Northern Michigan University alumna and Nursing Professor Melissa Romero is the 2021-22 recipient of NMU's Online Teaching Award. She is also the School of Nursing's graduate program coordinator and serves as a family nurse practitioner at NMU's Health Center as part of a joint appointment.
Romero joined the NMU faculty in 2007 and was promoted to professor in 2018.
“As an instructor, I continually strive to improve my teaching methods in order to facilitate student success in meeting learning outcomes,” said Romero. “Each semester, I use student and faculty feedback to improve the quality of future courses. I also place great value on my relationship with students. I feel that it is important to show respect and go the extra mile to let students know that I care.”
When she started teaching, she said she employed what she thought were effective teaching strategies such as textbook reading assignments, longer lectures and completion of independent written assignments and quizzes. Her approach to online teaching has evolved over the years.
“My teaching approaches have changed as I learned more the importance of active learning strategies. Some of the teaching strategies I use today include brief lectures, case studies, debate/structured controversy, small and large group work assignments, dialogue/peer sharing/story-telling, simulation, problem-based learning, Socratic questioning, student reflection, peer review, completion of self-learning packets/modules, written work and live seminars with guest speakers via Zoom.”
Romero also presents research findings at national and international scientific conferences and serves as a co-author on journal publications. She has also received grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), in addition to faculty and college research grants from NMU.
Romero is one of three faculty members serving as family nurse practitioners.
"We are fortunate to have this opportunity because we can function as clinical preceptors for nursing students and students in other health-care related fields, and we also stay current and up to date in the field, which enhances our effectiveness as teachers. The joint appointment also provides a service to the university, allows supervising faculty to be directly involved in student learning and enables students to meet their goals while spending time with faculty.”
Romero holds both her bachelor's and master's degree in nursing from NMU and her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.