Danica studied at the University of Cape Town (2011-2019) in South Africa (BSc, BMedScHons, MScMed, PhD) before joining the University of the Western Cape as an educationalist (2020). She joined Oxford as a Senior Departmental Lecturer in the MSc in Medical Education program in 2023.
The #RhodesMustFall student-led protests in South Africa (2015), calling for free, decolonised Higher Education, sparked her jump from the laboratory bench to the classroom desk, moving from biomedical research to educational research. Her PhD in Health Sciences Education explored clinician-educators’ conceptions of assessment, and factors influencing their assessment practices, in medical programmes in diverse Southern settings.
Her research interests include assessment and feedback, curriculum transformation, technology-enhanced education, faculty development and social justice in medical education.
Publications
Clinician educators’ conceptions of assessment in medical education; D. A. Sims; F. J. Cilliers; 2023; Advances in Health Sciences Education; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-022-10197-5
Research
Noorbhai H, Sims D, Hartman N (2024) “Multi-disciplinary staff perspectives and consensus on e-Learning and m-Health for Health Sciences curricula,” Higher Education Research and Development; https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2325149
Sims D (2024) “Online education and learning management system usage in a South African Economic and Management Sciences faculty during COVID-19,” E-Learning and Digital Media; https://doi.org/10.1177/20427530241239429
Sims D, Lundie S, Titus-Dawson S, Govender R (2023) “Shifting Assessment Paradigms in South African Higher Education: Evolving towards transformative approaches to policy development” Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in the South; https://doi.org/10.36615/sotls.v7i3.334.
Sims D (2023) When I say… global South and global North. Medical Education, doi.org/10.1111/medu.15263, Link.
Sims D (2023) How to… write an abstract. The Clinical Teacher, 10.1111/tct.13631, Link.
Yu D, Swanepoel C, Sims D, Anciano F (2023) Do assessment loads affect student academic success? An investigation at an Economics Department at the undergraduate level. South African Journal of Higher Education, DOI: 10.20853/37-5-5397. Link.
Noorbhai H, Sims D, Hartman N (2023) South African health sciences students’ perspectives on utilisation, constraints and future possibilities of mHealth and e-Learning. Discover Education, DOI: 10.1007/s44217-023-00045-y. Link.
Sims D (2023) Reimaging reflexivity through a critical theoretical framework: Autoethnographic narratives on becoming a (de)colonised researcher. Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning. DOI: 10.14426/cristal.v11i1.642. Link.
Sims D, Cilliers F (2023) Qualitatively speaking: Deciding how much data and analysis is enough. African Journal of Health Professions Education, doi.org/10.7196/AJHPE.2023.v15i1.1657. Link.
Sims D, Cilliers F (2023) Clinician educators’ conceptions of assessment in medical education. Advances in Health Sciences Education, org/10.1007/s10459-022-10197-5. Link.
Willmer T, Damerell V, Smyly S, Sims D, du Toit M, Peres J, Ncube S, Lennard K, Mulder N, Govender D, Sturrock E, Blackburn J, Prince S (2021) Targeting the oncogenic TBX3:nucleolin complex with the AS1411 aptamer reduces proliferation and migration of multiple sarcoma subtypes. American Journal of Cancer Research; 11(11), 5680-5700. Link.
Hatem A, Hossan H, Sims D (2021) Medical education in the United Arab Emirates: challenges and opportunities. Medical Teacher. org/10.1080/0142159X.2021.1908978. Link.
Sims D, Maranyane, H, Damerell V, Govender D, Isaacs A, Peres J, Prince S (2020) The c-Myc/ AKT/TBX3 Axis is important to target in the treatment of Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma. Cancers. doi: 10.3390/cancers12020501. Link.
Willmer T, Cooper A, Sims D, Govender D, Prince S (2016) The T-box transcription factor 3 is a promising biomarker and a key regulator of the oncogenic phenotype of a diverse range of sarcoma subtypes. Oncogenesis (Nature Publishing Group) 5, e199; doi:10.1038/oncsis.2016.11. Link.
Oral: Sims D, Cilliers F, Lucio-Ramirez C (2024) Understanding assessor behaviour: factors influencing clinician-educators’ assessment practice in varied Southern contexts: A Health Behaviour Theory perspective. European Board of Medical Assessors (EBMA) conference; Plymouth, United Kingdom (11-13 April 2024).
Symposium: Pienaar L, Sims D, Cilliers F (2023): Models of assessment practice: theoretical & practical convergences & divergences. SAAHE conference; South Africa (19-21 June 2023). Link.
Poster: Sims D, Cilliers F (2022) Clinician educators’ conceptions of assessment: different assessment paradigms. European Board of Medical Assessors (EBMA) conference; Helsinki, Finland (10-12 November 2022).
Oral: Sims D (2022) Online education and learning management system usage in a South African university during COVID-19. International Conference on Innovation in Basic – Higher Education conference; Istanbul, Turkey (8-11 September 2022).
Oral: Sims D, Cilliers F (2022) Clinician educators conceptions of assessment: a continuum of understandings. Ottawa conference; Lyon, France (27-31 August 2022).
Oral: Sims D (2022) Embracing the mess: reflections on a Health Professions Education doctoral journey. Southern African Association for Health Educationalists (SAAHE) conference (27-30 June 2022).
Poster: Sims D, Cilliers F (2019) Lecturers’ conceptions of assessment and factors influencing lecturer assessment practice in diverse Southern settings. Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE): Annual conference; Vienna, Austria (24-28 August 2019). Link.
Oral: Sims D, Cilliers F (2018) Lecturers’ conceptions of assessment and factors influencing lecturer assessment practice. South African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE): 11th Annual Conference Deconstructed, Decentralised, Decolonise, Discourses & Debates: Widening Our Horizon, Durban, South Africa (27- 30 June 2018).
Poster: Sims D, Cilliers F (2018) What lecturers think and do in assessment. SAAHE: 11th Annual Conference Deconstructed, Decentralised, Decolonise, Discourses & Debates: Widening Our Horizon, Durban, South Africa (27- 30 June 2018). Link.
Poster: Sims D, Peres J, Prince S (2016) The role of T-box transcription factor TBX3 in rhabdomyosaroma. SASBMB (Southern African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) 25th congress conference, East London, South Africa (7-11 July 2016).
Podcast: “Conversations in Med Ed”; https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/conversations-med-ed
Project: MEDiC (Medical Education Disciplines in Comparison)
Project: British Academy: International Writing Workshop scheme 2023; “Papers with Purpose: Writing Workshops for Research Impact with early career Health Professions: Education Scholars in Southern Africa” (2023-2025)
Article: Sims D, Lundie S, Titus-Dawson S, Govender R (2024) “Three South African universities have new approaches to assessing students: why this is a good thing” The Conversation Africa; https://theconversation.com/three-south-african-universities-have-new-approaches-to-assessing-students-why-this-is-a-good-thing-220485, 23 January 2024.
News interview: Titus-Dawson S, Sims D, “Discussion: New approach to assessing students” South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC) News; https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&reload=9&v=1GMKYwRwmvI&ab_channel=SABCNews, 30 January 2024.
Reflection: Sims D (2020) Assessment really must be for Reflections on a pandemic Teaching and learning in the time of COVID-19: A collection of think pieces and short reports from members of South African Association for Health Educationalists (SAAHE) (12 October 2020) Link.
