A Video Game To Teach AP Level Immunology 158
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 (Score:5, Funny)
Posting a link to a 500 MB file. That won't be a problem ;)
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Posting a link to a 500 MB file. That won't be a problem ;)
http://immuneattack.info/ImmuneAttack10/ImmuneAttackSetup.exe
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I'm getting 3mb/sec, and all I've got is this dinky old fiber optic line.
Seriously though, I think whatever server's hosting this thing could slashdot Slashdot if it wanted to.
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Insert standard replies here... (Score:5, Funny)
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AP? Never heard the term..what does it mean?
Re:Insert standard replies here... (Score:5, Informative)
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The number of credits and exact course translation toward your university is usually determined by your university.
They use the score, but it is entirely up to them what they do with it.
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At the school I eventually graduated from, they'd fallen prey to the multiculturalism angle of political correctness, so though I got credits that counted toward the X credits needed to graduate for my AP European History exam, it didn't count toward my History requirement and I was forced to take "World History" (which was 80% stuff I covered in AP European History and 20% covering the rest of the world).
On t
You forgot the other reason (Score:3, Informative)
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Interesting...they didn't have anything like that when I was in high school. I took advance classes as a senior IN high school....my chemistry was pretty much the same thing I took first year in
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Most major universities "deflate" the GPA when determining admissions.
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Depends on the state, or maybe within a state. I know that the local schools here don't, and when I was in school they didn't.
You have to pay money to take the test, not to take the class.
Meh, I still remember my AP classes.
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Depending on where you apply to college, you may get no credits for your AP courses, as the program has been diluted by schools' efforts to get more students enrolled in them.
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Too bad they can't use this for remedial immunology... those students are way too slow to play a game.
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Consider yourself lucky it wasn't the other way around. I had really easy AP classes (except for maybe AP Spanish) which led to the development of some bad habits.
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It's a program where high school students can take a test in a certain subject and gain college credit for it (if they score well and they go to a college that accepts it). Many high schools have classes which teach specifically to these tests.
It's a pretty good program, if the courses are taught well. The tests I took seemed pretty well-written to test actual ability in a subject (much better than most standardized tests). I was able to enroll in college with 30 credit-hours off the ba
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Huh, this is the only one I don't know the origin on. Anyone mind filling me in?
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Sometimes even quote it orally
Ah, so that's where the "I actually love [..] that one" came from ;)
On a side note, if anyone actually looks at the screenshots, this looks like a 3rd person shooter, not first person *shakes fist at poor summary terminology*
So will it have... (Score:5, Funny)
God Mode if they want to use it in Louisiana?
Screenshot (Score:5, Funny)
...from an early beta. [wikimedia.org]
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Wow, they changed it quite a bit for the release version [gamepro.com]!
haha (Score:1, Informative)
she said phagocytosis!
but seriously, she says her name is something like Neisha Elam and the caption says Jessica. They can't get her name right?
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She has a rare disease whereby she can only say her name in Hebrew, you insensitive clod!
Imagine a million highschooled controlled nanobots (Score:4, Interesting)
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When you die, can I play?
-Gaz
That is a very, very scary picture (Score:4, Funny)
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 (Score:4, Funny)
Accidentally?
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Same as in any other video game: They lose points.
Oh sheesh (Score:1)
Like the world needs another Captain Novolin.
"Sorry, no Mac version yet." (Score:4, Insightful)
Only a Windows version, is more accurate.
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And http://www.skolelinux.org/ [skolelinux.org] is a Linux distribution developed in Norway primarily for the use at schools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skolelinux [wikipedia.org] With the continued move towards open
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Well, no duh. (Score:5, Funny)
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." (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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If this is a non-profit project then why not opening the source code? This would at least create some chances of some outsiders stepping up to port it to other systems. Why the source code has to be kept closed? Does it contain someone's trade secrets?
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Just a guess but I would think for a project like this licensing a existing engine would be the way to go, hence closed source. The developer might even be able to take a tax deduction for the donation to the non-profit.
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no linux verison yet? Oh no what will 94% of the slashdot marketplace do?!
Not even close to accurate (Score:2)
Wha? (Score:2)
Re:Wha? (Score:4, Informative)
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!
Apparently you didn't read her signature either. ;-)
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Whoah. That means I've seen posts by two separate girls on slashdot today. Is nothing sacred? What do I do if one of them tries talking to me? Talking in intricate detail about my work may not be enough to get rid of them! Won't somebody please think of the socially-inept overgrown children!?!
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Won't somebody please think of the socially-inept overgrown children!?!
Oh, you're not going to start with the the whole "think of the children" thing are you? Now, I know I'm supposed to have mothering instincts (and well, yes, I do) but seriously... I know BS when I see it.
You socially-inept overgrown children can just learn to deal with it... perhaps you might find that you enjoy the company of a girl...
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Actually I did enjoy the company of a girl for a good couple of years, the first 75% of that was online though so I dunno if it counts. It ended quite horribly anyway, so I'm wary of such things for the moment. I think women these days actually find geeks strangely attractive. Pretty soon all the children in the world will be smart enough to work for Google. Unfortunately in my case my children would also be neurotic and depressed as well as smart, so maybe it's better not to have any.
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Actually I did enjoy the company of a girl for a good couple of years, the first 75% of that was online though so I dunno if it counts.
Wow... you used a percentage there... I would have just been like "the first year and a half"... you really ARE a socially inept geek... how HAWT.
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Damn my unintentional geeky aphrodisiacity. Just run now woman.. uh I mean girl - while you still have a chance!
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It's too late... I'm oddly attracted to you, and cannot stop thinking about you.
PLEASE, come and make me a woman!
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They only let me out once a year, and I already used up my day this year going to a museum exhibit of 20th century storage technology. Sorry. Feel free to send pictures, erotic stories and spam to leave_me_alone_you_crazy_woman@hotmail.com though.
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hehe :) cute :)
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I actually almost created that address just to see if you'd send anything :p
Surely an intelligent girl like yourself (with an awesome palindromic user ID, no less) would have a boyfriend anyway? Away with you, foul temptress - you and your flirtacious emoticons!
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As one would imagine, I should have a boyfriend already, and I did... then he dumped me, and I had another guy for a while on a rebound, but that's over. So, no, right now, I'm oddly single. :) So, now that you know that, you can rest easy that my pining for you is totally permissible! ;)
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lol, that's very similar to my current situation in fact.
I read some of your journals and there was an interesting philosophical debate about math going on. I noted that you are also kinda stubborn and into fierce debating as I am (and I suppose most slashdotters are - though I personally wish I was much more relaxed when it comes to discussing things). I think I agreed more with the other guy more overall though. Teehee.
If you've never used it then I think you'd like Haskell, a functional programming langu
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I used ML for a while at school, which is a lot like Haskell (functional programming) and I loved it. Actually, my first naive way of sorting data with ML was a very efficient merge-sort. It's just the way my brain works, I suppose.
lol, well, I don't usually just blog or journal about everyday things... those are typically "meh", usually when I decide to do a journal or a blog, I'm driven to consider something on "paper" from an idea that I heard. So, I usually end up ranting on about something random, o
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Nothing wrong with it if it's kept in check at least, kinda like a coffee habit I guess!
Yes, being aware of what level your brain is operating on is one of the exercises in the book, often we are just operating on autopilot with no 'rational' thought really necessary. I did like the remarks in your journal about how people see truth differently - it's something I'm pretty accutely aware of at the moment as I've kind of done a 180 on my core beliefs about the nature of our reality recently. It's made the wor
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You're a sysadmin, you're expected to be browsing /. regularly. lol. If someone came up to you and said, "Hey, did you see XY on slashdot", as a fundamental requirement of being a sysadmin, you have to be able to answer with a confident and firm "yes".
I know what you mean. When I was young, I was an atheist, but then in High School, and into College, I was really having a rough time with depression, and it helped me out a lot to believe as a Christian believes. Unfortunately, it made me rabid, and I ende
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Exaccerly. I realised recently I had developed quite a nihilistic worldview because of Christianity - if the bible is right then the only reason we are here is to make more Christians and for the rest to go to hell. I was quite surprised to read that Nietzche says Christianity is essentially nihilistic. I had thought it was just me getting the wrong end of the stick, because most of the Christians I know don't end up down that logical route, they use it as a way of cheering themselves up, and affirming thei
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*nod nod* you reminded me of a scene from House MD the first Season. After having recalled his experiences in a near death experience, House is questioned, "do you think it meant anything?" he responded, "it was just the random firing of my neurons before I died... nothing special." Response, "do you really believe that?" House: "I choose to believe what comforts me most." Response, "so you're happy to believe that there's nothing else after this life?" House: "I'm more comfortable with the notion that wha
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My mum is well into House, so I saw a couple of episodes while at home - interesting character, kind of an anti-hero, he even got the diagnosis completely wrong in the light sensitivity episode lol.
Yeah the idea of leaving a positive impact is a good one. I still find it a little depressing that memories are all that is left, but what can you do. From scientific evidence so far, it does seem likely to be the case that the end is the end, but IMO that is definitely not definite ;) I mean if we can evolve fro
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Well, in the US, getting legal permission to stay in the United States is really really hard. And every time you leave the country, when you come back, they treat you like a terrorist.
While Mexico isn't a state (and likely won't be one any time soon) New Mexico is a state. And let me tell you, there are some Hispanics from New Mexico that are more Hispanic than some Mexicans... there are people in New Mexico who cannot speak English, yet their grandparents lived in the USA, or even further back, they were
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I just remember an episode where a girl developed light sensitivity and House punched one of his little team of symptom analysers for being right. He saved a little girl from having a limb amputated though, so it was right to go behind House's back that time :P
As for the economy and immigration thing, yeah Japan is the ultimate in overcrowding among well developed nations at least. While I think controlling families is sensible, it seems almost worse than controlling immigration, but I think they can pay a
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Well, the thing about New Mexico is that it has a much longer Hispanic history than any "American" history. Well before the 13 colonies were being started, New Mexico was being colonized by the Spanish. Mexico at one point was "New Spain", and then in the north, there was "New Mexico", a name that just kind of stuck. When the USA steamrolled across the country, the kind of convinced Mexico to give it over. Not to say that all the hispanics speak Spanish at all... my mother's mother was punished in schoo
What does AP mean? (Score:3, Insightful)
Forgive the ignorance but I am not american, what does AP stand for?
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Re:What does AP mean? (Score:5, Informative)
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Thanks =)
Love the Firefly reference too.
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It stands for "Advanced Placement," which is typically the highest level of a course offered by a high school. High scores on AP tests (standardized tests given by College Board, the same group that does SAT testing) normally translate to credit for introductory level classes at most universities in the US.
It also stands for... (Score:1)
I've gotten into confusing conversations where one person was referring to it as this definition with a semi-apologetic nonchalance and I thought they meant Advanced Placement.
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Advanced Placement. AP classes are high school (ages 13-18) classes with more advanced topics, aimed at kids who want to go on to university. Sometimes the classes are offered with college-credit hours for a much cheaper rate than a real college would charge.
Windows only (Score:1)
Actually the game was "designed to run on Windows operating systems only", so forget about a version for Mac, linux, or anything else for that matter.
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Toothless antitrust (Score:1)
We find MS guilty of antitrust violations, and then fund programs developed exclusively for their platforms.
My government needs to get it's act together.
Fun? (Score:3, Insightful)
If they wanted to make it fun for everyone, they should have made it a fun puzzle game or something instead of an FPS.
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It *IS* a puzzle game. There's nothing to shoot, hell there isn't even a shoot command! Had you bothered to download the thing you'd know that.
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Downloading a 500 MB game that I can't and probably won't play? How silly.
I thought articles existed to tell us what you just said.
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If you can't be bothered to verify facts why even post? Karma whoring?
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I thought this was Slashdot, not Wikipedia [citation needed]. I read article summaries, sometimes even the whole article, like everyone else. I post because I have a comment. Simple as that.
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So you post nonsense that's not true? that simple, eh?
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Do you go around slagging every Slashdot poster who reacts to what the article summary says? You have quite a job ahead of you.
No Mac (Score:1)
By the way, the game is built on DirectX so don't expect any other platform anytime soon. Seriously, why do people still code with DirectX.
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Because its quite a decent bit easier, if for nothing else that DirectX covers everything from image to sound to input. The alternative is to combine multiple librairy... so that raise the barrier of entry right there. Also (I don't know if its what they did), but for simpler games, you can use Managed Direct X in .NET with performance more than good enough to make a game like this one (and then some), with 1/10th the effort.
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Isn't SDL not even object oriented? That would make the barrier for entry pretty high. Also, its really lacking in the feature department. Fine for a small game like this one though, I'll give you that. Total joke for most real applications though (there are exceptions).
And for all of the modules that are discontinued in DX, there are replacements.
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I'm no experts, but looking around, it seems like these games aren't purely SDL or whatsnot, and complement it to go around the places where it lacks. In other words, they still do have a lot of platform specific code, be it at the engine level or whatever. Not saying it doesn't help, it most likely certainly does, but again: much higher barrier of entry.
Not that raw DX9/10 does everything either... but when it comes to top end features, it will be more "complete", and its certainly easier to use.
I thought that was.. (Score:2)
a euphemism for sex education!!
Glad to see this... (Score:2)
... even if their first attempt isn't great, I've often wondered if one couldn't make a puzzle game out of teaching basic electricity and electronics. I was playing bioshock with the little 'hacking' tubes game and thought "wouldn't it be cool if this was about electronics, in 3D, and you could make stuff!"
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Putting their money where their mouth is eh? (Score:2)
Bugs and Drugs in Orange Plasma (Score:5, Interesting)
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? (Score:3, Informative)
Nostalgia (Score:2)
Re:The medium is the message. . . (Score:4, Insightful)