Joanne Romero Loos, a graduate assistant in the School of Communications at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, has received the school’s Dan J. Wedemeyer Excellence in Teaching Award. The award recognizes graduate students who have demonstrated outstanding teaching skills and concern for student learning.
Loos has taught the introduction to communication course (COM 201), a required course for all majors, in both face-to-face and online settings. She has also taught another required course focusing on organizational communication (COM 320). Loos holds a bachelor’s from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, as well as a master’s in communication from Hawaiʻi Mānoa. She is currently pursuing her PhD in communication and information sciences at UH Mānoa. Her research focuses on wearable technology and health communication.
The selection committee was impressed with Loos’ skill and professionalism in teaching the communication department’s large entry-level course and another core course related to organizational and intercultural communication. She has also designed a senior-level course (for summer 2016) focusing on the use of information and communication technologies in health care.
In addition to noting the excellent numerical scores on her evaluations, the committee was impressed by student feedback that praised Loos’ skill in managing large courses and engaging students in discussion, making them feel excited about the major. Students also note that she is caring while remaining fair to all, and that she maintains a professional yet approachable demeanor.
About the Dan J. Wedemeyer Excellence in Teaching Award
The award is named in honor of UH Mānoa Emeritus Professor Dan J. Wedemeyer. A past recipient of the UH Presidential Citation for Excellence in Teaching, Wedemyer received his PhD and MA from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California, as well as his MA in communication from UH Mānoa. He is an expert on telecommunications forecasting in the Pacific Hemisphere and is the co-author of several books and numerous journal articles on the subject. Wedemeyer was the editor of the Pacific Telecommunications Council’s Annual Proceedings for over twenty years, and is a former fellow of the East-West Center.
