A Video Game To Teach AP Level Immunology

kilrathu writes "Longtime proponents of using video games as sources of learning, the Federation of American Scientists put its money where its mouth is. FAS released Immune Attack, an educational video game designed to teach immunology to AP level high school students and combines the most current research on teaching methodologies with a 3D first-person shooter game. 'The key to the game was making sure it was fun while also covering accurate and complex immunology topics,' said Dr. Michelle Lucey-Roper, director of the FAS Learning Technologies Program. The game is free, although not open source, and can be downloaded here. Sorry, no Mac version yet."

Way to go

Posting a link to a 500 MB file. That won't be a problem ;)

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I know you jest, but I find the linked ABC article more disturbing - half of it doesn't even talk about the game, but about how evil videogames like Halo and Grand Theft Auto have deteriorated public trust in the medium. I could have honestly used a more thorough review of the game in question instead of more meandering over media-generated FUD.

Insert standard replies here...

The game is free, although not open source... Sorry, no Mac version yet.

• Obligatory comment about how the PC needs an immunology lesson much more than the Mac does.
• In Soviet Russia, your PC immunizes you.
• 1) Create immunology game, 2) make it PC only, 3)???, 4) Profit
• I am intrigued by your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
• If they would only open source it, we could usher in a new Eden.
• Immunology, bah... Just more FUD from the medical industry.
• They had this on the Amiga 20 years ago.

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Stephen King is dead.. because his immune system failed.

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I'm wondering what an AP level high school student is??

AP? Never heard the term..what does it mean?

Re:Insert standard replies here...

Advanced Placement. It's a program offered by the College Board that allows high school students to receive college credit for courses completed in high school, teaching college-level curriculum, and evaluated by a test (that the College Board administers and scores). The number of credits and exact course translation toward your university is usually determined by your AP test score (on a scale of 1-5). Shaved close to a year off college with these puppies :)

You forgot the other reason

To pay money to inflate the living hell out of your GPA so that you can have a 5.0 GPA your senior year(yes, AP classes are one point higher than your standard prole classes). AP calculus is a good idea but classes like AP history are more like tangential trivia that you will soon forget after you pass the exam.

So will it have...

God Mode if they want to use it in Louisiana?

Screenshot

...from an early beta. [wikimedia.org]

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Wow, they changed it quite a bit for the release version [gamepro.com]!

Imagine a million highschooled controlled nanobots

If someone gets some sort of hard to cure disease, just let the internet controlled nano bot pilots fix it manually. All they need to do is fly around and shoot the bad cells.

That is a very, very scary picture

1) Please don't teamkill the brainstem. Its sort of important, at least among those members of the species who have one.
2) I don't care that you just scored a +10,000 Helper-T bonus, that does not mean you can release dilatory hormones to make the patient's scrotum turn red.
3) Yes, yes, we understand -- its a breast cancer. You're in her breast. Get over it.

Re:Imagine a million highschooled controlled nanob

and when they accidentally shoot the good ones?

Accidentally?

"Sorry, no Mac version yet."

Only a Windows version, is more accurate.

Well, no duh.

Only a Windows version, is more accurate.

How would you create a game about fighting off viruses without an environment that's hospitable to them?

Re:"Sorry, no Mac version yet."

We at the Federation of American Scientists (the non-profit group that made this) are working on a way to make it run under WINE but we don't have it quite yet. We hope to have it up by the end of the month. Sorry.

The reality is we made this with a very limited budget and for that reason we have not not yet implemented a mac/*nix version yet. This is primarily a research project to show that students can learn from video games. The goal is to prove to policy makers that technology can be used to improve education. FAS is open to any feedback you can give them about the game or if you can help get it into the classroom.

If you really need a different version consider donating or joining FAS [http://fas.org/member/index.html] so that we can continue development.

Wha?

This sounds a lot like the "X-treme" fad of yesteryear. Take a few quizzes and be rewarded with shoot-em-ups between exams. FPS make great teaching tools for, say, military tactics and strategy but I think the field of immunology would be best left to a puzzle game like an adanced version of Dr. Mario. What's next, DOOM: The Calculus? The more pieces you blast something into, There could be a "delta-epsilon" meter for blasting your enemies into smaller and smaller pieces.

Re:Wha?

This sounds a lot like the "X-treme" fad of yesteryear. Take a few quizzes and be rewarded with shoot-em-ups between exams.

Did you actually read/view anything beyond the summary? This looks nothing like those. Absolutely nothing. It IS more of a first-person puzzle game than a first-person "shooter." In fact, if you look at the controls, [fas.org] there's not even anything to "shoot." You go through and find the necessary chemicals to activate the various parts of the immune system.

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Damn. The one time that I didn't RTFA and I get called on it. Thank you, sir, for bruising my fragile ego!

What does AP mean?

Forgive the ignorance but I am not american, what does AP stand for?

Re:What does AP mean?

I cant tell if your being sarcastic or not, but it stands for Advanced Placement. Its a program that allows High School students to get College Credit by taking courses taught at a College level, and then taking a test which determines how many credits you get (if any).

Fun?

If they wanted to make it fun for everyone, they should have made it a fun puzzle game or something instead of an FPS.

Bugs and Drugs in Orange Plasma

PLATO had a game/training program called "Bugs and Drugs". It was a 2D dungeon game where you ran into various organisms and had to prescribe the correct medicine to kill them. The best group to be a member of was the Bedpan Commandos.

It was written back in 1978 by Mike Gorback, Dave Tanaka and Paul Alfille.

Not an AP exam?

Er, "Immunology" is not an AP subject exam: Take a look at http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/subjects.html [collegeboard.com] if you don't believe me.

Re:The medium is the message. . .

The information you're looking for can be found here [google.com].