[UPDATED] Website Hopes to Lure Young People Into Life Sciences

Press Release

BioWorksU.com, an interactive Web site that features games, experiments and other experiences, went live on the Internet today, promising to introduce young people from fourth grade to young adulthood to exciting careers in the high-demand life sciences industry.

The Web site is the first in the country to offer games and activities to entice young people to consider high-demand careers in the life sciences. It is set in a virtual university to emphasize that higher education is needed to achieve the skilled occupations featured on the site and to reward the student with a “degree” when he or she has accumulated enough game credits. The site takes the student through a series of “buildings,” “laboratories” and other resources to learn about careers, the work that each entails and the education needed to achieve them.

“Educators are always looking for ways to engage students in learning, to make the lessons relevant and meaningful but fun,” said Dr. Eugene G. White, superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools. “BioWorksU.com uses games and other interesting activities to get kids thinking about career goals and what they involve – and that’s the first step toward achieving them.”

The Indianapolis Private Industry Council, a not-for-profit corporation that is the principal workforce development agency for Marion County, oversaw the project, which involved partners from a number of health care facilities and research companies. Practitioners in the life sciences, including research scientists, a surgeon, a medical technologist, a pharmacist, a radiologic technologist, a dentist and a biochemistry technician who earned her degree through IPIC’s Biotech Bound initiative, were interviewed about their jobs, what attracted them to the field and what they had to do to achieve their positions. Thirty-eight occupations are featured.

Students may participate in experiments and activities such as DNA extraction; genetic crossing; and identification of the parts of cells. They also may play the ambulance maze game, which requires them to answer health-related questions to proceed through the maze, or the fill-a-prescription game, which requires them to translate a Latin prescription and perform math.

Teachers who wish to use the Web site in their classrooms may access 14 lesson plans that meet Indiana’s academic standards. A section for parents helps them understand how to use the site with their child. And students may read or watch videotaped career profiles and find information about colleges and universities where they can study for a life sciences degree. All videos have closed captioning, and a Spanish-language version will be launched in January.

BioWorksU.com has been under construction for nearly two years, ever since IPIC won a $1 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to address several pressing problems: the shortage of skilled health care workers; the lack of capacity in Central Indiana’s educational system to train health care workers; and the imminent need for skilled workers in the region’s growing biotechnology industry.

IPIC was one of only 12 organizations in the country selected in June 2005 from more than 230 applicants to receive a grant under the President’s High-Growth Job-Training Initiative, which provided $12 million nationwide to projects intended to build a world-class biotechnology and health care workforce.

IPIC enlisted a number of public- and private-sector partners to develop the site. A staff member from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis wrote the lesson plans and provided technical assistance. In the future, the museum will provide teacher workshops on how to incorporate BioWorksU.com into the classroom.

In addition, seven partners volunteered their staff members’ time to review all games, activities, lesson plans, career profiles and other features to ensure the science was accurate and academically sound. Employees of the partners are featured in videos introducing the three main sections of the virtual campus – the Discovery and Development Center, the hospital and the dental building – and in the career profiles. The partners were Dow AgroSciences LLC; Roche Diagnostics; St. Vincent Health and its affiliate, St. John’s Health System in Anderson; Wishard Health Services; the Indiana University School of Science - Biology Department; and the IU School of Dentistry.

“BioWorksU.com is a remarkable example of how a public-private partnership can benefit our students and our community,” said Mayor Bart Peterson. “It is marvelous to see such cooperation dedicated to filling the life sciences pipeline with young people so that they prosper individually, our businesses grow and Indianapolis’ reputation as one of the top life sciences centers in the nation is enhanced.”

Andy Cothrel, an IPIC board member and life sciences consultant, said he and other businesspeople welcomed the chance to get involved because they recognize that their companies need skilled workers to grow. “Young people may not realize the kinds of jobs available to them in the life sciences, especially those that have been created in the last few years because of technology,” Cothrel said. “BioWorksU.com will introduce students who already are interested in science to new ways to use it, and it may even entice some young people to consider, for the first time, a career in science.”

Joanne Joyce, IPIC’s president and chief executive officer, said that BioWorksU.com fits into a long continuum of initiatives that IPIC has undertaken to grow the life sciences industry in Central Indiana. “We knew from research and anecdotal evidence that Central Indiana could not sustain its growing reputation in the life sciences if it did not have a skilled workforce on which it could rely,” she said. “That caused us to create BioWorksU.com and several other initiatives that ensure that life sciences companies will have the workers they need now and in the future.”

The federal grant also allowed IPIC and its partners to:

-Create an accelerated Master of Science in Nursing degree, which was offered for the first time this fall at the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis. The Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation has provided scholarships to the first 20 full-time students who seek their degrees in 18 months instead of the traditional 24 to 36 months, making them eligible to teach in local institutions that have had to turn away prospective students because they had no one to teach them.

-Expand the Associate of Science in Nursing degree program at Ivy Tech Community College to nights and weekends, creating space for 20 more students who wished to become registered nurses.

-Create a polysomnography (the study of sleep) certificate program at Ivy Tech, which registered respiratory therapists may earn after three semesters of advanced study.
Only 10 percent of the Web site is specific to Indiana, so it can benefit young people across the globe. IPIC staff members already have been asked to present about the Web site at a number of education conferences around the country, and have been well-received by educators.

IPIC plans to launch two more career-exploration sites – FutureINconstruction.com (construction) and MakeItMoveItIN.com (advanced manufacturing and logistics) – early next year.

Source: The Indianapolis Private Industry Council