Staff profile

Simon has had a varied career in education and scientific research and is exploring a range of scholarship interests:

- Creativity in Science

Simon has strong interests in exploring and promoting the nature of creativity in science. In 2020, he published a book with the Royal Society of Chemistry on teaching for and with creativity in chemistry and is currently working on a new title in Physics. He leads workshops on this area as part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and externally such as with the Association of Science Education.Creativity is not a word that is associated with science but Simon is keen to address this misconception and demonstrate how creativity is at the heart of scientific endeavours.

- The language of Chemistry.

Simon completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry Education with the School of Education in 2016. His research explored foundation student understanding of scientific language and how this develops. He is working with colleagues, Megan Bruce and Steven Bradley to incorporate teaching strategies utilising corpus linguisitics within STEM teaching. this work has received funding from the Higher Education Academy, UK Council for International Student Affairs, Durham University and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

- Online Experimentation.

Simon has previously worked with the Royal Society of Chemistry to develop online experimentation resources for students. These enable students to develop their confidence and understanding of experimental techniques and to perform experiments that would not normally be possible (http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/collections/online-experimentation/).

Simon is a National Teaching Fellow, a Senior Fellow of the HEA and an OfQual subject specific expert.

blog - Creative Chemists – Strategies for teaching and learning (wordpress.com)

twitter - @Creativechemis5

 

• 2023: PFHEA: Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy
• 2022: FRSC: Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• 2020: National Teaching Fellow: The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education.

  National Teaching Fellowship | Advance HE (advance-he.ac.uk)

Authored book

• Rees, S., & Newton, D. (2020). Creative Chemists: Strategies for Teaching and Learning. Royal Society of Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1039/9781839161094

Journal Article

• Rees, S. W., & Bruce, M. (2022). Inconsistent Language Use in Online Resources Explaining the Mole Has Implications for Students’ Understanding. Journal of Chemical Education, 99(7), https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00199
• Rees, S., & Newton, D. (2021). The Creative Sciences. School science review, 382, 57-62
• Rees, S., Kind, V., & Newton, D. (2019). Meeting the Challenge of Chemical Language Barriers in University Level Chemistry Education. Israel Journal of Chemistry, 59(6-7), 470-477. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijch.201800079
• Rees, S., Kind, V., & Newton, D. (2018). The development of chemical language usage by “non-traditional” students: the interlanguage analogy. Research in Science Education, 51(2), 419-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9801-0
• Rees, S., Kind, V., & Newton, D. (2018). Can language focussed activities improve understanding of chemical language in non-traditional students?. Chemistry education research and practice, 19(3), 755-766. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8rp00070k
• Rees, S. (2016). The Stories Behind the Words. Education in chemistry, 53(5), 14-17
• Bruce, M., Coffer, P., Rees, S., & Robson, J. (2016). Write on the edge: using a chemistry corpus to develop academic writing skills resources for undergraduate chemists. Chemistry education research and practice, https://doi.org/10.1039/c6rp00005c
• Rees, S., Bruce, M., & Bradley, S. (2014). Utilising Data-driven Learning in Chemistry Teaching: a Shortcut to Improving Chemical Language Comprehension. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 10(1), 12-19. https://doi.org/10.11120/ndir.2014.00028
• Rees, S., & Bruce, M. (2014). Embedding language learning strategies within a Foundation Chemistry course using the FOCUS project. InForm (Reading. Print), 12-14
• Rees, S. (2013). Book Review of An Introduction to the Chemistry of the Sea, 2nd Edition, by Michael E.Q. Pilson. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 9(1), 107-108. https://doi.org/10.11120/ndir.2013.00017
• Rees, S., Bruce, M., & Nolan, S. (2013). Can I Have a Word Please – Strategies to Enhance Understanding of Subject Specific Language in Chemistry by International and Non-traditional Students. New Directions in the Teaching of Physical Sciences, 9(1), 8-13. https://doi.org/10.11120/ndir.2013.00012

Other (Print)

• Rees, S. (2020). Teaching Creative Chemistry
• Cox, J., Rees, S., & Banks, P. (2016). Chemistry Stinks!
• Rees, S. (2014). What is the connection between the halogens and salami?
• Rees, S. (2014). Chemistry unearths the secrets of the Terracotta Army

Presentation

• Rees, S. (2021, December). Teaching for and with Creativity in Science. Paper presented at Association of Science Education summer conference, online
• Rees, S. (2020, December). The Successful Researcher Escape Room. Paper presented at Vitae Connections Conference, online
• Rees, S., & Newton, D. (2020, December). Creative Chemists. Paper presented at Variety in Chemistry Education Conference, online
• Rees, S. (2018, December). Reimagining Faraday. Paper presented at International Conference on Chemistry Education, Sydney, Australia
• Rees, S., & Kind, V. (2018, December). Chemical linguistic demand in multiple dimensions. Paper presented at 25th International Conference on Chemistry Education (ICCE 2018), Sydney, Australia
• Rees, S. (2017, December). Chemical Linguistic Demand in multiple dimensions: implications for widening participation and non-traditional students. Paper presented at Variety in Chemistry Education, York University
• Rees, S. (2016, December). Chemical linguistic demand in multiple dimensions and implications for developing understanding in non-traditional students. Paper presented at Durham University Teaching and Learning conference, Durham University
• Rees, S. (2014, December). Improving chemical language comprehension for adult learners: a data-driven learning approach to chemistry teaching. Paper presented at 23rd IUPAC International Conference on Chemistry Education, Toronto, Canada
• Rees, S., & Bruce, M. (2013, December). The FOCUS project – Applications of Corpus Linguistics in Chemistry Teaching. Paper presented at Gordon Research Conference - Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Salve Regina University, Rhode Island, USA