Alexandra Simperler

SSI fellow

Simperler Consulting

Interests

Using contemporary teaching techniques to help people who are getting started with a variety of Computational Chemistry Software.

Research

My scientific research involves short and medium length projects that are aligned with the interests of NSCCS users who apply for consulting projects. I have a consulting role and I collaborate with UK academics who wish to add computational chemistry to their curriculum. In 2014 I will consult for four of our users and will look into modelling of excited states using time-dependent density functionals and post-Hartree-Fock methods. I also study reaction rates of radicals in the atmosphere and the fate of organic species in waste water. I support scientists with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, physics and materials sciences and I keep track of the development and deployment of a variety of commercial and academic software to help users with their scientific challenges.
I write the majority of the NSCCS training materials and deliver one-to-one, group and online training. My personal research focuses on how people learn and how teaching methods have changed over time. The exponential growth of knowledge in the 20th and 21st centuries requires new ways of learning and, by implication, teaching. I am a keen practitioner of scaffolding, (social) constructivism and learning-by-doing. At the moment I look into studying how problem-based and team-based learning can be incorporated within the training and workshops we offer at the NSCCS.

Check out contributions by and mentions of Alexandra Simperler on www.software.ac.uk