Dr. Nicola Simmons believes the scholarship of teaching and learning can be the connective glue that brings the two sides of teaching and research together, contributing to a culture that values these beliefs and communicates its benefits to advance students.
Dr. Simmons, an assistant professor in the Department of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Education in the Faculty of Education, is recognized nationally and internationally for excellence and leadership in the field of educational development. Most recently she was one of 10 recipients of a 2017 3M National Teaching Fellowship, considered Canada’s most prestigious prize for teaching excellence at the university level. In 2016, Brock University honoured Dr. Simmons with the Distinguished Teacher Award and the Faculty of Education’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Educational Developers Caucus, a national body for educational development in Canada, further recognized Dr. Simmons as its inaugural winner of the Distinguished Education Development Career Award.
Dr. Simmons has been committed to building a network of scholars through her roles as Vice-President, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, for the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, regional Vice-President, Canada, for the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and past chair of the Educational Developers Caucus.
Dr. Simmons, who began her post-secondary teaching career in 1986, continues to use innovative methods to engage students. Her approach may lead students to rewrite a course reading as a free verse poem, build with Lego in order to consider the connection between theory and practice, or examine the learner experience by participating in a martial arts class.
Read more about Dr. Simmons in Brock News:
Brock profs O’Connell and Simmons win top national 3M awards (Feb. 2017)
https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2017/02/brock-profs-oconnell-and-simmons-win-top-national-3m-awards/
More recognition for Education prof Nicola Simmons (Dec. 2016)
https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2016/12/more-recognition-for-education-prof-nicola-simmons/
Creativity and innovation take time says teaching award winner Simmons (Dec. 2016)
https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2016/12/creativity-and-innovation-take-time-says-teaching-award-winner-simmons/