Associate Professor (Teaching Intensive)
BA, BScN (Windsor), MHST, EdD (Athabasca)
Office: LHS C160
Phone: 705-748-1011, ext. 6046
Email: annmarycelestini@trentu.ca
Biography
Dr. Ann Celestini is a registered nurse with over 30 years of clinical, administrative, and educational experience. Since joining the TFSON faculty in 2013, she has taught across the BScN program and co‑supervised several undergraduate thesis projects. She was appointed as a tenured, teaching‑intensive associate professor in 2022.
Dr. Celestini is known for her leadership in innovative curriculum design. She co‑developed the TFSON’s first graduate diploma in mental health and addiction and later created a national Universal Design for Learning (UDL) course for nurse educators through the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing. Her redesign of a fourth‑year course using specifications grading led to a mixed‑methods study now under review. In 2026, she joined Trent University’s graduate education department as adjunct faculty to design and teach a UDL‑based course for the Master of Education and Interdisciplinary PhD programs.
Areas of Interest
Instructional methods, learner assessment, and curricular design (inclusive curriculum(UDL), trauma-informed curriculum, experiential learning methods, e.g unfolding case studies, serious games, simulation, virtual reality;
stress and stress management; and
complementary and integrative therapies (chronic pain, holistic wellness)
Current Research Projects
Dr. Celestini is also preparing two research projects expected to begin in fall 2026. The first, with a colleague at the University of Ottawa, is a multisite quasi‑experimental study examining the use of Virtual Reality to build nursing students’ competencies. The second will evaluate learner perspectives on the inclusivity of a new UDL‑based graduate course.
Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications
Book and e-book Chapters:
Celestini, A.M. (Chapter 13) Complementary and Alternative Therapies. In (2023; 2026- in press) Medical Surgical Nursing in Canada (6th ed.) Toronto: Mosby.
Celestini, A.M. (Chapter 9), originating US chapter by Margaret R. Rateau
Stress and Stress Management. In (2023; 2026- in press). Medical Surgical Nursing in Canada (6th ed.) Toronto: Mosby.
St Celestini, A. M., & Hallaran, A. 2022- 2023 Case Study Chapter 5, (2026) UDL and an Unfolding Case Study in a Frist Year Nursing Course. In Stillwell, D., Capell, D., Ferguson, S., & Yagnaya, A. (2026). Rethinking Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Case Studies in UDL. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/udlcasestudies/part/5-udl-and-an-unfolding-case-study-in-a-first-year-nursing-course/
Celestini, A. M 2019 Case Study Chapter 4 (2026) Universal Design for Learning in a First Year Nursing Course. In Stillwell, D., Capell, D., Ferguson, S., & Yagnaya, A. (2026). Rethinking Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Case Studies in UDL. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/udlcasestudies/part/4-universal-design-for-learning-in-a-first-year-nursing-course/
Celestini, A. M. (2025) (Chapter 26) Complementary and Alternative Therapies, Edelman 2nd Canadian edition of Health Promotion throughout the Lifespan
Journals:
Celestini, A., & Alberry, L. (April 2026- accepted). Simplifying Specifications Grading: An Alternative Approach to Learner Assessment in Nursing Education, Journal of Applied Instructional Design (15)4,tbd (in press)
Celestini, A., & Alberry, L. (2026). Specifications Grading: Redefining Success in the Classroom. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice 2026 (16) 4, 49-60. https://doi.org/10.63564/jnep.v16n4p49
Celestini, A., Hallaran, A., & Condotta, K. (2025). Best of Both Worlds: Learner Perspectives of Inclusivity in a Blended Course, Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2025 (15)12, 18-28 . https://doi.org/10.63564/jnep.v15n12p18/
Celestini, A., & Palalas, A. (2024). Inclusive Online Nursing Education: Learner Perceptions of Universal Design for Learning Approaches, Canadian Journal of Scholarship in Teaching and Learning (15)3. Article 2. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.3.16911
Celestini, A., Palalas, A., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Chmilliar, L. (2022). Dissertation. A Universal Design for Inclusive Online Nursing Education; Athabasca University, https://dt.athabascau.ca/jspui/handle/10791/387
Celestini, A., Thibeault, C., Masood, B., & Perera, B. (2021). A Universal Design for success: A mixed methods case study of a first-year BScN course. Quality Advancement in Nursing Education- Avancées en formation infirmière, 7(2), Article 3, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.17483/2368-6669.1296
Celestini, A. (2021). Serious games in higher distance education. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, Fall 2020, 46(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.21432/cjlt27965-
Crane, A., Tyerman, J., & Celestini, A. (2021). Virtual simulation games as an educational tool for university First Responders in Canada: A usability study. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 55, 10-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2021.02.007
Tyerman, J., Patovirta, A., & Celestini, A. (2021). How stigma and discrimination influence nursing care: A systematic review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 42(2), 153-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2020.1789788
Supervision
May be accepting graduate students (2026-2027 - not available during the winter 2027 term)