Open SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2016 – Stony Brook: Paula Timoney

Dr. Paula Timoney’s career in pediatrics and neonatology spans over thirty- five years and demonstrates a sustained commitment to infants, families and the education of neonatal nurse practitioners. She is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Graduate Programs in Advanced Practice Nursing and the Director of the Neonatal NP Program at Stony Brook University. What started as an on-site NNP Program in 1993 and transitioned to a distance-learning program in 1997, Stony Brook’s NNP Program is one of the longest running distance education programs in the country.

Dr. Timoney has enjoyed a progressive academic career that exemplifies a commitment to quality education in a specialty nurse practitioner field. Her academic achievements have been recognized by increasingly more complex assignments and positions within the School of Nursing at Stony Brook. Her university service, in part, includes active participation on the Curriculum Committee and the Evaluation and Outcomes Committee. Currently she is the Assistant Presiding Officer of the Faculty Assembly of the School of Nursing and the Senator at Large representing the Health Sciences Center for Stony Brook University. Her sponsored research in education includes projects that address the diverse learning needs of the distance education student. Many of her local, state and national presentations have focused on the special needs of the distance learning student in an asynchronous learning program, best educational practices, human patient simulation, scope of practice and risk management.

Dr. Timoney’s experience as Director of Advanced Practice Providers at a freestanding pediatric hospital has been a jumping off point for leadership roles in both state and national nursing organizations. As a clinician, educator and role model, Dr. Timoney has influenced many to improve the care of thousands of infants and children.

Dr. Timoney states: “It is a pleasure to be nominated for recognition as an on-line educator. US News and World Report ranks Stony Brook University School of Nursing as one of the top 10 On-Line Graduate Nurse Practitioner Programs nationally. This is indeed a huge honor for our school and for the expertise of our faculty and staff. Education is my passion and on-line education provides numerous opportunities to improve access to and increase the effectiveness of specialty education that is unavailable elsewhere. However, we are consistently challenged to engage our students in a world full of technology.

An effective teaching strategy in the classroom is Team-Based Learning. My colleague, Dr. Terri Cavaliere and I received a $20,000 Innovative Instructional Technology Grant from the State University of New York to implement team-based learning (TBL) into the on-line curriculum of the NNP Program. The effectiveness of TBL was demonstrated by increased student engagement and satisfaction. Exam scores were comparable to those of students taught in the traditional on-line format. As we refine this pedagogy in the asynchronous neonatal pharmacology course, we seek to expand TBL to other courses in the graduate program. This is just one of the many strategies being explored to improve the quality and effectiveness of on-line education.”