity to share my knowledge and experience with students to help educate a workforce of future professional nurses.
My philosophy of teaching is that, as nurses, we get to care for individuals, with our hands and our hearts, at the most vulnerable times in their lives.  It is a responsibility and privilege that should not be taken lightly.  In order for students to feel confident and competent in caring for patients, we need to prepare them for real-life clinical situations.  My primary responsibility is to coordinate and teach in the skills and simulation labs for the School of Nursing.  Students participate in classes that allow them to practice not only the hands-on skills that they will use in the hospital setting but also to practice professional behavior and therapeutic communication.   We are able to combine technology, through use of high fidelity, interactive manikins, with the fundamentals of nursing practice to engage students in realistic, simulated patient-care experiences.  Students progress through increasingly complex skills from sophomore year when they learn basic health assessment until the senior year when they learn to respond to life-threatening situations.   Helping students to integrate nursing theory, critical thinking and technical skills has been my most rewarding career yet!
 

• Experienced Advanced Practice Nurse-Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist.  Extensive clinical experience in public/community health, care of adults and older adults in long term and community settings and care management and care coordination.
• Pursuing Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Minnesota.  My DNP project focuses on medication adherence assessment and communication with patients.
• My teaching philosophy focuses on creating an open classroom rich with feedback and opportunities for interaction and active learning.  My goal as a teacher is to instill a commitment to life learning and openness to reflective practice.

Associate professor in the graduate nursing program of the School of Nursing and lead faculty for the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) post-Master's DNP program. Responsible for variety of courses in the DNP and Family Nurse Practitioner foci including advanced health assessment, pediatric primary care management, and DNP Clinical Project I and II. Courses all delivered as a hybrid blend of face-to face and web-based formats. Serve as academic and scholarly project advisor for DNP students. Co-developer and co-leader for graduate nursing service learning experiences to Belize 2010, 2012 and Project Homeless Connect..

Over 23 years of experience as an Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) in pediatric primary care at a variety of practice settings and continue to maintain an active clinical practice and provide community service with various organizations/committees relating to children’s health care.

Scholarship of practice focus areas include interprofessional collaboration and chronic disease management of pediatric asthma care. Scholarly leadership project: An Electronic Health Record Redesign as a Strategy for Optimal Pediatric Asthma Care Delivery. This project involves inter-professional collaborative efforts to implement evidence-based practice, resources, and tools, including an asthma action plan (AAP), into a regional health system’s electronic health record (EHR) in an effort to improve pediatric asthma outcomes.

Philosophy of teaching is based upon the concepts of adult learning theory, value of life long learning, facilitator of knowledge, establishing a climate of learning, effective distance learning practices and of course the art and science of nursing. My role as faculty is to share my passion for nursing, guide advanced practice nursing students’ intellectual preparation, critical thinking, leadership skills and ethical and moral decision making for the complex health decisions for which they must be prepared to act.

Josey teaches med/surg nursing theory and clinical skills and simulation at the traditional undergraduate level. Josey  has had many years of clinical practice in various adult intensive care settings.
She has been a Critical Care Educator at Rochester Methodist Hospital, Rochester, MN
and taught Critical Care Certification  (CCRN) courses at Rochester Community College. She received a Masters of Science degree from the University of Minnesota with a focus in nursing education.

Josey has also worked with vunerable  populations incarcerated in the St Louis County Jail.
She currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Clean Proram that works with students committed to maintaining sobriety while attending the College of St. Scholastica.

Academic interests include increasing student’s awareness of and competence caring for at risk individuals and groups. She is also committed to incorporating best practice stratagies to teach and measure clinical reasoning skills and essential nursing competencies using simulation.

Josey believes that learning is most successful in a respectful, honest and challenging environment.
 

Patricia Nielsen, known to all of us as "PZ" is celebrating her thirty-fifth year in nursing.  She has a Bachelor's Degree in psychology from Eisenhower College, an Associates Degree in Nursing from the State University of New York - Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York, a Master's of Science Degree from Yale University, where she became a Cardiovascular Clinical Nurse Specialist.   After several years of practice PZ completed the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at Regis University in Denver.  PZ started out as a staff nurse in the VA system working on a medical-neurological unit and after a few months, moved into intensive care nursing.  Upon completing her master's degree, PZ held several positions in nursing education and nursing administration.  Her highest level of achievement in that area was as Acting Vice President for Nursing Practice at a private 300 bed hospital in California.  Other parts of her eclectic career that she recalls with great joy include working at a destination ski area in Colorado, providing primary care at a large HMO in the Denver area and now being a faculty member of the Nursing team at the College of St. Scholastica. PZ has received three Bush grants to develop online courses using a WebCT platform and was hired by the Minnesota Partnerships for training to develop an online WebCT based graduate research class. Recently she and a group of post baccalaureate nursing students spent two weeks in Belize providing health care to impoverished indigenous peoples. When asked what she has liked the best, PZ responds, "the patients and the students."

Academic interests extend from teaching about middle range theories that describe advanced nursing practice to teaching about research approaches that measure outcomes of advanced nursing practice.  Research interests center on understanding which kinds of nursing interventions facilitate family transitions of Mexican American families in South Texas.  While in South Texas and Arizona each year I enjoy seeing friends and acquaintances once again as well as hiking, birding, and eating regional food.

As an advisor for the Non Traditional Nursing Program, I am responsible for supporting online students from time of acceptance to the College through the time of graduation. I am the student's professional point of contact with the College and to assist students with all academic matters.  I provide an orientation to all new students to ensure they have the information they need to be successful in the online program.  

Sister Beverly Raway, OSB teaches at the undergraduate level in the School of Nursing.  Her areas of special interest in the classroom include medical surgical nursing, pain management, care of Alzheimer’s patients and evidence-based practice in nursing.   She works with students in their clinical experience on orthopedics, an activity which she finds rewarding and energizing. Her related research interests include pain management and pressure ulcer prevention.

Sister Beverly is a professed member of the Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery and a member of the Tanzanian Twinning Committee of the Monastery. As an outgrowth of this connection and her commitment to service-learning she coordinates service-learning trips to Tanzania.

Sister Beverly currently serves as a trustee of the board of directors of the Benedictine Health System and is a member of the Institutional Review Board of Essentia Health.
 

My area of specialty is mental health. I enjoy the mental health area because of the unique experiences it has to offer. The mentally ill are one of the most underserved populations in the country and the number of mentally ill continues to grow. From an academic perspective, I would like to bring more focus to mental health issues of adults and better educate nursing students to deal with them in a clinical setting. Current trends show that many patients in the hospital have a psychiatric illness that coincides with their medical problems and makes it more difficult to provide effective care for them.  Students need to be able to identify these patients and develop nursing interventions specific to their medical and mental health needs to ensure optimal healing.  

In addition to mental health, I also have an interest in the field of nursing informatics.  Nursing informatics is a relatively new discipline of nursing that integrates nursing science with information science and computer science to manage and communicate data and information in patient care. Nurse informaticists are an integral part of the patient care arena helping to build computer systems that accurately represent the nursing care being provided.  I believe that all of our nursing students need to have a basic level of informatics knowledge as they go into practice because they will be working with electronic medical records, healthcare apps, and other new patient care technologies on a daily basis.

Through my teaching experiences I have developed a philosophy is that no student will be left behind. I strive to teach my subject matter in a way that students will understand and find interesting. I believe that if I can present my material so students can see how it benefits them I can make them remember the material and use it in the future. If I see students struggling I find ways to help them grasp concepts and remember the information in a way that suits them. I believe everyone can be successful!

I am a Certified Nurse Practitioner in Pediatrics with over 15 years of experience working with children, primarily in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.  As faculty at CSS I hope to bring my enthusiasm in working with children to the nursing students, teaching them how rewarding, challenging, and exciting the world of pediatrics is!  I teach in the traditional undergraduate nursing in a variety of settings including classroom, clinicals, and lab.  Outside of work I love spending time with my family, camping, biking, running, and swimming.

Graduate: University of Minnesota – Masters of Science in Nursing: Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Disability Policy and Services

Undergraduate: Bethel College – Bachelor of Science in Nursing

My broad area of specialty is medical-surgical nursing with an emphasis in emergency nursing. My expertise evolved over a 21-year career in the Air Force Nurse Corps.
I have been teaching professional nursing at a community college since 2002. I began teaching professional nursing at the baccalaureate level in 2008. My initial research experience has been qualitative research into how to best integrate simulation into the curricula of an associate degree nursing program. My current research interest is learning how to effectively develop critical thinking skills in nursing students.
 My teaching philosophy reflects beliefs from several theoretical constructs. Philosophically, I believe that adult learning is a self-motivated, self-directed process. I also believe that for learning to take place, the student must be actively engaged in the process. These ideas correlate with Knowles theory of andragogy which assumes that adults are self-directed and self-motivated to learn. I also value transformational learning (Merrian & Caffarella, 1999) which places emphasis on an adult learning through experience, critical reflection and development. One model that I have found very helpful in my teaching style is Chickering and Gamson's (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. These practices; personal contact between faculty and students, teamwork, active learning techniques, prompt feedback, allocation of time, high expectations, and recognition of diverse learning styles, have served as a framework for the way I deliver content in the classroom.
References
Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 3, pp. 3-7.
Merrian, S. B. & Caffarella, R. S. (1999). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide  (2nd ed.) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 

My academic interests are quite broad, since I have spent  40 years teaching nursing at the undergraduate level. I also appreciate the opportunity to teach first-year students in Scholastica's Dignitas program, focusing on topics of global health and social justice. I thoroughly enjoy being engaged with students in the learning process, and strive to stay up-to-date on a variety of issues. My passions include a global perspective, and I love travel adventures in the U.S. and other parts of the world. I am a strong believer in study abroad and service-learning, and encourage all students to do these activities while they are young.