Video Game Primes Students to Save the World With Cellular Science - A National Lab Day Featured Project at the White House

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., May 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- If the nation's ability to remain an economic power rests in the hands of today's middle-schoolers, then our future looks bright.  A new tool developed at Wake Forest University – the videogame CellCraft  – is featured today at the White House, in the inaugural celebration of National Lab Day. The game developers intend to roll out the game to other schools, at no charge, in early summer.

CellCraft is a high-action game in which players must learn the inner workings of a cell in order to survive. It is a featured project demonstrating how new methods for teaching science will stem the growing national crisis in science, technology, engineering and math education.

"To remain a world player, we must open up a new realm of ideas for our children, one that will inspire them into careers in sciences," said Jed Macosko, Ph.D., a Wake Forest physics professor and the science adviser for CellCraft. "I think that the nanoscopic universe inside cells is just the thing."

President Obama established National Lab Day in November to rally America's educators, scientists, businesses and foundations to solve that crisis: The country will not be able to compete worldwide if today's students continue to shun science careers.

Reaching middle-school students is key. A study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2003 showed that, among 15 year olds in 30 of the world's developed nations, the U.S. ranked only 18th in math and a dismal 24th in science. And according to the a National Science Teachers Association recommendations study, if teachers don't engage students in science by seventh grade, then those young people likely are lost to science careers forever.

CellCraft teaches middle-schoolers advanced cellular science – and, more importantly, inspires them to love it. In pre- and post-game tests, CellCraft's developers found that, when the game was played by middle-school students, they not only gained a greater understanding of science concepts but also said they enjoyed learning more.    The game is not only for middle school students. It is also engaging for high school students.

After reviewing some of the rudiments of cell science, players must tell the cell where to forage for food and how many virus-fighting machines to build to ensure its survival.

"If you learn how cells work, your cell will thrive," Macosko said. "If you squander resources or ignore threats, your cell will die."

His own passion for science was ignited in the sixth grade, when he got excited about the complexity of a DNA strand. He learned everything he could, wrote a report and even built a DNA model out of elastic and cardboard.

"That's what got me started on this pathway to becoming a scientist," he said. "I'm convinced that America's destiny depends on getting more kids fired up about science."

CellCraft was funded in 2009 by a $26,000 Young Innovator Award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, via the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advance Collaboratory.   Former Wake Forest graduate student Anthony Pecorella won the grant and directed the project.

SOURCE Wake Forest University