Award recipient
Kirsten Hogg
Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology
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A former physicist who knows what it’s like to be the only female in a class is helping girls excel at school and is producing lessons so exciting she has been named a winner of a prestigious state teaching award. Dr Kirsten Hogg has students throwing – and sometimes pegging – eggs to demonstrate force, momentum and impact. |
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Her students at the Queensland Academies – Science, Mathematics and Technology Campus have mass paper fights to simulate radioactivity. They march around the campus to roleplay wavefronts and ride the school’s lift with scales to measure changes in force.
“There are one million things that you can do,” Dr Hogg said of making lessons exciting.
“So much of school work is still reading and writing and students being talked at, that the students just love to be able to actually do something.”
Dr Hogg is the 2016 Queensland College of Teachers Excellence in Teaching Award winner. There were more than 100 nominations in her category.
One of her passions is to ensure young women are supported in their pursuit of science and she encourages all-female groups in practicums.
“I do that because boys tend to dominate practical activities and the girls are more passive and they watch. They often do it without realising it,” Dr Hogg said.
She has taught from kindergarten through to university and said she is “addicted” to teaching and is inspired by her students.
“The thing that is amazing is when you see the difference that you have made to the kids and when they write you these cards and they say, ‘I never liked Physics before and now it is my favourite subject’ – or ‘I am so inspired to do well in Physics because of the things that you showed me in class’,” Dr Hogg said.
“That is the prize in teaching for me – it’s not the money, it’s not the awards … it’s what the students think and feel and the difference you make to them – that’s the most important thing to me.”
Dr Hogg also designs and runs workshops in Optics, Forensic Science and Astronomy, holding joint observing nights with the Brisbane Astronomical Society.
She leads online courses and workshops for Years 5 to 9 students across Queensland and has researched, tested, developed and refined her approaches to engage students in learning from early childhood through to tertiary level.
QCT Director John Ryan congratulated Dr Hogg on her exceptional teaching and her commitment to seeing female students excel in traditionally male-dominated subjects.
“There are one million things that you can do,” Dr Hogg said of making lessons exciting.
“So much of school work is still reading and writing and students being talked at, that the students just love to be able to actually do something.”
Dr Hogg is the 2016 Queensland College of Teachers Excellence in Teaching Award winner. There were more than 100 nominations in her category.
One of her passions is to ensure young women are supported in their pursuit of science and she encourages all-female groups in practicums.
“I do that because boys tend to dominate practical activities and the girls are more passive and they watch. They often do it without realising it,” Dr Hogg said.
She has taught from kindergarten through to university and said she is “addicted” to teaching and is inspired by her students.
“The thing that is amazing is when you see the difference that you have made to the kids and when they write you these cards and they say, ‘I never liked Physics before and now it is my favourite subject’ – or ‘I am so inspired to do well in Physics because of the things that you showed me in class’,” Dr Hogg said.
“That is the prize in teaching for me – it’s not the money, it’s not the awards … it’s what the students think and feel and the difference you make to them – that’s the most important thing to me.”
Dr Hogg also designs and runs workshops in Optics, Forensic Science and Astronomy, holding joint observing nights with the Brisbane Astronomical Society.
She leads online courses and workshops for Years 5 to 9 students across Queensland and has researched, tested, developed and refined her approaches to engage students in learning from early childhood through to tertiary level.
QCT Director John Ryan congratulated Dr Hogg on her exceptional teaching and her commitment to seeing female students excel in traditionally male-dominated subjects.