Waikato University science teacher named Kudos finalist

16 September 2011

Waikato University science teacher named Kudos finalist

University of Waikato Faculty of Education senior lecturer Dr Anne Hume has been nominated as a finalist in the 2011 Kudos awards for her commitment to science and educating future scientists.

The Kudos awards are a Waikato initiative held once a year to celebrate science achievement in the region.

Dr Hume is a finalist in the Science Teacher/Communicator/Educator category and has extensive experience and influence in the national education scene including being part of the writing team for the national science curriculum in 1993, and on the science expert panel for NCEA.

“Teaching others over many years has taught me how to learn more effectively and I have managed to achieve personal goals that I once believed were out of my grasp, like becoming a researcher, gaining a doctorate and contributing to science,” says Dr Hume.

Dr Hume has been awarded a New Zealand Suffrage Medal for contributions to science education and been a Fulbright Scholar. She has done work with the development team for the Science Learning Hub, and this year is a researcher in a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) funded project promoting pedagogical content knowledge development for early career secondary teachers in science and technology.

Recently she has developed a series of contextual science workbooks for use in junior science classrooms to support teachers in the implementation of the New Zealand Science curriculum, and worked as an education consultant to two NIWA-led environmental education projects.

“I am only now appreciating the huge contribution I can make to science through science education by teaching my tertiary students how to learn how to teach science, and how they in turn can teach school students how to learn and love science.

“It never fails to amaze me how I keep learning about science and science education as I teach.”

The University of Waikato has two other finalists in the Kudos awards – Dr Johan Verbeek and Dr Charles Lee. The winners of the awards will be announced at a dinner on Thursday October 13.

ENDS

© Scoop Media