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Improving the scientific literacy of Aboriginal students through astronomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Ragbir Bhathal
Ragbir Bhathal*
Affiliation:
UWS Observatory, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797, Australia email: r.bhathal@uws.edu.au
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Abstract

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Seventy per cent of Aboriginal students drop out of school before the end of their secondary school years and very few go on to do science at the Higher School Certificate level. As a result of this statistics reveal that only 0.003% of the 9000 university science graduates in 2005 in Australia were of Aboriginal origin. This paper discusses an astronomy project which seeks to improve the scientific literacy of Aboriginal students so as to motivate them to take up careers in science and engineering.

Keywords

Scientific literacyAboriginal studentsAboriginal astronomy
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S260: The Role of Astronomy in Society and Culture , January 2009 , pp. 679 - 684
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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