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My mother, Wynne Harlen, who has died aged 88, was a leading figure in primary science education and assessment whose work shaped policy and practice in the field. She emphasised the importance of harnessing children’s natural curiosity, imagination and their urge to interact and inquire.

The daughter of Edith (nee Radcliffe) and Arthur Mitchell, who worked at Dowty Aviation, Wynne was born in Swindon but grew up in Cheltenham, where she attended Pate’s grammar school for girls before studying physics at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. While working in Cheltenham during the summer vacation, she met Frank Harlen. They married in 1958, soon after she graduated, and had two children: I was born in 1965 and my sister, Juliet, in 1967.

Wynne began researching how children learn about science while teaching in schools and colleges in the 1960s. This led her to study part-time for a PhD at the University of Bristol, while working as a research fellow and starting her family.

She held research posts at the universities of Reading (1973-77) and London (1977-84) – at King’s College – before becoming in 1985 Sidney Jones professor of science education at the University of Liverpool. In 1990, she moved to Edinburgh as director of the Scottish Council for Research in Education, and continued working well into her 80s as visiting professor at Bristol.

In 2008, she was awarded the international puRkwa award for science education from the French Academy of Sciences. She used this prize to fund a workshop bringing together leading international experts on science education to address the problem of overcrowded school curricula leaving insufficient time for inquiry.

Their solution was to view science not as a collection of facts and theories, but as progress towards a small number of “big ideas” that enable students to understand the world via learning experiences that are interesting, engaging and seen as relevant to their lives. The subsequent report, edited by Wynne, was published as Principles and Big Ideas of Science Education in 2010.

She wrote influential books throughout her career, including The Teaching of Science in Primary Schools, first published in 1992 and now in its seventh edition. In 1991 she was appointed OBE.

Wynne gained great satisfaction from working with educators in different countries and cultures, helping them to develop their school curricula and teacher education. Many became lifelong friends and were regular visitors to her home in Duns in the Scottish Borders, where she was an enthusiastic and generous host.

She loved classical music from childhood, saving up her pocket money to pay for piano lessons, and playing timpani in the university orchestra at Oxford. She regularly attended concerts and loved opera. A great walker, she relished the opportunities for hill climbing after her move to Scotland (although her fear of heights meant that she rarely reached the summit). In later years, she was well known in Duns for her long daily walks, often with several dogs in tow.

Frank died in 1987. Wynne is survived by Juliet and me, and her grandson, Alexander.