Dr. Corey Brady to Speak at International Conference

Dr. Corey Brady, Simmons Assistant Professor and one of the newest members of SMU’s Technology Enhanced Immersive Learning (TEIL) research cluster, will speak at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)’s Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, in their speaker series, Experiences from the Classroom of the Future.

Dr. Brady, who is fluent in Spanish, will deliver his talk, A vision of STEAM: Constructing powerful ideas through participatory activities, in Spanish.

The UNAM is the largest public university in Latin America, and a center for STEM and STEM Education research.  The prestigious invitation to speak at the Experiences in the Classroom of the Future 2023 seminar came from the Continuing Education Network of the UNAM and the Network of Classrooms of the Future.

Brady will present in a live webinar on August 25 at 11 a.m. CST which will be transmitted on the Aula del Futura channel on YouTube.

Upcoming West Dallas STEM School Uses Virtual Space to Break Ground

As classes in the Dallas Independent School District conclude June 18, a new school in West Dallas gets ready to start. The Pre-K to 8 STEM School breaks ground virtually to celebrate its opening in mid-August.

In this video, the convener is Principal Marion Jackson, who highlights what students and their families can expect. The first group of students to study at the school will be seventh and eighth-graders.

The West Dallas STEM School, a Dallas ISD Transformation and Innovation School, is the result of more than three years of collaboration between the District, the Toyota USA Foundation, SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and the West Dallas community.

 

 

Placing Cutting-Edge Research into Action is a Priority for Simmons and SMU

On March 29, SMU published an article in FWD DFW, a supplement in The Dallas Morning News, about the  University’s investments in research and data science. The Simmons School was highlighted along with other research areas of the University.

Dean Stephanie L. Knight said, “The Simmons School of Education and Human Development has always been a nontraditional institution. We take great pride in conducting cutting-edge research and then putting the results of that research into action. “Several years ago, we were approached by Toyota about creating a project to benefit the greater Dallas community. Toyota awarded us a $2 million, three-year planning grant to establish a pre-K through eight school in West Dallas focused on a STEM curriculum. Working with Toyota and Dallas ISD, our objective is to prepare students for jobs and college in STEM-related fields. We expect it to be a center for research and professional development that will not only benefit our students locally but also students throughout the country. Toyota also hopes that the school model can be taken to other communities to promote STEM education.”

Read more.

Zippia. com Asks Potter About Pandemic’s Impact on Graduates and Careers

John Potter, clinical associate professor in the Department of Dispute Resolution and Counseling, joined a Zippia.com panel of experts to assess the pandemic’s impact on graduates starting their careers.

He sees positive outcomes from the pandemic that include adopting different ways of learning. Gaining these kinds of skills is important he says.

For him, the knowledge his students have acquired to resolve conflicts will benefit them any where they go.

To read the article, click here.

 

 

Ph.D. Student Mark Pierce Receives Maguire Public Service Fellowship

This summer, Simmons Ph.D. candidate Mark Pierce joins nine other SMU students in serving as a  Maguire Public Service Fellow, to work on research and programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

His project focuses on researching adaptable models of distance learning that can be implemented for highly mobile students by collecting data from Dallas area family shelters and children’s support organizations during the COVID-19 outbreak. Pierce will receive a $2400 stipend and present his findings at a public seminar in the fall. His doctoral advisor is Assistant Professor Alexandra Pavlakis in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership.

Over the past 20 years, the Maguire Center has awarded summer fellowship stipends totaling over $400,000 to 181 SMU students, including volunteers in more than 150 agencies across 18 states, 25 countries, and five continents.

Culver Shares Perspective on Online Learning in KERA Report

Jennifer Culver, senior academic technology service director, Simmons School

KERA 90.1 zooms in on an eleventh grade AP history class in Seagoville High School and shows how online instruction can be. Some students like it and others worry about the quality of their learning. But Simmons’ senior academic technology services director, Jennifer Culver, Ph.D., says learning can occur in a variety of ways. Not all learning has to be on-time and real-time interaction with teachers. The report features her comments for a look at how online instruction is progressing during COVID-19.

Listen to KERA’s report here.

Dallas Innovates’ Roundtable: Dean Knight and Other Leaders Assess STEM

As a future workforce takes shape, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) plays a foundational role in education. To examine how business and education are collaborating on STEM, Dallas Innovates, a publishing venture between the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce and D Magazine Partners, invited a panel of experts to talk about the advancement.

Dean Stephanie Knight joined eight other leaders in the conversation, “STEM, STEAM, STREAM: In Dallas the Ingridients Are Here.” Read the three-part series:

Part One: https://bit.ly/31HcPTB

Part Two: https://bit.ly/2oedHBy

Part Three: https://bit.ly/2Jmes2R

 

Left to right: Oswaldo Alvarenga (Dallas ISD), Hilary Jackson (Capital One), Drexell Owusu (Dallas Regional Chamber), Jennifer Sampson (United Way of Metropolitan Dallas), Dr. Koshi Dhingra (TalkSTEM), Dr. Stephanie Knight (SMU Simmons School of Education), Dr. Jason Treadway (DCCCD), Sorabh Saxena (AT&T), and Byron Sanders (Big Thought). [Photo: Michael Samples]

 

 

WFAA and KERA Feature VR Surgery Developed By Professors Bing and Cuevas

Virtual reality surgery developed by Simmons professors Tony Cuevas and Eric Bing was featured on WFAA TV to show how technology designed at SMU can save lives in Africa.

A lack of surgeons and an increase in women’s cervical cancer on the African continent led Bing and Cuevas to develop training for doctors to increase surgical skill, speed, and accuracy. They traveled to Zambia and designed the virtual operating room based on what they saw in use there.

The desire to save women’s lives is a big impetus, especially for Dr. Bing. His mother, who lived in the U.S., died from cervical cancer.  Read more.

KERA 90.1’s Justin Martin also interviewed Bing and Cuevas to explain the virtual reality advances in surgery. For a video with Cuevas instructing a student, click here.

 

Bing and Cuevas Provide Virtual Reality Classes for Surgeons in Zambia

More women die of cervical cancer in Zambia than from any other disease. Why? Because not enough numbers of trained surgeons are available to help. But two SMU Simmons professors, Dr. Eric Bing and Dr. Tony Cuevas, believe virtual reality can train much needed surgeons.

Dr. Tony Cuevas (at right)

Bing, professor of global health, and Cuevas, clinical professor and director of instructional design, have been piloting surgery techniques with novice surgeons using virtual reality.

The technology they use is for in-home computer gaming and costs less than $1,000 per training station.

They have paired up with two other researchers, Dr. Groesbeck Parham, a professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and head of the CIDRZ Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Lusaka, Zambia. And Dr. Richard Sullivan, professor and director of the Institute of Cancer Policy and Co-Director of Conflict and Health Research Group at the Kings College in London, England. Read more in D Healthcare.  Also see Dallas Innovates.

 

Dr. Eric Bing