Video games are not a new discovery, but researchers at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery plan to use video games in an unexpected way: to teach the public about science.
The Institutes for Discovery, an interdisciplinary science building opening Dec. 2 at 330 N. Orchard St. on the UW–Madison campus, is an impressive workplace for those who enter its doors each day. An important aim for WID, however, is to impress communities far beyond those doors.
The Institutes, as a plural entity, is a partnership between a public center, the WID and the Morgridge Institute for Research. In addition to the research that will take place in the building, science education and teaching will be one of the main goals of the Institutes.
John Wiley, former Chancellor of the UW–Madison and interim director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, has high expectations for the building and the work that will come from it.
""The building itself was designed from the ground up to foster collaboration and to encourage and support outreach and education, both public and student,"" Wiley said.
Large teaching laboratories—one focused on biology, one on computer sciences and one on physical sciences—will provide learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students as well as K-12 teachers. Kiosks, video walls and a Mesozoic garden featuring plant life from the age of the dinosaurs will entertain and educate the public on the first floor. Restaurants and meeting spaces will also draw students and the public into the building.
""The first floor is entirely public space,"" Wiley said, ""I think someday that space will be as popular as the Union Terrace or the Rathskeller as a meeting place.""
Wiley also believes that the Institutes will further the Wisconsin Idea, a concept introduced in 1904 by then President Charles Van Hise which said the influence of the university should benefit all Wisconsin residents because they support the university with tax dollars.
""Everything about the center and the Morgridge Institute was designed to foster and encourage the Wisconsin Idea,"" Wiley said. ""The idea is that anything that goes on in our research can get out into the public domain and improve people's lives.""
Susan Millar, a researcher in the Morgridge Institute, hopes to embody the Wisconsin Idea through her work to advance science education. Millar and her collaborators in both the private and public arms of the Institutes, aim to enhance student and public knowledge of science.
One way Millar and her group are working to do this is through production of educational video games involving topics such as oncology.
""People are already using games,"" Millar said. ""What we have to do is develop games that are as exciting as games for entertainment, but that have content that is meaningful for learning science.""
Video game themes will range from virus life cycles to land conservation to cancer treatment and many will be tested by local organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, introducing children to the excitement of scientific findings through a familiar medium.
Millar is also excited about people throughout the state and beyond having access to the games she and her team create.
""Because the games are going to be online, anyone can play them,"" Millar said. ""We're not place-bound like many face-to-face education programs, so our games will circulate quickly.""
A driving force behind the education and outreach efforts at the WID is Tashia Morgridge, a former special education teacher with a lifelong love of learning and education. She and her husband, John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco, are UW alumni now living in California. The couple donated $50 million to the building.
""Tashia insisted that we have teaching labs and that everything be available to students as well as science and math teachers in the K-12 school system,"" said Wiley, who was instrumental in building the partnership between UW and the Morgridges.
In addition to educating the public, the WID also aims to jump-start research across campus. Five research themes—epigenetics, tissue engineering, health technology design, systems biology and optimization in biology and medicine—will be housed in the building. Each theme was conceived by a large group of researchers. Only one researcher from each group will move into the building, however. The other members will remain in labs around campus, fostering new ideas in other buildings and departments.
""There's a temptation to think of Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery as only what's going on inside the walls of the building,"" Wiley observes. ""But that really isn't true. I think every part of the campus as well as the public will benefit from the Institutes.""
A week-long opening celebration for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will begin Dec. 2. For more information and a schedule of public opening activities, visit discovery.wisc.edu.
