Excellence in Teaching, 2023
College of Health and Human Services
Alyssa O’Brien teaches Introduction to Professional Nursing; Maternal and Newborn Nursing; Making Babies; Human Development, Interaction and Learning Across the Lifespan; and Public Health Nursing in the undergraduate nursing program. Outside of her course work, in her six years at UNH she has mentored more than 35 students as they completed their minor, worked as teaching assistants or completed their honors theses or individual evidence-based projects. Alyssa is a McNair program mentor and is also the Honors-in-Major coordinator for the department of nursing.
In addition to encouraging students to develop a passion for lifelong learning, O’Brien has a deep commitment to advancing women’s health and family nursing and has been instrumental in shaping the curriculum and developing innovative teaching methods that engage students in critical discussions and analysis of these health issues. Among other efforts, she collaborated with the women’s and gender studies program to cross-list two new nursing courses, allowing nursing students to minor in women’s studies.
O’Brien’s colleagues report that she is a leader in implementing active learning strategies and that she seeks out and implements new teaching methods that encourage student participation and create a collaborative learning environment. In every course she teaches, O’Brien tells the students that learning is a collaborative effort. If they can do better, she will tell them, so they can plan together. If she can do better, she asks them to let her know (and she does ask, all the time, and they do tell her!) so that her courses are supportive spaces where everyone is actively engaged in a learning community.
O’Brien’s students evidently agree. She consistently earns 5 out of 5 on the Quality of Instructor item in the Student Experiences of Learning. This award is not only a recognition of Alyssa’s teaching excellence but a testament to her unwavering dedication to shaping the future of countless minds.
About this Award
Each year, the University selects a small number of its outstanding faculty for special recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service. Awards for Excellence in Teaching are given in each college and school, and University-wide awards recognize public service, research, teaching, and engagement.
