CITYLAB--A BIOTECHNOLOGY LEARNING LABORATORY

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It is well documented that high schools often lack the laboratory resources and teacher training programs necessary to present their students with modern-day hands-on science, particularly science applicable to human health. CityLab, a regional biotechnology learning laboratory, established via a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) grant to Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides such scientific experiences for high school students and their teachers. Located in an urban medical center, CityLab has embraced a partnership of scientists and educators at Boston University with high school teachers throughout the greater Boston community and other communities in New England. CityLab has state of the art equipment, a full time high school teacher coordinator and a full time scientist, jointly providing laboratory opportunities to students and teachers on a daily basis. Since its inception, over 3,000 students, 1/3 of whom are minority, have used CityLab and over 300 teachers have been certified to lead their classes. Next year ('94-'95)is completely booked with more than 30 schools on a waiting list. Five laboratory modules are fully operable and are drawn from several of the major health disciplines such as biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, immunology and microbiology. During the next phase of SEPA, there are three broad goals: (1) Expansion, (2) Dissemination and (3) Evaluation. Expansion will include developing an additional laboratory at BUSM to alleviate the present high demand. This new facility will increase the access of CityLab to between 2,200 and 2,500 high school students annually. Expansion will also allow us to reach middle school students. CityLab's present curriculum, itself quite flexible, will be modified to meet the needs and backgrounds of these younger students. Expansion will also see the establishment of other CityLab sites or satellites, which will allow us to reach additional communities in New England, not possible or practical with our present facilities. Current CityLab curriculum will be enhanced by the development of five additional curriculum modules. CityLab will expand its teaching methodology by including multi-media interactions. Dissemination activities will include the continued distribution of the curriculum and the production of a replication manual. The establishment of a network of satellites around New England will also serve to disseminate the CityLab concept. The nationwide dissemination of the CityLab approach to other medical or health related institutions will be a major goal of this SEPA. Finally, to complement our on going internal evaluative procedures, stringent external evaluation techniques will be used to assess the impact CityLab experiences have on students' decisions to pursue higher education, especially in science. The overwhelming acceptance and use of CityLab speaks well for success. Continued support will allow for significant expansion, formal dissemination at both the regional and national levels and meaningful evaluation of its impact on students' future pursuits.