No greater responsibility can rest upon any man [or woman] than to be a teacher of God’s children.
Regardless of the material, a good teacher is essential in creating a great learning experience. BYU College of Nursing Professor Cheryl Corbett understands this, and her exceptional, unique teaching makes her class a highlight for many of BYU's nursing students.
In October 2024, she was presented with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nursing (AWHONN) Utah Section. This national institution aims to improve the care of women and newborns through research and education. AWHONN has chapters throughout the country, including one in Utah where she participates.
Professor Corbett has had an accomplished career, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing from BYU and later advancing her expertise by becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner through the graduate program. After many years of experience in labor and delivery nursing, she took her skills back to BYU, where she’s been a Teaching Professor for nearly two decades! Needless to say, she’s made a positive and lasting impact on the program.
During her tenure, Professor Corbett has turned classroom instruction into an art form. She utilizes a “flipped classroom” model where students study content in advance and come to class ready to solidify concepts and apply understanding through creative activities.
A prime example is her recent project for the “Nursing Care of Women and Newborns” class — a Mission: Impossible-themed escape room challenge! Students worked in teams to solve puzzles and challenges, all centered on the topic of pregnancy. As students raced to hone their skills and be the first to finish the mission, work became play!
Her method of teaching about postpartum care and complications is also noteworthy. Professor Corbett uses a unique tool to demonstrate the postpartum uterus – grapefruits! Their similar size makes them good models, and after the demonstration, students have fun tossing the grapefruits around to music such as Mamma Mia, Danger Zone, or Baby, Baby. When the music stops, whoever is left with the fruit answers a review question. This keeps students on their toes while developing recall and application of nursing care.
Activities like these are manifestations of what truly makes Professor Corbett’s teaching special — her love for the students. As part of the award nomination process, several students attested to her positive impact. Here's what a few students had to say:
- “Professor Corbett took so much time to create amazing activities for us to do in class, and we greatly appreciate it. The games she created helped me to remember the content so much more. I am so grateful for all of the effort she put into our in-class activities!!"
- “She is so awesome! I appreciate how clearly she teaches and the balance between fun and a focus on learning that she is able to so masterfully apply in our class.”
- “I feel like I retained more from this class than any other class I have taken. The flipped classroom works so well!”
Professor Corbett clarified that preparing such lessons isn’t the easy road. “It’s a lot more difficult to do active learning,” she said. “It takes more preparation on the professor’s side to create activities and implement them in the classroom.” Even so, the extra effort is well worth it in her eyes, and she’s determined to give her students a rewarding experience.
This determination comes in large part from her faith in Jesus Christ and desire to communicate the Healer’s art. For her, maternal-newborn nursing is fundamentally interwoven with Heavenly Father’s plan for us: “When we’re talking about birth, the family, and progression in this life, that’s a great opportunity to bring in the spiritual aspects of why we’re here…they go hand in hand.”
Professor Corbett truly loves her students and has their best interests in mind. "Hang in there," are her words of encouragement to those struggling. “[Nursing] may seem so daunting initially, but day by day and semester by semester, you end up coming away with such a remarkable education."
Through her role in the classroom and clinical practice, as well as continued service in the Global and Population Health Nursing Clinical Practicum in Zambia, Professor Corbett will continue to teach and love excellently.