[csaa-forum] Research Assistant for Cross-Cultural STEM Project

[Randell-Moon, Holly]

Dear CSAA Colleagues,


Dr. Nick Ruddell from the School of Indigenous Australian Studies is currently seeking a Research Assistant for a project on Cross-Cultural STEM Education, see details below. 100hours is offered.


If you're interested, please contact Dr. Ruddell at: nruddell at csu.edu.au<mailto:nruddell at csu.edu.au>


Kind regards,

Holly.



I am looking for an RA for my 2021 school STEM research project on: Community knowledge, enduring engineering, automation, river hydrology and sustainable river management are the main themes.

I am in need of an RA to put together literature in relation to traditional Indigenous Australian river fish trapping.  Along with academic literature I am also interested in knowing about what resources and/ or information Government, CSIRO and education departments are producing. My focus is Wiradyuri but an Australia wide focus is fine. The Brewarrina and Budj Bim traps are excellent examples.

Here’s the project abstract and excerpts from the grant application:

STEM education inquiry: towards a framework for cross-cultural, intra- and inter- disciplinary research
Project Description and Background
Improving engagement and achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education is a national priority (Murphy et al., 2018). The need to act is driven by research (Danaia, Fitzgerald, McKinnon, 2013) that shows many students find science irrelevant and unrelated to their personal lives. Furthermore, Australian First Nation students feel alienated by a Western science system that has dismissed First Nation Knowledge systems for over two centuries (McKinley & Stewart, 2012). This is reflected in the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous engagement and learning outcomes across Australia, particularly rural and regional locations (Productivity Commission, 2016). Given the importance the National Science Curriculum places on ensuring First Nations knowledge and perspectives are integrated into school STEM projects (ACARA, 2021), it is critical that schools translate requirements into culturally safe, best practice.

A pilot project is proposed to investigate how to connect schools with Wiradyuri knowledge holders and in turn, how Wiradyuri knowledge holders can establish connections with schools to co-design a framework that integrates place-based, cross-cultural concepts of STEM into the NSW Primary school curriculum.

The research will investigate the: impact of a STEM pilot program which introduces Year five and six students to Wiradyuri knowledge holders who will demonstrate traditional methods of fish trap engineering;  Interest and participation of students who, using scientific method, are challenged to design and test a model fish trap that can withstand variable water flows and levels.

Significance and Innovation

  *   Findings will show how pre- and post-invasion hydrological First Nation engineering can contribute to teaching and delivery of STEM in Australian schools
  *   Exemplar of how to co-develop research with internal and external academics, Wiradyuri Elders and local school community

  *   Advocate for culturally appropriate protocols, procedures and best practices that add to the social capital of an entire community as traditional culture and cultural knowledge intersects with the contemporary world.
  *   Offer a fresh, scalable contribution to the field by employing contemporary, de-colonised theoretical frameworks, educational materials and relationship development techniques.
  *   Provides an exemplar for the chief investigator to lead ongoing research in multiple school sites.



I have at least 100 hours on offer. If you are interested please email me (nruddell at csu.edu.au<mailto:nruddell at csu.edu.au>) directly for more information.


[Charles Sturt University]<http://www.csu.edu.au/>

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