Tauranga scientist wins Royal Society of Chemistry prize for bilingual education kits

House of Science Charitable Trust resource developer Jane Hoggard (left) with House of Science chief executive Chris Duggan. Photo / Supplied

When Jane Hoggard first looked through a microscope in high school, a whole new world opened up to her.

“I got to look at things I couldn’t see a moment before. It made me realise there was so much more out there to find out.”

This week, Hoggard’s work to recreate her experience in hundreds of primary school classrooms has been recognised with a prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Hoggard is the resource developer for education focused charitable trust, House of Science, founded by Tauranga’s Chris Duggan.

Hoggard led a team of professionals from Rotorua-based Crown Research Institution Scion, New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre and the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority in creating a library of bilingual science resource kits.

The House of Science kits aim to encourage primary school kids to discover a love for science and learning in the same way Hoggard did when she was younger.

“My kids weren’t getting a lot of that experience in primary school science and that pushed me.”

Each kit contains all the equipment, instructions and materials needed to deliver engaging lessons.

“Fun, lots of fun. The whole purpose of what we do is to foster the innate curiosity of kids,” Hoggard said.

“I always think about the fun element so [our resources] are very hands-on. When kids are having fun they learn and they remember and they get more curious and ask more questions. That’s what we want.”

Scientist Jane Hoggard focused on the "fun element" when she developed bilingual science learning kits for kids. Photo / Supplied

This week, the hard work of Hoggard and her team paid off. They were awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Horizon Prize for Education for making science education more accessible.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is based in the United Kingdom and receives applicants from all over the world for their awards which acknowledge individuals, teams and schools across primary, secondary, further education and higher education, for their exceptional contributions to chemistry education.

Reflecting on the award, Hoggard said it was a surprise and an honour to receive international recognition for the initiative.

“I am proud of the work we are doing with teachers and students throughout New Zealand fostering wonder and curiosity in the world around us. I consider it a privilege working alongside scientists to help them with the delivery of their outreach programmes to primary school students.”

The Royal Society’s chief execuitve Dr Helen Pain said it was “of vital importance” to recognise the crucial role of educators in the advancement of the sciences.

“We commend their ability to inspire and nurture the next generation of bright young minds, so that they can go on to make new discoveries and innovations.

“Society faces many challenges, and educators give us the tools we need to advance our understanding of the world around us and solve many of the problems we encounter.”

Pain said the House of Science New Zealand team’s work to deliver engaging and accessible lessons demonstrated an outstanding commitment to chemistry education.

“It is our honour to celebrate their considerable contribution.”

There are 19 House of Science centres across New Zealand, each with their own library of bilingual science resource kits, that are distributed and maintained by volunteers on behalf of the local community. Each fortnight, hundreds of these kits are delivered to schools and tens of thousands of children partake in science lessons as a result.

Hoggard said while she did want to inspire the future Marie Curies and Rosalind Franklins of the world, the project wasn’t just about populating the STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) career pipeline.

“Not everyone is going to be interested in working in science but the real driver for me is raising scientific literacy skills around critiquing information and evidence. Those skills are important for society as a whole.”

House of Science founder Duggan said: “I am proud of Jane and the team for all their efforts - this award is so well deserved”.