The University of Hertfordshire’s ‘Cosmic Curiosity’ collaborative project has won the Family Learning to Support STEM award at the Family Learning Awards 2023.  

'Cosmic Curiosity' is one of many projects from the University’s outreach and public engagement team in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Maths.

Hertfordshire Libraries and the University of Hertfordshire put this project together to encourage a career in science. They work to support and maintain the science knowledge of people in underserved local communities.

Read more:

The team chose the name ‘Cosmic Curiosity’ instead of directly referencing science in the project name to not discourage families who may already feel excluded from the subject.  

There were four sessions in each library, all located in the top 20 per cent of the most deprived areas in Hertfordshire, held for children between ages of four and seven along with their parents and carers.

This age range was chosen as the children are at the age where they are still positive about science. 

Parents and carers were included as their misconceptions surrounding science, as well as their own confidence in science, can have a large impact on a child’s future aspirations.

The sessions were themed around a career in space science and related counter-stereotypical career skills necessary for these roles, such as creativity for an aerospace engineer. 

                                                                                                         

Get more stories like this delivered to your inbox every week by signing up to the Welwyn Hatfield Times In Brief newsletter.

                                                                                                         

The feedback of the project showed that there was increased confidence from both families and staff to carry out astronomy activities independently.

After the sessions, there was an increase of almost 2,000 in the number of STEM-themed books borrowed from the libraries.  

Nuala O’Flynn, outreach and public engagement manager in the Department for Physics, Astronomy and Mathematics, said: “It's an amazing feeling to have our hard work recognised.

"Working on this project with Hertfordshire Libraries was an incredible experience, and witnessing the delight of families engaging in science learning was truly heart-warming."

The Family Learning Awards from the Campaign for Learning take place annually to celebrate imaginative, innovative and inclusive learning.