1. The elusive indigenous perspective through science education student teachers’ eyes. Gregory Smith (Charles Darwin University) Michael Michie (Batchelor Institute)

2. What are pre-service teachers’ perceptions of indigenous perspectives? Research Question

3.  Assignment task set in a science education unit undertaken by preservice students at a regional university,  Open-ended task, exploring students’ own views of science and indigenous perspectives: no predefined concepts or expert maps,  Data collected over two years, and  149 students Data collection

4.  hierarchical visual knowledge representations where concepts are linked by linking words to form propositions (Novak, 1990),  ‘represent meaningful relationships between concepts’ (Novak & Gowin, 1984, p.15),  More dynamic interplay of concepts: hierarchical, cyclic, networked, spider maps, spokes & chains, mind, links: labelled, unlabelled or unidirectional (Safayeni et al.,2005, Kinchin et al.,2000, Nesbit & Adesope, 2006, Cañas et al., 2012) The Concept Map

5. Concept map morphology (Kinchin & Alias, 2005) A.Chain B.Spoke C.Net/network

6. Additional morphology - spokes Recognised the increasing complexity during analysis phase: a.Basic spoke b.Spoke with chains c.Repeated spokes

7.  Relational structure that reveals the perceptions of the creator, and so is unique, as it reflects ’his/her experiences, beliefs and biases in addition to his/her understanding of a concept’ (Kinchin & Hay, 2000, p.44; Cañas & Carvalho, 2008),  Represents student mental models or an image of aspects of their cognitive structure (Safayeni et al. et al., 2005), and  Visual construction of the students’ cognitive structures depicting conceptual understanding as emergent knowledge (Kinchin, 2011; O’Connor, 2012) Why use concept maps?

8. Morphology Results Type of concept mapTotalPercent 1. Chain10.7 2a. Basic spoke53.4 2b. Spoke with chains2214.8 2c. Repeated spokes9865.8 3. Network2214.8 Other10.7 149100.2

9. Majority of students presented one of six science themes to present their understanding of indigenous perspectives: 1.Seasons (including weather) 2.Astronomy 3.Ecology 4.Plants 5.Animals 6.Natural Resource Use Science Themes

10. Weather: network

11. Repeated spokes

12. More than Bush Tucker?| 11 July 2011 | Slide 12 Repeated spokes

13. spokes

14. Seasons: Spokes with chains The Bininj/Mungguy indigenous people of Kakadu weather seasons Gudjewg/ Monsoon: Dec to Mar Thunderstorm s, heavy rain and flooding. The true wet! Heat and humidity generate an explosion of plant and animal life Stranded animals and eggs are a good food source at this time Banggerreng / knock em down storm season April The rain clouds have cleared and the blue skies prevail Flood water recedes and streams start to run clear Because of the sun plants are fruiting Animals are caring for their young Yegge/ cooler but still humid season May to June Relatively cool with low humidity Wetlands and billabongs are covered with water lilies Flowering woollybutt tells Bininj/Mungguy that it’s time to start burning the woodlands This action promotes new growth for grazing animals Wurrgeng/ cold weather season June to August Humidity is low, day time temperature s are low. Clear skies Water resources dry out. Animals flock to the few watering holes left Gurrung / Hot dry weather. August to October The sun is out with cool breeze. Sea turtles lay their eggs while the goannas rob their nests Gunumeleng / pre monsoon storm season October to December The build up of cloud that creates humidity Thunderstorms build in the afternoons. Barramundi move from their waterholes Now Bininj people moved from camp to live under shelter. Because of the coming storms

15.  Students who used more complex concept maps were considered to have more complex mental models (Kinchin, 2011) Complexity

16.  Grouping of concept maps,  Relationships between topics maintained,  Relationship Matrix: identifying relationships between nodes,  Word cloud (frequency), and  ‘Meaning diagram’ Meta-analysis

17. Word Cloud: Astronomy

20. 1.Majority of students displayed reasonably complex relationships in their perceptions of indigenous perspectives Conclusions

21. 2. Relate to 6 science themes Related to Science understandings: Biological, Earth & Space Sciences but limited Physical or Chemical Sciences.

22. 3. The science themes demonstrate a complex network of interrelationships. OBSERVATION-PATTERNS-RELATIONSHIPS-CHANGE Represents a holistic approach associated with Indigenous ways of thinking.

23. 4. Relationship to the curriculum a.Science understandings  Biological, Earth & Space Sciences but limited Physical or Chemical Sciences. b.Context  Science as a Human Endeavour i.Nature and development of science (observation, patterns, change, relationships) ii.Use and influence of science (application)