Scaling health and bioscience training technology to informal education

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Student engagement in hands-on model building, experimental design, and simulation-based exploration has been shown to propel student learning of biological concepts towards increasing complexity. The long-term goal in developing Model It! is to integrate computational models and simulations throughout all K-12 formal and informal science education. The foundation of this integration is based on the need to i) increase student science literacy by leveraging inquiry-based and constructivist learning environments, ii) broaden interest in STEM careers by engaging youth in STEM technology that is accessible, attainable, and based on biological processes impacting our communities - diabetes, cancers, infectious diseases, iii) and leverage state-of-the-art technology that grows with students as they increase their knowledge about biological processes, computational modeling and simulations, and critical problem solving of life and health science issues. The Project Team has expertise in scaling computational modeling and simulations software in the education space as well as working with community learning programs to train program leaders and facilitators on how to engage diverse youth in informal learning environments, and how to leverage technologies in after-school programming. For Phase I, the Project Team proposes to develop the Model It! prototype, consisting of two introductory courses, each with 5 levels for students to first develop skills in hands-on model building, then develop skills in running computational simulations. The Project Team will train after-school program facilitators from Beyond School Bells, our partner and Nebraska’s statewide Expanded Learning Opportunity Innovation Network. The facilitators will engage 60 students in after-school STEM programs two to three times a week. The facilitators will play a critical role in the design, testing, and iterating, and deployment of Model It! in order to make it age-appropriate for K-12 youth. Facilitators will provide qualitative feedback throughout the process, as well as quantitative feedback via the System Usability Scale (Brooke, 1996) Technology Acceptance Model (David, 1989), Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 2003) survey instruments designed to gauge technology ease-of-use. Data collected from both the facilitators as well as anonymized student data collected via Model It! during student interactions with the technology will be utilized to further enhance the technology’s usability and scalability. For Phase II, The Project Team will scale the courses beyond introductory skills into progressively more complex computational modeling, simulation, and data analysis modules. The team will also focus on additional technology accessibility, including further gamifying the learning progression, supporting touch-screens, and expanding the content to include additional angles of biomedical and health-related topics (e.g., seasonal influenza infection, keto dieting versus low-fat dieting, how the immune system functions, etc.).