Melissa Dyer, a professor in the College of Nursing, was presented with Kent State University’s Outstanding Teaching Award for the 2014 academic year.

Dyer has been teaching at Kent State since 2007. Her courses include Parent Newborn Nursing, Healthcare Policy and Delivery Systems, the Leadership Management Practicum course and nursing clinicals.

Barbara Broome (left), dean of Kent State's College of
Nursing, celebrates as Melissa Dyer (right), a professor
in the College of Nursing, is awarded an Outstanding
Teaching Award presented to her by Kent State Professor
Anne Morrison (middle) on behalf of the University
Teaching Council.

Sponsored by the University Teaching Council, the Outstanding Teaching Award honors full-time, nontenure-track or part-time faculty members who show exceptional skills in the classroom. The award is presented to three finalists each year.

“I’m so honored, especially since I work with so many wonderful people who have been here for such a long time,” Dyer says on winning the award. “My students to me are my family; I honestly love them, and I have a passion for what I do.”

Dyer attributes the honor of receiving the Outstanding Teaching Award to her relationship with students.

“I don’t feel like respect is granted because I’m the professor; respect is earned,” Dyer says. “It’s not my wish to be somebody students see on a pedestal, but more them thinking ‘I can be like Melissa’ or ‘Melissa is here for me.’”

In creating an effective learning environment, Dyer says she looked toward student suggestions to determine what was best to do in the classroom.

“I basically flipped the classroom based on student needs,” Dyer explains. “Literature suggests that students are really trying to do more with their time. In addition to that, sitting for five hours in a classroom isn’t cohesive to learning.”

Some of the successful techniques Dyer adopted are recording class lectures to distribute as podcasts, using course time for simulations to supplement clinicals and using Web-based testing to decrease anxiety.

Elizabeth Strock, graduate from Kent State’s College of Nursing, is one of the students who nominated Dyer for the award. Strock says Dyer’s attitude toward her class made her stand out as a professor.

“Melissa was very enthusiastic about her job; she would come to class everyday all smiles and ready to work,” Strock says. “What really made her my favorite was the stimulations we did in class — they really made it feel like she put a lot of time into her lesson plans and genuinely wanted to teach us as much and as best as she could.”

Above all, Dyer says her career is rewarding because she has the opportunity to see students evolve throughout the years.

“Although it’s so cliché, people say if you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life; I really think that’s true,” Dyer says. “To see how quickly the students grow is so wonderful, and seeing them progress is an awesome and fulfilling experience.”

For more information about the Outstanding Teaching Award, visit www2.kent.edu/utc/teaching_award/index.cfm.