Courtney Wayne Simons, Ph.D.
Dr. Courtney Simons is an Assistant Professor at the Lake Campus. He teaches classes in biology with an empahsis in food science and nutrition.
Ph. D., Cereal Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND (2013)
M.Ed., Digital Learning, Wright State University, Dayton OH (2017)
B. S., Food Science, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND (2009)
A. S., Agriculture, College of Agriculture, Portland, Jamaica (1995)
Academics
Current Spring Classes
- FAS 4790 Special Topics - Human Nutrition
- BIO 1070 Health and Disease
Current Fall Classes
- Bio 1050 Biology of food
- FAS 4790 Special Topics - Foodborne Infectios Diseases
Philosophy of Teaching
Teaching is a process of trial and error. It involves trying what you think is the best approach in your situation and then observing your results, listening to feedback and refining. Effective teaching requires that complex information be broken down to simple, meaningful, useable and practical information. The more you are familiar with the content, the simpler and more clearly you can explain it. For students to learn well, the information must be presented with as little distraction as possible. Distractions may include, poor teaching preparation, low confidence of instructor, poor organization and communication of the information, and presenting too much information at once.
Instruction should be short; preferably no more than 50 minutes at a time in order to keep student’s attention. Adequate time should be provided during this period to allow students to review and practice questions. In fact, the instructor will find that creating opportunities for practice is the best way to help students learn and retain content.
The instructor should not be overly concerned about teaching to a specific learning style since his class may be too diverse to accommodate such a plan. Teaching students outside of their learning style may not be a bad thing since it forces them to learn and retain information in new challenging ways. In planning his teaching strategy, the instructor should rather ask, “what is the best way to get this message across to my students?” In doing so, he will find himself taking different lesson-specific approaches across the spectra of learning styles.
My research investigates the composition, functional properties and utilization of pulse flours and their fractionates. Adding pulse flours to food formulations can improve their nutrient density since they are a significant source of protein, fiber, resistant starch (RS), vitamins and minerals. However, addition of pulses can negatively affect product quality and sensory parameters such as taste, aroma, texture and color. Hence, my goal is to better understand how these properties are affected, and to use this information to enhance the quality of pulse-fortified bakery products. Bakery application of pulse flours is a target since the state of Ohio ranks number five in bakery production nationally. Laboratory instrumentation capabilities of my lab include analysis of texture, color, pH, moisture, water activity, moisture content, ash content, viscosity, total lipids, and in vitro glycemic index. Processing equipment include centrifugal mill, centrifuge, homogenizer, rotap particle size separator, convection and baking oven.
Coordinate annual county-wide Science Day competition.
Professional
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Simons, C. W., Hall, C. and Vatansever, S. 2018. Production of resistant starch (RS3) from edible bean starches. J Food Process Preserv. Doi: 10.1111/jfpp.13587
- Simons, C. W., Hall, C. 2017. Consumer acceptability of gluten-free cookies containing raw, cooked and germinated pinto bean flours. Food Sci. Nutr. Doi: 10.1002/fsn3.531.
- Simons, C. W., Hall, C. and Biswas, A. 2016. Characterization of Pinto Bean High-Starch Fraction after Air-Classification and Extrusion. J Food Process Preserv. Doi:10.1111/jfpp.13254
- Simons, C. W., Hunt-Schmidt, E., Simsek., Hall, and C. Biswas, A. 2014. Texturized Pinto Bean Protein Fortification in Straight Dough Bread Formulation. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 69(1)
- Simons, C. W., Hall, C., Tulbek, M., Mendis, M., Heck, T., and Ogunyemi, S. 2014. Characterization and acceptability of extruded pinto, navy and black beans. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.6948
- Simons, C. W., Hall, C. and Tulbek, M. 2012. Effect of Extruder Screw Speed on Physical Properties and In Vitro Starch Hydrolysis of Pinto, Navy, Red and Black Bean Extrudates. Cereal Chem. 89(3):176–181
Cereal and Grains Association (CGA)
