Presentation to the ACEL 2014 National Conference, Melbourne Australia, 1 October 2014

1. Reinventing another Unaipon:
Indigenous science leaders for the
future
Karen Trimmer, Graeme Gower and Graeme Lock
ACEL 2014, Passion & Purpose, Setting the Learning Agenda
Melbourne 1-3rd October

2. David Uniapon (1872-1967)
 A Ngarrindjeri man born at the
Point McLeay mission on the Lower
Murray in South Australia.
 A scientist and a leader he provided
advice on Aboriginal policy to
government and participated in
Royal Commissions.
 Commemorated on the $50 note he
made significant contributions to
science and literature, and to
improvements in conditions for
Aboriginal people.
 He was awarded the Coronation
Medal in 1953.

3. Uniapon the scientist
With no advanced education in maths Uniapon researched
many engineering problems and devised a number of his
own inventions.
 Improved handpiece for sheep shearing;
 Centrifugal motor;
 Multi-radial wheel;
 Mechanical propulsion device;
 Predicted the development of polarized light and the
helicopter; and
 Sought to discover the secret of perpetual motion.
Only a few were patented as he was unable to gain
financial backing to develop his ideas.

4. Science in traditional Aboriginal
culture
Traditionally Aboriginal people have lived a very scientific
existence and were scientists in their own right
 Physics - the boomerang mirrors the aerodynamics of an
aircraft's wing,
 the woomera (or extension of the spear) was designed
to get extra distance,
 Astronomy - used the stars to travel,
 Biology & geography - knew the land, food & water
resources intimately,
 Biology & chemistry – used plants for medicine.

5. Participation in STEM higher
education programs
 In designing the study, reference has been made to the
available literature regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students’ university experiences and commissioned
reviews (for example, Behrendt, Larkin, Griew & Kelly, 2012).
 An analysis of the former reveals, that while the university
experiences of Indigenous students has received considerable
attention in the 21st century (for example, Boulton-Lewis,
Marton, Lewis & Wilss, 2004; Devlin & James, 2006; Day, 2009;
Shah & Widin, 2010; Clapham, 2011; Hellsten, 2011), these
studies did not specifically research the experiences of
Indigenous students enrolled in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses.
 This study will rectify the existing gap in researching
Indigenous student university experiences in these courses.

6. Participation in STEM higher
education programs
 Enrolments and completions in STEM courses low in
higher education institutions across Australia
 Initial data collected in three universities across two
states, including regional and metropolitan.
 In all institutions minimal enrolments of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Island students in STEM programs
 The project is planned to be extended to include 3
regional and 2 metro universities across 3 states.

7. Indigenous student enrolments in
STEM programs from 2009-2013
Program
Field Enrolments
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Natural and
Physical
Sciences 22 21 60 78 84
Information
Technology 3 8 3 5 4
Engineering
and Related
Technologies 6 8 36 38 49
Grand Total 31 37 99 121 137
Regional university enrolments account for 50-70%

8. Indigenous student withdrawals
from STEM programs 2009-2013
Program
Field Withdrawals
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013*
Natural and
Physical
Sciences 1 20 13
Information
Technology 1
Engineering
and Related
Technologies 1 8 12
Grand
Total 1 1 28 26
* Withdrawals numbers were not available for 2013

9. Number of Indigenous students
graduated from STEM programs
from 2009-2013
Program
Field Graduations
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Natural and
Physical
Sciences 5 5 5 8 7
Information
Technology 1 1
Engineering
and Related
Technologies 1 3 4 5 4
Grand
Total 6 9 9 13 12

10. Research plan
 Ongoing project will examine the pathways through University
of Indigenous students with a particular focus on participation
in the STEM areas of science, technology, engineering and
maths.
 Data relating to course selection, participation and success
rates in five universities in Western Australian, Queensland and
New South Wales will be used, including regional and
metropolitan universities.
 A purposive sample of Indigenous students in these fields will
be interviewed.
 The result will be a set of quantitative data that can be used to
report factors like success and attrition and also a set of cases,
communicated in participants’ own voices, describing the
university experience.
 Also data on factors that influence student success, with the
aim of developing strategies that can be implemented by
universities to enhance Indigenous student retention and
graduation.