Simmons Teams Up with Dallas Arboretum For Teacher Development In Galapagos

This summer, Teaching and Learning faculty members Diego Román, Ph.D., and Dara Rossi, Ph.D., invited Dallas Arboretum educators, Dustin Miller and Marisol Rodriguez, to help train 125 Ecuadoran teachers in the Galapagos Islands.

Román and Rossi participate in a four-year professional development program initiated by The Galapagos Conservancy and Ecuador’s Ministry of Education. They also advise The Dallas Arboretum Education Department, which focuses on life and earth science and trains 500 teachers annually. So having Miller and Rodriguez teach with them in the Galapagos was a plus. The team also included Greses Perez, a Simmons alumna, and current student, Heny Agredo. More about the trip.

In addition to SMU, Stanford, North Caroline State, Rutgers, and Oregon State also participate in the program and the Center on Research and Evaluation assesses the program.

NYT Covers Locomotor Performance Lab’s Research on Usain Bolt

Simmons Professor Peter Weyand, director of the  Locomotor Performance Laboratory, and colleagues Andrew Udofa and Larry Ryan were featured by the New York Times for their recent research on Usain Bolt’s speed and stride.

Udofa reported  at a conference in June that Bolt may have an asymmetrical stride that influences  his speed. The existence of an unexpected and potentially significant asymmetry in the fastest human runner ever would help scientists better understand the basis of maximal running speeds.  Read more.

 

 

 

 

Simmons, Guildhall, and LIFT Advance in Adult Literacy XPRIZE Competition

The Simmons, Guildhall and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) team, PeopleForWords, is one of eight semifinalists advancing in the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The Adult Literacy XPRIZE is a global competition that challenges teams to develop mobile applications designed to increase literacy skills in adult learners.  Read more.