# Simulation Academy at Yale: Youth Entering Science (SAY-YES!)

> **NIH NIH R25** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $252,506

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: Exposing students to new opportunities, creating a sense of accomplishment,
social learning through informal mentorship, and making learning fun have been found as benefits of informal
STEM education. The Science & Health Partnership at Yale Center for Medical Simulation leverages advances
in simulation training to promote informal STEM learning for underrepresented high school students in an
urban environment. The proposed work builds on the Simulation Academy at Yale – Youth Entering Science
(SAY-YES!) research team's prior innovative work developing an after-school simulation program engaging
local public high school students in hands-on experiential learning using multiple technologies including high
fidelity mannequin simulators to explore anatomy and physiology. This five-year SEPA proposal seeks to
develop, from the foundations of the existing SAY-YES! program, a multi-level curriculum for STEM learning,
leadership, and mentoring. The specific aims for this project are to: 1) develop and implement a scalable four-
year curriculum for 9th-12th graders and model of instruction including focused opportunities for STEM peer-
leadership education; ; 2) create a longitudinal mentoring program designed to foster mentoring communities
that value STEM engagement, performance, and representation through modeling behavior and encouraging
of growth mindsets in our SAY-YES! students; and 3) determine the proximal and longitudinal benefits of the
program through an iterative design-based-research approach to assess outcomes of both students and
educators participating in the program. Through hands-on experiential learning activities, students will activate
both situational interest in specific STEM applications as well as develop lasting gains in their self-efficacy and
value beliefs. This will motivate future STEM engagement and career trajectories. Since most US cities have at
least one academic medical simulation center with a rich, high technology environment for hands-on informal
learning, SAY-YES! will provide evidence to recommend broad dissemination as a framework for STEM
engagement for underrepresented students across different urban environments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10911322
- **Project number:** 5R25GM150132-02
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** LEIGH V EVANS
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $252,506
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-21 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10911322

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10911322, Simulation Academy at Yale: Youth Entering Science (SAY-YES!) (5R25GM150132-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10911322. Licensed CC0.

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