Shelley Armstrong

Shelley Armstrong
College of Health Sciences and Public Policy
B.S. Health Studies

Dr. Armstrong is the Associate Dean of the B.S. in Health Studies and B.S. in Public Health programs. Her responsibilities include hiring and mentoring new faculty, course development, academic program reviews, curriculum and policy reviews, and most importantly, helping develop students into health professionals. She has been with Walden since 2010 and has taught courses including: HLTH 1000 Concepts of Health Promotion, HLTH 2115 Aging across the Lifespan, HLTH 2110 Behavioral and Cultural Issues, HLTH 4205 Research Methods & Analysis, HLTH 4340 Fitness & Wellness, and HLTH/PUBH 4900 Capstone. She has a Ph.D. in Health Studies, Master’s degree in the Arts of Teaching with an emphasis on secondary health and physical education, and a B.S. in Health and Exercise Science.
Prior to joining Walden, Dr. Armstrong served as Department Chair of Health and Exercise Science at another college, receiving the American Alliance of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance’s Young Professional Leadership award. She also helped implement Partners in Wellness, a cancer prevention program for the underserved population in northwest Louisiana. As a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) and running coach, Dr. Armstrong founded YOUth FIT and Kids on the Run, community programs that mentor kids in achieving and maintaining fitness. Her research interests include college health and wellness, athletes and depression, youth fitness, exercise adherence, cancer prevention, and online pedagogy. She has led a national radio tour on childhood obesity and family fitness, published in the American Journal of Health Education and the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, and she is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences on health education priorities for online learners. In 2021, Dr. Armstrong received the ATHENA International Leadership Award from her local Chamber of Commerce.

Courses Taught

HLTH 1000 - Concepts of Health Promotion

HLTH 2110 - Behavioral and Cultural Issues in Healthcare

HLTH 2115 - Aging Across the Lifespan

HLTH 4340 - Fit and Well: Core Concepts in Exercise Science

HLTH 4205 - Research Methods & Analysis

HLTH 4900 - Capstone

PUBH 4900 - Public Health Capstone

Education

PhD, Texas Woman’s University

MAT, Centenary College

BS, Centenary College

Public Service

Kids on the Run, Chair - Shreveport

YOUth FIT, Chair - Shreveport

Awards / Honors

ATHENA International Leadership Award, Chamber of Commerce , 2021

Outstanding Youth Running Program of the Year (2018), Road Runners Club of America, 2019

Taylor Dodson Young Professional Award, Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE America), 2010

Publications

Armstrong, S. N., Early, J., Burcin, M. M. (2018). New Media Tools Impact on Online, Health Science Students’ Academic Persistence and Support: Lessons Learned from Two Pilot Studies. TechTrends

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M. (2016). Digital Health Education for the Fully Online College Student: An Exploratory Study. American Journal of Health Education

Armstrong, S. N., Early, J., Burcin, M. M. (2015). Use digital communication tools to enhance online communities of inquiry. Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M., Bjerke, W. S., Early, J. (2015). Depression in student athletes: a particularly at-risk group? A systematic review of the literature. Athletic Insight

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M. (2015). Use mobile communication technologies to increase students’ feelings of connectedness and instructor sup-port. Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository

Armstrong, S. N., Henderson, D. R., Williams, B. M., Burcin, M. M. (2014). An evaluation of a college exercise leader program: using exercise science students as advocates for behavior modification. Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Thompson, D. L., Oomen-Early, J., Armstrong, S. N., Lalwani, P. (2012). College Students' Perceptions of Smoke-Free Campus Policies: Implications for Policy Development and Implementation. Texas Association HPERD Journal (TAHPERD)

Early, J., Armstrong, S. N., Burke, S., Thompson, D. L. (2010). Determinants of Southern US Female College Students’ Breast Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Screening Practices: Implications for Health Education.

Burke, S., Armstrong, S. N., Oomen-Early, J., Thompson, D. L. (2011). New Implications for Female College Students’ Breast Health Education.

Armstrong, S. N., Oomen, J. (2008). Social Connectedness, Self-Esteem, and Depression Among Collegiate Athletes Versus Nonathletes.

Thompson, D. L., Oomen-Early, J., Armstrong, S. N., Lalwani, P. (2012). The Relationship Between Social Factors & Cigarette Smoking: Implications for Policy Development and Implementation. Texas Association HPERD Journal (TAHPERD)

Armstrong, S. N., Anderson, M., Le, E. T., Nguyen, L. H. (2009). Application of the Health Belief Model to bariatric surgery. Gastroenterology Nursing

Early, J., Armstrong, S. N., Burke, S., Thompson, D. L. (2011). US Female College Students' Breast Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Determinants of Screening Practices: New Implications for Health Education. Journal of American College Health

Armstrong, S. N., Oomen-Early, J. (2009). Social connectedness, self-esteem, and depression symptomatology among collegiate athletes versus nonathletes. Journal of American College Health

Presentations

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M. (2018). Health disparities and health equity: the online college student. American Public Health Association

Armstrong, S. N. (2018). Kids Run SHV: A review of two model, youth community running programs. Louisiana Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Armstrong, S. N., Howard, K. J. (2017). Removing the “Black Hole”: Creating virtual community building activities (VCBA) for online students and faculty. Online Learning Consortium

Armstrong, S. N., Howard, K. J., Lupinski, K. G., Kaufman, M. (2017). Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the Virtual World: A Win-Win-Win-Win. Online Learning Consortium

Burcin, M. M., Armstrong, S. N., Early, J. (2016). College Health 2.0: Assessing Healthy Campus 2020 Strategies Used by Universities to Reach Online, Non-Traditional Learners.

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M. (2016). Promoting wellness online: assessing the health needs of U.S. fully online college students to develop healthy (virtual) campus initiatives. OLC

Armstrong, S. N. (2016). Town Hall: Learner Services and Support. Online Learning Consortium

Armstrong, S. N., Burcin, M. M. (2015). College Health Promotion in the Digital Age. The 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges