# Scaling health and bioscience training technology to informal education

> **NIH NIH R44** · DISCOVERY COLLECTIVE, INC. · 2024 · $906,792

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This Project aims to build on the previous Phase I interactive digital media (IDM) product, Model It!. Model It was a
product that spun out of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Cell Collective product, a research-grade computational
modeling and simulation technology that is used by biomedical researchers and post-secondary educators around the
world. To make this product age-appropriate for middle-schoolers, Phase I focused on content creation and interactivity
designed for a much less technical audience.
For Phase II, the goal of ModelIt! remains focused on the design and integration of computational modeling and
simulation technology in after-school programming environments that serve students in grades 5-8. Modeling and
simulation skills can be difficult to establish in afterschool learning environments where the learning agenda caters to
ever-changing dynamics (students coming and going, shorter activity lengths, snack schedules, rotating educators, rotating
activities and perhaps locations, and thus access to resources, etc.). The integration of this technology does require
students to have access to digital devices; each of our partners has secured learning environments that will support this.
The approach for this IDM product is the development of ten fundamental skills that span model-building and
simulation-based experimentation. To establish these fundamental skills, students will engage with ModelIt!, whereby
students will use repetition to build muscle memory for each of the ten essential skills (e.g., adding a component,
removing a component, adding an arrow). For each level, students will progress through a series of challenges that
become increasingly harder; once they master the skill, the technology will automatically advance the student to the next
level (skill).
The Project Team is advised by a leading international expert in computational modeling technologies used within the
fields of biomedical research and systems biology. It is led by an educational technology design and development expert
with expertise in business development. The project will employ established experts whose specialties span instructional
design and development, educational leadership, administration, and teacher professional development, educator
recruitment and training, and the accommodation of early adopter education innovators. It will also employ a technology
development team with experience with this software. Together, this team will design, develop, field-test, and deploy the
IDM product to a diverse student population via established partnerships with large-scale after-school programs in several
states: NE STEM 4U, Kids that Code, Beyond School Bells, Strategic Air and Space Museum, Academies of Math &
Science - Peoria Academy, Riverbend Middle School, Advanced Preparatory International, Culver City Unified School
District.
The expected outcome for this project is a fully functional computational modeling application design...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10942009
- **Project number:** 1R44GM154971-01
- **Recipient organization:** DISCOVERY COLLECTIVE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Resa Marie Helikar
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $906,792
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-16 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10942009

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10942009, Scaling health and bioscience training technology to informal education (1R44GM154971-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10942009. Licensed CC0.

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